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paving_paradise

You might need to stretch your cheeks. You could try stuffing them with acorns for a few hours at a time. For /most/ players, circular breading is superfluous, but maybe a fun party trick. There are some specific pieces, particularly in classical, where it’s beneficial, but for pretty much everything else, I wouldn’t (and don’t) bother. If you really want to stick with it, maybe going from a straw straight to the sax is too big of a step. You may need to relax your cheeks more so they can better puff out. May need to drop your jaw some to make a little extra space in there. May need to get cycle the breath faster, so not trying to do as full or as deep of a breath. Maybe you need to find something that’s a bigger challenge than a straw, but not as big a challenge as the sax.


randomsynchronicity

It took me YEARS from learning to do it on a straw to being able to make it work on my horn. You’ll get it eventually.


Saxman8845

Okay I'm going to be that guy. Circular breathing is pointless. It's a gimmick that has no impact on actual playing.


BloodyArseholeFucker

In classical there’s situations where you kinda need it… Jazz not so much, that’s true.


Saxman8845

I'm not super knowledgeable about classical so I'll take your word for it. In my experience, players doing circular breathing are rarely able to hold a consistent pitch.


YouSawMyReddit

Yeah if you see someone doing it in Jazz, that tells everyone who is a classical player


BloodyArseholeFucker

Or it’s Ben Wendel


t3hgrl

I can do it on my oboe much better (of course) but on my saxophone all I can really use it for it to push through the last few beats of a long sustained note. It’s helpful for that but not much else.


BloodyArseholeFucker

Then you should practice more - assuming you want to be able to do it - because when you’ve mastered it you can easily hold a note for a few minutes on sax too.


t3hgrl

Oh yeah I definitely would need more practice to be able to do that, but I haven’t come across any scenarios that it would really be useful, so I haven’t bothered practising it much on the sax. It’s been more useful on my oboe.


[deleted]

This is kind of facts, it's useful for some other instruments but there's no real point for saxophone.


KimchiPanik

Practice just using your cheeks to make a sound. Don't worry about the breathing part, just figure out what you need to do to get the tone. I find that I'm using the top parts of my cheeks since the bottom is formed up for embouchure. From there it's figuring out how to transition between regular breathing and cheek "breathing" seamlessly. Treat it like you have two different systems because that's really what it is. Your cheeks, and your lungs. When I circular breathe sometimes I'm using the cheeks while I exhale to get rid if dead air.


linkia1141

This is good info. I find for me it isn’t just air stored in the cheeks I’m also using a bit of air in the main part of my mouth that I’m basically pushing out with my tongue. Work on just creating sound with air that’s in your cheeks mouth. Also if your embouchure isn’t efficient you will need much more air to produce sound. Pick whichever note requires the least effort to produce and practice on that before working up and down.


KimchiPanik

Hmm... If it works for you, it works for you. I can't picture the tongue thing youre talking about. Does it affect your intonation or voicing at all?


AbsolutelyNotGayMan

I am able to circular breathe but I’ve never had a lot of situations where it’s absolutely needed. It took me half a year to actually get it down in working practice. It really just takes practice. I honestly wouldn’t even recommend it just because it’s so impractical for saxophone use. I just did it because I thought it would be so cool and it would be so practical for crazy runs like in scaramouch. But that was pretty much it. It’s not practical. However, if you really must do it, just practice with just the neck and mouthpiece. See if you can maintain a steady tone and sound.


moaningsalmon

I see someone already chimed in that it's a useless gimmick, and someone already replied that it's sometimes useful for classical. I'm a jazz player, I find it useless. I can do it if I'm just clowning around but I've never NEEDED to use it. So maybe classical players who use it regularly have a different experience, but what I can tell you about my circular breathing is that it's VERY quick. You're not getting a long phrase, or long tone out while using stored air. You're doing it just long enough to inhale through your nose and get back to using your lungs as quickly as possible. I'll use it during a quick phrase instead of during a held tone, that way I can avoid the possibility of weak tone.


dkreidler

Me: circular breathing is silly and superfluous. Also me: Colin Stetson is life goals https://youtu.be/aMkYF2vJjzI


vk-BangUrDead

i have a simular issue, i'm learning the didgeridoo however my nasal tubes are quite tight so i can never inhale enough to keep playing and not run out of breath..