![]() We have empathized with them as they struggled more and more to breathe as the pieces went on and on, finally leaving out whole phrases and grabbing breaths in panic. But does this have to be par? Is it really possible to play the oboe-–that "ill wind that no one blows well"-without making yourself and your audience miserable? We have all heard recitals by students who have tackled such breathing "monsters" as the Schumann Romances, the Bach Sonata in G Minor (the long one!). Jacobs and received a great deal of help from him. Much of my knowledge about breathing is derived from him.Īrnold was able to help almost everyone who came to him because he not only understood the physical aspects of breathing and the most efficient use of the breath, but he was also very concerned with the psychology of playing. He was a genius in pointing the way toward the most efficient way of playing any instrument. He even developed a lab in his studio where he could measure and analyze all aspects of breathing. After my first session in his studio, he discovered that my breathing methods were exactly the reverse of what I needed for efficient blowing on the oboe. I had developed my breathing technique on my own, without much thought none of my four oboe teachers had ever given me any advice or instruction on breathing. I regularly checked out all of my theories with the late Mr. I must admit that I had the advantage of spending about 35 years consulting with the great tuba player Arnold Jacobs, who completely turned around my approach to playing the oboe after my first year in the Chicago Symphony. Oboists must learn to make the breath their servant if they want to make the oboe sing. Of course, saying the breath is everything is much like saying that in baseball pitching is 90 percent of the game-you still have to have eight other players on your team. By the same reasoning, although you must know how to control the breath, you must also be able to control the other team members: the embouchure, the tongue and the fingers. Yet among all the students who come to me for study, the one common fault is their ignorance about how the breath works best. They reconstructed instruments from the Bible, and from Egypt, Chaldea, Assyria and Palestine, using images from rock sculptures, tomb paintings, and coins.A great singer of the past, Hans Hotter, idol of Dietrich Fischer Dieskau and coach to Fritz Wunderlich, proclaimed with great conviction: "The breath is everything-once you learn to control it, you have it all!" and Harriett Lanphere of Potsdam, New York, in the late 19th century. This website describes the painstaking recreation of ancient instruments by Charles N. Seven of the images below are from the Potsdam Public Museum at the recommended website. They were played by priests either in unison or antiphonally during Temple worship. An interesting thing is that they come in pairs as in the instructions given to Moses (Numbers 10:2-10). Sabkã - harp shaped like a ladder on a boat. See pictures of these below.Pesantêrin - psaltery (a stringed instrument triangular in shape, or dulcimer).Beat Shean, 15-13th century BC, Haifa Museum. Bible Top Ten, Daily Life, Paintings Daily Life – Prayer – Paintings – Books of the Bible – Bible Paintingsīronze female figurine playing the lute, heighth 15.5 cm.
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