Any flute players?

[MadamMim16]

Hi! I'm 13 and i've had a Boston brace for about 3 weeks and i've been playing the flute for about 5 years. Since i got my brace, it's been harder for me to play because i can't take big quick breaths. (today, i had to stop in mid-sneeze because i coudn't take a big quick breath LOL) If i want to take a big breath, i have to take it slowly. Will this get better? :(

[Alison]

Hi MadamMim16

You'll most likely find, with time you'll get used to the different way of taking breaths in a brace...and your body will adapt, it will take time though (if you were playing a Saxophone or Clarinet you'd prolly find circular breathing would work.....don't know how well it'd work with a flute :-P). You also could try loosening your brace slightly when you are playing.

I can relate to your difficulty, throughout my brace wearing years I played (combinations of) the Clarinet, the Bass Clarinet and the Alto Saxophone. Over time I adjusted to breathing differently.....the only time I took the brace off to play was when I was undertaking an exam.

Regards

Alison

[phaden]

Hi there:

My daughter is also a flute player. She spent 18 months in a TLSO. She always found it more difficult to breathe with the brace on, although it got better over time. Her surgeon let her take the brace off for performances and exams.

Cheers - Patricia

[claribeatlegirl]

I play the clarinet, but the breathing's probably pretty much the same. I just got used to breathing differently. I got really mad whenever our band director told us to do exercises with expanding our stomachs though. Since I've been out of the brace, I've been having a hard timd adjusting to the "correct" way of breathing.

What I did to practice getting more air in was do breathing exercises (like in for 8 hold 8 out 8) before I went to bed.

[mawara]

I started playing the clarinet when I first got a brace, about 3 1/2 years ago. So playing the clarinet and breathing was always with teh brace. Now that I don't wear a brace anymore, I find that breathing is harder, because my roation is pretty bad and my lung capacity is quite small. So without a brace it's harder for me, as a brace was slightly fixing the rotation. Now I have to take smaller breaths more frequently while playing. It's very hard to do sixteenth notes, as I run out breath after doing 2 meausures or so of straight sixteenth notes at a relatively fast tempo.

But anyway, you'll get used to having to take shorter but more frequent breaths. Often when playing a fast piece of music I have skip notes to breath, as I feel like I'm going to pass out. :( Not good, when you're trying to be first chair.

Good luck with your bracing!

[starchild_81212]

i play the flute....perhaps you could get permission from your doctor to take it off during band...or have someone loosen the straps during band so its easier to breath. sorry i couldnt be more help

[cloggerx3]

well i play the clarinet, and im 14. im about to get my brace and didnt think about that. thats a very good point. yikes. cuz im also a dancer and in marching band, which takes a lot of air support. hmm.

cloggerx3

[claribeatlegirl]

you'll probably want to talk to your doctor about how long you have to wear the brace every day. marching band and dancing wouldn't be too easy to do with the brace. (I've done both....only mostly out of the brace) especially (in marching band) when you have to do slides and stuff like that. But I found that in concert band, once I figured out how to breathe "right" I was fine. You should probably also tell your directors/ dance teachers about your situation (even though I didn't...hehe) just so they'll be understanding if you have trouble.

[cloggerx3]

yeah, thats true. im supposed to be in the brace for 20 hrs out of the day. so i might take it off for marching rehearsal, which is 3 hrs long. but idk. how long dd it take u to get used to it "claribeatlegirl"?

cloggerx3

[claribeatlegirl]

I got my brace off before I started marching, so I don't know exactly what you should do. I did dance though, but I got out of my brace 9 hours a day if I wanted to (even though most of the time I wore it around 20) But the good news is marching season'll be over pretty soon (probably within a month)

[Cloudy]

Hey

I started flute in August 2005 and got my brace in December 2005 I have recently started to take my brace off while I practice at home and during privet lessons, but at school i leave it an because band is my last period of the day and would not have time to put it back on after school and get to my bus :o
Taking my brace off while i play has inproved my playing in almost everything. Now I can play 3 whole notes tied togather!!! :p lol