Ha! Thread revival! I am not really sure where to ask this...or if anyone has any insight, but I figured with the combination of different instruments people play....maybe someone would have thoughts?
Anyway...this is kind of singing-related. I started taking a few vocal lessons in the fall and then stopped for like 6 months and just started again a month or so ago...and I think I've come to the conclusion that I have the lung capacity of a 90-year-old smoker. And I am not 90, nor do I smoke. And I have played a wind instrument for like, 15 years, so this doesn't make sense to me. My teacher asked if I exercise, which...the sad truth currently would be "barely" but I remember having this problem with running out of breathe more quickly than what I perceive as normal for a longass time...like even back when I did sports (like swimming!) and played oboe more regularly. So I am trying to figure out why in the flying eff I have such issues with it. I've always been aware of it, but wasn't too bothered by it (it was never a problem with oboe) until I recently had this epiphany that if I could get that under control, my singing would probably get sooo much better...and be easier too! (I've actually been bogarting the Joanna lyric "we stood and watched her gape like a rattlesnake and pant and labor over every intake" to describe my singing
)
Now I am posting this here because I've recently been playing around at work with playing other wind instruments and have found flute to be the most difficult. I just run out of breathe for it immediately. And I realized maybe it has something to do with it not having any resistance? Like, I am used to soooo much resistance with the oboe, that maybe I just don't know how to control my air when there isn't anything fighting it? Does that make sense? And I wonder if that's what's going on with singing too?
But then in my lesson last week, when my teacher was making me do long notes and I was about to pass out, I realized it wasn't just a matter of running out of breathe, or not having the diaphragm strength or whatever to push the air out, I am just not able to
take in that much air. I noticed this because she was doing the exercise with me and she'd still be taking air in long after I felt like I just couldn't take in anymore. She pointed out that I was tensing the shit out of my shoulders and when I worked on relaxing them, that helped a little. BUT I STILL SUCK SO BAD AND I JUST CAN'T FIGURE IT OUT. Like I have known non-singing, non-wind instrument-playing, horribly out of shape people that can sing a note longer than I can. I cannot figure it out.
I have been tested for asthma and I don't have it...though the last time they tested was before I got my allergy test (because they couldn't do the allergy test if I was asthmatic or there'd be too much risk of anaphylaxis or whatever) and I like...
barely passed. I even didn't pass on the first try--they had to make me do it several times till I passed or else they would've had to nix the allergy test.
But ugh...I am just wondering what's wrong with me. Is there some kind of weird respiratory stupidity going on (I suppose it could all be chocked up to severe allergies?) or maybe I just push all my air out too quickly because I am used to the stupid oboe?!?! Does anyone have any insight? It's really annoying me lately. I feel like if I could figure this out, and thus figure out a solution, everything would be right in my world.