One of the greatest things about living with teenagers (currently teenager singular<\/em> since one of them just started college) is occasionally getting an education about the trends of the young and hip that I had no earthly idea existed.<\/p>\n Lesson number two came while we were at the dinner table last week when my husband was giving his son grief about his hair.\u00a0 \u201cI think it\u2019s about time for a haircut, dude.\u00a0 You\u2019re looking a little shaggy.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cA lax bro would say he was \u2018letting his flow rage\u2019,\u201d was Abe’s hilarious reply.<\/p>\n I laughed out loud (I mean, I LOL\u2019ed).\u00a0 They often do this \u2013 making me laugh with their \u201cpunny\u201d banter, \u00a0both of them being lovers of all varieties of word play.\u00a0 For this one though, being a newbie to lax slang, I had to ask for further explanation.<\/p>\n He explained that they call letting your hair grow out letting your flow rage<\/em>! \u00a0For further highly interesting definitions of “flow” check out Urban Dictionary.<\/a> Also, check out videos of The Ultimate Lax Bro on You Tube. \u00a0You just might get a laugh!<\/p>\n After a bit more banter, Dave and Abe determined that a haircut should be called a \u201cflow chop,” and I think they came to some sort of loose agreement that his time for a flow chop had come.\u00a0 I was glad for the education and entertainment along the way.\u00a0 (By the way, I must protect Abe’s reputation and make it perfectly clear that he is not a lax bro – not that there is anything wrong with that).<\/p>\n This phrase \u201cletting your flow rage\u201d tickled my fancy because I think it is a perfectly adaptable mantra to the life of any wind instrument player.\u00a0 Since I see the world through the eyes of the horn player, the first thing I think of when I hear the word \u201cflow\u201d is the breath.<\/p>\n I remember during my student days hearing Bill Purvis talk about how it was really something very special that we use our breath as wind players to make music.\u00a0 I agree whole-heartedly.\u00a0 It is a beautiful concept philosophically, and I think we can take advantage of that.<\/p>\n There are two main ways that I think we can use the breath and the flow of air as our ally.\u00a0 The first is re-discovering what Donna Farhi calls \u201cthe original breath.\u201d\u00a0 This is something that absolutely everyone can do, musician or not.\u00a0 One of the most fascinating and rewarding processes (and it is an ongoing process) is following the way we breathe, day in and day out, from circumstance to circumstance.\u00a0 Have you ever noticed how babies breathe?\u00a0 Their bodies are soft and pliable and the breath gently moves through the whole body.\u00a0 As we grow older, more self-aware, and more able to think critically, we begin to hold our breath, or to hold it in certain parts of our bodies.\u00a0 We can become confused, thinking we have to suck in our stomachs and puff our chests to breath in and let everything sag in order to breath out. \u00a0Or we girls think that in order to be beautiful, our bellies must be completely flat, so we hold it in, not allowing our breath to move us.<\/p>\n So the first process for us wind players is to find this original breath.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Because it has power to give us health and peace of mind and to become more aware of, not only our bodies, but our state of mind.\u00a0 It helps our larger, more big-picture flow<\/em> through life. Also, it is the basis for the way we use our air more actively.<\/p>\n The second (and most obvious) way we horn players can use our breath is, of course, while we play.\u00a0 It is a different action from our “original breath,” but still rooted in that very natural process.<\/p>\n Here are some common \u201cchecking-in\u201d points for the way we use our flow<\/em> while playing:<\/p>\n –\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Does the intake of air and the blow into the horn happen in one smooth motion?\u00a0 Is the breath held before playing?<\/p>\n –\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 When you breathe in, where is the air going?\u00a0 Do you feel the back ribs expand? The belly? Your chest?\u00a0 The pelvic floor? Try checking in from time to time.<\/p>\n –\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 As you move from note to note or through a phrase does the air and the support underneath it keep going?\u00a0 (Is your flow raging<\/em>?) Or is there a manipulation and stopping of the air between notes?\u00a0 My first horn teacher Bill Capps used to refer to it as \u201cblowing between<\/em> the notes\u201d and I think it is a very effective way to think about it.\u00a0 Another way to get in the habit of playing in a continually supported way or on the air<\/em> is to play passages slurred first in order to train the body to play through<\/em> or sing through <\/em>the\u00a0phrases or passages –\u00a0then add the articulation.<\/p>\n So, happy breathing and – Let your flow rage!<\/em><\/p>\n <\/em><\/p>\n <\/em><\/p>\n Recommended Reading<\/strong><\/p>\n I highly recommend reading Donna Farhi\u2019s The Breathing Book<\/em>.\u00a0 It is geared, not towards musicians, but to absolutely anyone.\u00a0 She offers the best guidance I have found for undoing the less healthy body and breathing habits we acquire through life and finding our \u201coriginal breath.\u201d<\/p>\n Another interesting book for tapping into the power of breath is a book called Breathwalk <\/em>by Gurucharan Singh Khalsa and Yogi Bhajan.\u00a0 This book may be a little more \u201cout there\u201d for some of my readers, but I found it interesting and helpful to read years ago when I picked it up.\u00a0 It brought an extra dimension and awareness to the importance of the way the breath moves through the body as we do everyday activities \u2013 like walking!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Um, Angela, don\u2019t you mean, \u201cLet your rage flow? And what the heck is a Lax Bro?\u201d I too have asked those same questions, but have since been enlightened. \u00a0And, in case you’re wondering, although letting one\u2019s rage flow does … Continue reading ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.angelashornstudio.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/Lacrosse1.jpg\" "\\"Lacrosse!\\"")
Lesson number one came over the summer when the subject of lacrosse had come up.\u00a0 I had seen a bumper sticker with LAX on it, wondering why anyone would be touting the glories of the Los Angeles Airport when I was made aware that it was an abbreviation for lacrosse.\u00a0 I soon had my eyes opened to a whole culture!\u00a0 A lax bro, I learned, is a guy who plays, or perhaps more accurately,\u00a0lives<\/em> and breathes<\/em> lacrosse. \u00a0In addition to having a whole sub-culture of their own, they also have their own colloquialisms that can vary from region to region.\u00a0 A lax bro in Maryland may use different phraseology than a lax bro in Pennsylvania or New York.\u00a0 And the terms are constantly changing.<\/p>\n