Phase
Breathe in
Seconds left
4s
Cycles completed
0
Guided breath cycle
One steady, unwavering sound. No swell at the start, no collapse at the end.
Why am I practising this?expand
- What it teaches
- A constant air stream and a settled embouchure, so the sound stays even from the first second to the last.
- Problem it solves
- Tone that spreads, sags in pitch, or dies away before the phrase ends.
- Physical skill
- Diaphragm support, jaw and lip stability, throat voicing.
- Theory reinforced
- Pitch centre and the overtone series that sits above every fingered note.
- Improvisation
- A dependable sound means phrasing choices are heard as intention, not accident.
- Ear training
- Matching your pitch against a fixed drone teaches you to hear drift instantly.
- Common mistakes
- Biting to hold the pitch, blowing harder instead of faster air, and stopping notes with the tongue.
- Recommended tempo
- No tempo — count seconds. Build from 12-second to 30-second holds.
- Increasing difficulty
- Longer holds, softer dynamics, and the same note in the extreme low and high register.
- Mastered when
- Twenty seconds, dead steady against the drone, with no pitch bend on the release.
How to practise it
- 01Pick a drill and set the drone to the note you will hold.
- 02Follow the breathe-in, play, rest prompts on screen.
- 03Listen for beating against the drone and adjust with your throat, not your jaw.
- 04Do five cycles, then move the drone up a semitone.
Overtone ladder
finger low, voice high
- 1Finger low B♭. Play the fundamental, full and relaxed.
- 2Same fingering: voice the octave above. Raise the tongue as if saying 'ee'.
- 3Same fingering: reach the twelfth. Keep the air speed up and the jaw still.
- 4Alternate fundamental → octave → fundamental without stopping the air.
- 5Repeat on low B, then low C, then low C♯.
- 6Finish by playing the real fingered octave and matching its colour to your voiced one.