Issue #3 Notes from The Music Hub March 9, 2025

The Importance of Breath

You may want to take a tip from this picture and put a post it note with a reminder to breathe at the top of your piano music!

Since piano is not a wind instrument, we often don't hear as much talk about breathing.

Singers and woodwind and brass players have to think about their breathing all the time. When to take a breath during the piece, how long to hold their breath, how to support their breath to ensure good tone and pitch. And more.

But breathing is also important for pianists, just in a different way.

Our breath doesn't directly affect the tone quality of our playing, and nothing we do can affect our pitch at the piano (except for neglecting our piano for a long time and never calling a tuner.)

So, why do we need to think about breath?

Around 12 years ago, I was working on the Bach Partita No.2 in Bb. The prelude of this partita contains many ornaments (very fast notes that surround the main notes) and starts off with one. I was having trouble with it because my fingers would lock up and just wouldn't "go."

It felt like anxiety. Am I going to get these fast notes right and in the right rhythm - right at the start of the piece? And, of course, with the anxiety came the mistakes.

Then I remembered that one of my piano teachers used to sniff at the beginning of almost every phrase. It was audible. You could hear a huge intake of air through his nose.

And I wondered, "would this help?"

So, I began sniffing. It helped! It was about the breath - the intake of oxygen - not the sniff itself.

I realized that without a conscious effort to keep breathing, we can easily hold our breath. (Singers and wind players cannot forget to breathe, but pianists can!) When tricky sections come, when we get nervous about performing, when we get too absorbed into the music.

Have you noticed that you hold your breath during a thriller movie? That only makes the movie more intense and scarier!

We do the same thing to ourselves when playing! This causes our anxiety to increase, our minds to race, and our muscle tone to decrease, which affects our playing.

Sniffing wasn't my thing, but I adopted other ways to ensure that I remember to breathe.

These are the things I notice when I breathe sufficiently:

1. My finger muscles work better and I can play faster.
2. I have better concentration and focus.
3. I have less anxiety.
4. My hands sweat less and shake less.
5. I make fewer mistakes

When I started to take a breath before playing the prelude of the partita, that first ornament came out nice and fast and clean. All the ornaments throughout became much easier to play.

One time, I was performing the Brahms horn trio. The 1st movement starts off with a long section of parallel octaves in the piano part (it is a very difficult piece!) I wasn't feeling too nervous before the performance, and I played that first section well. But as soon as I turned the page, my nerves kicked in and my hands were literally shaking while I was playing.

But by this time, I knew what had happened. I had accidentally held my breath during that difficult section, and the nerves and shaking were a signal that I was not getting enough oxygen.

So, I told myself to breathe. In a couple of seconds I was feeling back to normal and could finish the piece without a problem.

The feeling of anxiety and nerves before a performance of any kind can often be attributed to a lack of oxygen!

Due to either fear or excitement (or both) we might be holding our breath in anticipation. Thus, we have a lack of oxygen which brings about an increased heart rate, lightheadedness and sweaty palms. Your heart is racing because it is trying to get whatever little oxygen you do have out to all your muscles as best it can.

A few slow, deep breaths can eliminate all or most of these symptoms.

I had a young student age 7 who I suspect had some form of ADHD. He was a very sweet kid, but he could not get through an 8-measure song without starting to talk.

I began working with him on breathing to see if this would help quiet his mind. So, before the piece began, I had him take three deep breaths, in through his nose and out through his mouth like a sigh. Then he could begin.

I made him take a breath at the end of each phrase then continue on. After couple of weeks of this, he was used to the technique and could employ it himself - and his habit of starting to talk halfway through a short song stopped. We were able to increase the length of the songs he worked on, too.

What amazed me most, though, was that one day he said to me, "I've been doing the breathing at school, too, and it has really helped me!"

I am 100% convinced that conscious breathing is one of the best things we can do for ourselves. For our music, but not just our music. Our bodies, our minds. Our health - physical and mental.

Try it this week!

Before you begin a practice session, take at least 3 deep breaths. In through your nose, out through your mouth like a sigh (make a noise like you are letting all the burdens of the world fall off of you.)

Breathing in this manner resets the parasympathetic nervous system and takes you out of fight-and-flight mode.

Take a breath before each new phrase (roughly every four measures.) It doesn't have to be a big one like at the start. Simply remember to take in some oxygen so you don't hold your breath!

Repeat the breathing exercise you did at the beginning of practice as often as you want to. In-between songs is a good time to do it.

And if you find this helpful in your practicing, use intentional breathing at other times of day, too. You don't need to get on a cushion and meditate with your eyes closed. You can do it in your car on the way to work or the grocery store. You can do it while making dinner. It only takes a few seconds.

Let me know if you try this and what results you notice!

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Happy Music Making!

Heather Niemi Savage, composer, pianist & educator

Founder of The Music Hub