Bawu is a very distinctive wind instrument among the traditional Chinese national musical instruments. It is popular in the Hani, Yi and Miao areas of Yunnan Province. It is a horizontally blown single-reed musical instrument. Made by reed vibration. The following is mainly aimed at the common difficulties encountered in basic skills training for beginners, and put forward some ideas, hoping to give some guidance to learners, so that everyone can make some reference when encountering similar problems.

All wind music performances first involve the problem of breathing. Wind music performance is always based on the four elements of "Qi, lips, fingers and tongue", and "Qi" is the first element of wind music performance. In fact, "chi" is not only the easiest difficulty for beginners to encounter, but how well you can play in the end is also a breathing problem. Because all future problems are directly related to breathing.

The wrong breathing method is the most common problem. Some beginners are lucky or get away with it, but there are always many people who encounter difficulties, which are enough to trouble him for many years. Of course, proper teacher guidance can avoid this difficulty for the vast majority of learners. The issues discussed below apply not only to Bau performances, but to all wind music performances.

Here are some points to note:

1. Beginners should not use their full lung capacity to breathe during the first month of study, as doing so can easily lead to unnecessary tension and mistakes.

Beginners are advised to start using only half their lung capacity. In our usual daily activities, such as walking and talking, we do not pay attention to breathing; this is because the minimum breathing requirement to maintain our life is not large, so this breathing method is very natural. Of course, the breathing during performance is different. The movement is much larger, and almost all of the lung capacity may eventually be used. Therefore, it is not appropriate to increase the lung capacity significantly at the beginning. You should start with a breathing volume slightly more than the natural lung capacity. Under the correct premise, Gradually increase lung capacity.

2. Explaining the breathing process too much and in too much detail can also easily lead to tension and mistakes.

In daily life, no one walks the same arm and foot, but it is often seen in military training. Generally, the problem of this kind of movement disorder is easy to occur when there is a high degree of concentration. Therefore, try to encourage the natural way, under the guidance of the teacher, use imitation and imagination to naturally form the correct breathing method. It is necessary to scientifically explain the principles of diaphragm movement and other principles, but it is best to talk about it when you can use breathing freely in order to further learn to improve your control ability after you have mastered the breathing method correctly.

3. Imagination can do unexpected things.

The difficulty of wind music breathing is that it is different from the ordinary life breathing method. The general life breathing is chest breathing, while the breathing method of wind music performance is chest and abdomen type, which is difficult to understand. It is best to use imagination to The breathing of life naturally leads to the correct breathing method for wind instruments.

The imaginary method is also used by many teachers, but some people say that the inhalation of wind music is like "smelling the fragrance of flowers", which is not very accurate, because smelling the fragrance of flowers is just breathing through the nose, which is different from the inhalation of the mouth and nose that we require. . Secondly, letting beginners smell the fragrance of flowers is actually chest breathing, not chest and abdominal breathing. The metaphor of "vigorous exercise" is also not advisable. The intensity of this breathing is somewhat desirable, but instead of letting the learner experience this unusual breathing state, it is better to let him use the method of imagination to naturally change the breathing state of life. Better results.

First, let the learners experience the "rowing" style "counter-breathing method". The specific method is to feel that the breath moves backward from the abdomen to the back to the top of the head when inhaling. When exhaling, the breath moves forward from the top of the head to the chest, and then falls back to the abdomen. The entire movement direction is like rowing a boat. Push forward to exhale, pull back to inhale. This kind of imagining has two advantages. First, the learner can start the correct breathing posture first, and the movements are relatively large, which is conducive to correctly guiding the exhalation. Second, the subsequent performances have more natural and coordinated body movements, and the typhoon is also better.

There are many ways to use metaphors, one can lose its guiding effect, and another metaphor can be used. For example, we can also compare breathing to swimming, exhaling and pushing the hand forward, inhaling as sliding to the sides, and exhaling as pushing a window forward, or “sighing”.

These circular movement methods can be said to be the most correct original exhalation method, and its movement cycle is relatively short, so after the learner has mastered this basic method, he can be suggested to draw this "forward drawing" after the start of exhalation. The "circle"-like movement trajectory is interrupted, and the chest and abdomen are moved to the left and right, and a stable and long sound can be produced. Such a long tone is very generous, natural and sweet.

4. Learn to exhale first, then learn to inhale.

Exhalation is generally easier to master correctly than inhalation. You should learn to exhale first, and inhale a little first. Once you have mastered the method of exhalation, you will not be far away from mastering the method of inhalation.

5. Stable long tones are more difficult to practice. It is recommended to use the "four short and one long" long tones training method often.

When a general learner first begins to practice, it is difficult to pronounce it directly and accurately for the first time. After several repetitions, remind him to learn the habit of listening to his own voice, and he will adjust himself to the best state.