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Frequently asked questions - Circular breathing

Read below to see my answers to commonly asked questions, including questions from readers of this web site. If you have any questions that you would like answered here, please contact me on my contact page.

1. What is circular breathing?

Circular breathing is a technique whereby stored air in the cheeks is briefly used to continue the vibration of the lips, thereby continuing the drone sound, while the player takes a short sniff of air in through the nose. Playing is then resumed as normal by expelling air through the lungs, until another breath needs to be taken.

2. But it's not physically possible to breathe in and breathe out at the same time, so how is it done?

That's right, it is physically impossible to breathe in and breathe out at the same time. Your lungs won't allow this. But you can push stored air out of your cheeks with your cheek muscles, while taking a breath of air in through your nose.

3. Circular breathing seems impossible. Will I be able to do it?

Circular breathing feels very unnatural, so at first it will seem like its impossible to do. It can be very frustrating to learn to the point where you may want to give up. But with practice, anybody can learn to circular breathe. You just have to give yourself time to become accustomed to the activity. Click here to see my easy to follow, five step learning method on how to circular breathe. Easy!

4. How can I learn to circular breathe?

Just follow my Five Steps to Circular Breathing Happiness and you will be circular breathing in no time!

5. How long will it take me to learn circular breathing?

It should take you under four weeks to learn to circular breathe if you follow the steps shown on my circular breathing page and you practice about every second day.

6. Do I have to know how to circular breathe to play didgeridoo?

No. You can still play didgeridoo and make a great variety of sounds even if you can't circular breathe yet. You just have to stop and pause when you need to take a breathe. However, didgeridoo playing is best known for its continuous, uninterrupted drone, so if you want to play didgeridoo in its true playing style, you should learn to circular breathe.

7. So I've figured out circular breathing. What next?

Great! You've worked out how to circular breathe. Now you can start using the many playing techniques to create a wide range of sounds to incorporate into rhythm making.

8. Jim from Cheltenham says: "I am losing the drone after taking a sniff, this is happening a lot. If I manage to keep the drone after the sniff the 'gap' after the sniff is definitely not getting any smaller. I would be very grateful for any advice you can give."

It can be really hard at first to keep the drone at that moment the air is pushed out of your cheeks (as you take a breath). When you push air out of your cheeks, your lips generally become too tight and the drone is lost. Slow Step 3 down from my circular breathing lesson and try to just get a good drone from your cheeks first, without worrying about taking the breath. Get used to your lips maintaining the drone when your cheeks push in. Try to think about isolating your lips from the action of your cheeks, so the tension of your lips does not change when you push your cheeks in. Your lips need to be vibrating at about the same tension regardless of what your cheeks are doing. When you are doing Step 3, also try to make the drone for as long as possible so you get used to vibrating your lips just with the air in your cheeks.

In terms of the 'gap', this is the most frustrating thing about learning to circular breathe. First, don't use your tongue to restart your lips vibrating after you take the sniff. This is usual when starting a normal drone, but when circular breathing it will just emphasise the restart of the drone and the gap. Secondly, use your tongue to assist pushing the air out of your cheeks. This will keep your tongue away from the back of your throat which can interrupt the smooth flow of the drone. Thirdly, keep practicing different tempos as you play and circular breathe. This forces your brain to keep adjusting to the technique and may help you work it out quicker. You can sometimes get stuck in a rut if you just keep playing at the same tempo. Also, a lot of people think that it is easier to circular breathe if you try it faster. If your breathing is faster, it can help force the gap to be shorter and shorter. It also means that you don't have to use the air in your cheeks to keep your lips vibrating for long as you take a sniff. Hope this helps!

9. Penny says: "Up to Step 3 everything is good but then with Step 4, as soon as I sniff I seem to loose all pressure in my cheeks. I have tried different sorts of speeds ect but they just wont stay up! Is this a normal part of the process?"

The problem you describe is quite natural for those learning to circular breathe. First, you really have to have good control over your squeezing cheek action (Step 1). Then you have to ensure you can control the release of air from your cheeks at the same time as taking a breath of air in through your nose (Step 2). Then you have to practice making a good drone from the controlled release of air from your cheeks (Step 3). As you can see, it's all about controlling the release of air from your cheeks as you breathe, not just letting your cheeks close of their own accord.

Like you say, this is just a normal part of the learning process, so don't worry too much, and just keep practicing. But do go back and do those steps I mentioned, and make sure you have control over your cheeks each time. When you get to Step 4, don't try to rush things, and make the action just like you did in Steps 1-3.

Then, if you want to try something else, take much quicker and shorter breaths. This means you don't have to keep your lips vibrating with the air in your cheeks for as long, meaning you can revert back to the normal drone quicker without losing it.

Also, take a closer look at your didgeridoo. If it has a large bore and large mouthpiece, or is not particularly good quality, you may not have good backpressure. Backpressure is particularly important at that crucial point when you take the sniff of air in during a circular breath, and your cheeks take over to keep your lips vibrating. If your didgeridoo doesn't have good backpressure, it will make it much harder to learn this step.

If you have any other questions that you would like answered here, feel free to contact me.

10. Graham from Germany says: "I seem to build up to much pressure when playing fast and have to ease the pressure by blowing excess air out through my nose? Is this normal?"

You might not know it, but you are actually performing quite an advanced breathing technique!

When you first start to circular breathe, you generally only think about breathing in to keep your lungs full. This often leads to your lungs filling up with too much air, which can cause you to stop playing.

You adjust for this by learning to take smaller, more regular breaths, to prevent your lungs from getting uncomfortably full.

Howeer, even when taking smaller breaths, it can still be difficult to perfectly regulate the amount of air in the lungs. When playing fast and furious rhythms with lots of breathing, even if you are taking very short breaths, you may still find you are filling up with too much air.

When this happens, you need to use an even more accurate way to regulate the level of air in your lungs. This involves expelling air from your nose during a circular breath, rather than breathing air in.

The circular breathing technique essentially remains the same, however, during the circular breath, air goes out of your nose, rather than in. The benefit of this is that you can constantly regulate the amount of air in your lungs, by taking air in, or releasing air, to maintain that comfortable feeling in your lungs so you can keep playing idefinately.

So yes, it is quite normal, and you should be using it to your advantage so you can play faster and longer!

So how do you learn to do this? Well, I found that I started to do it subconsciously without actually trying at all. Eventually, my nose and lungs started to work it out itself, in the attempt to alleviate the pressure of too much air in my lungs. Instead of taking air in, I found I was actually releasing air on a circular breath instead.

I don't think you have to consciously think about practicing this technique, as it goes against everything you have just learnt in your effort to learn circular breathing in the first place! Just be aware of it, allow it to happen if it comes and encourage it when it does. Your nose will eventually work out how to do it for you.

I now find that when I play, the proportion of in-breaths and out-breaths is about 50/50. I find I am constantly making subtle adjustments to the air in my lungs depending on what I am playing and the demands on my lungs. This allows me to maintain a comfortable level of air in lungs and play for extended periods of time.

Note: This is a particularly advanced technique and you'll only really find yourself doing this if you are taking faster 'bounce breaths' when playing fast rhythms. To learn more about this breathing technique, and many other breathing and advanced playing techniques, check out my How to Play Didgeridoo PRO which is available now.

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