Air Flow

• Whether you play the flute or the tuba, you need excellent control over your lips and mouth to get the right air flow. Breathing exercises that concentrate on developing the mouth and facial muscles help give you that control. One such exercise is to purse your lips and fill your mouth with air blowing to produce a pressure on your lips but not allowing any air to escape your mouth. Continue the exercise until there is a burn in your cheeks and the corners of your mouth. Hold through the burn for a count of 10 and then slowly release the air.
  
  

Power and Capacity

• All wind instruments require a great capacity of air. Breathing exercises that strengthen and expand the lungs are extremely beneficial and will quickly add to your musical ability. A very simplified exercise for this purpose is to slowly inhale until your lungs are full, hold the air in your lungs for a count of 10 and slowly release. As you build your strength, you can add resistance to the exercise by using a breathing bag or tube and ball capacity tester.
  
  

Delivery

• Exercises to control the delivery of air help you to improve the quality of your performance by creating a high level of breath control. Inhale deeply and exhale through pursed lips as fast as possible to a count of five. Inhale slowly and exhale through pursed lips as slow as possible to a count of 20. Continue the exercise exhaling at different speeds that you determine ahead of time so that you control your breath rather than your breath controlling you.
  
  

Flexibilty

• Increase your flexibility by changing speeds during your exhale portion of the control exercises. This allows you to develop a broader range and control of your volume through a range of notes.
  
  

Practice Sessions

• Practice breathing exercises at least twice a day, more is better, for five to 10 minutes a session. The more you do these exercises, the faster you will see improvements in your control and delivery.