| Name and Country |
How difficult do you think it would be to learn circular breathing (or thought it was before you learned to do it)? |
How easy or difficult was it for you to actually learn circular breathing? |
Please comment on learning to play circular breathing (eg. what helped you the most, what problems did you experience?) |
| Deborah Switzer from USA |
Difficult |
I tried, but still can't circular breathe |
I am a mouth breather To breath though my nose doesn't give me enough air I feel dizzy I am sure if I worked with it it would improve my breathing. I really want it for my husband. I have gone to Native American gatherings I respect certain customs using their tools The is certain Etiquettes with different peoples |
| Debra from USA |
Very difficult |
Medium easy or difficult |
Just practice and visualization |
| Anonymous |
Difficult |
It was very easy to learn |
I just kept blowing and breathing until it all came together and the Didj "Didj talked" to me! |
| Dennis Sigala from USA |
Very difficult |
I tried, but still can't circular breathe |
I keep searching on youtube on How to! and there are great tutorials But still cannot I play Native American Flute |
| Derek from USA |
Difficult |
I tried, but still can't circular breathe |
In the process of trying to learn |
| Diego from Chile |
Difficult |
It was very easy to learn |
After I saw for first time someone doing it I seat down toke about 5 minutes and just did it had no problems. Any noise while breathing in can get you playing on. |
| Don Chasse Jr from USA |
Difficult |
Medium easy or difficult |
I was shown a technique at a workshop where you fountain water out of your mouth with the cheek muscles while breathing in through the nose. Once I experienced what I was supposed to be doing I caught on quick with practice. |
| Don from USA |
Medium |
I tried, but still can't circular breathe |
I have an odd shaped palate so nasal breathing is difficult for me. |
| Don from USA |
Difficult |
It was rather difficult to learn |
It took a little over two month with practicing about 1/2 hour a day to learn circular breathing. I found a five step tutorial the helped considerably. What helped the most was finding an easy playing Didgeridoo with sufficient back pressure. There is a lot of garbage advice out on the internet. |
| Donald from USA |
Difficult |
It was rather difficult to learn |
I can do most of the time. Its hard to keep the tone going |
| Doug Bischoff from USA |
Difficult |
Medium easy or difficult |
The "blow bubbles" trick does not work unless you already know now. "spray water with your mouth and snort through the nose" helped me more. That gets the point across about what you're really trying to do better IMO. |
| Doug from USA |
Medium |
I never tried |
I aspire to play because of players I have met. I am exploring the history and culture. |
| Anonymous |
Difficult |
It was rather difficult to learn |
A didj player in his '80s told me not to think about it so much to just initially catch the breath through the nose without worrying about keeping the tone going. After years of being unsuccessful at circular breathing that broke it open for me. |
| Drayton from Australia |
Medium |
I never tried |
I'm just starting to learn today!:) |
| Dylan from USA |
Difficult |
It was rather difficult to learn |
What helped me most was practicing with blowing a constant stream of bubbles in my iced coffee in 1st period class in the morning. |
| Anonymous |
Difficult |
It was rather difficult to learn |
Taking the breath and actually getting the air to my mouth without stopping the sound |
| Edward from USA |
Medium |
I tried, but still can't circular breathe |
Not enough practice. (I have your video.) |
| Anonymous |
Very difficult |
I tried, but still can't circular breathe |
Breathing with a straw in a glass of water and relax |
| Elizabeth from USA |
Medium |
I tried, but still can't circular breathe |
I would like to be taught how to play |
| Eric Hamilton from USA |
Very difficult |
It was rather difficult to learn |
It was a slow process that required pushing past what I thought was possible for my lungs while relaxing more than I thought possible. |
| Erik from USA |
Medium |
It was rather difficult to learn |
Biggest problem was keeping a consistent sounding drone |
| Fabien Ridon from France |
Medium |
It was quite easy to learn |
For me I learnt in India with a guy who heal people with and make meditation he just show me how he made to keep the air in the mouth and expulse it during breathing with nose. My problem was I broke my nose when I was child and its was hard because my nose hole was all the time close and playing didgeridoo make me feel better and get better nose breathing. |
| Felipe Gallo from Colombia |
Very difficult |
Medium easy or difficult |
Practice helped me a lot as well as effort (I really wanted to circular breathe!). However because of the height we have in Bogot |
| Forest Weston from USA |
Difficult |
It was quite easy to learn |
The most helpful was squirting a small stream of water from my lips while breathing through my nose. |
| Anonymous |
Medium |
It was quite easy to learn |
Don't really know. I managed to produce some circular breathing on the third day I tried. I've been learning ever since then. |
| Franck from France |
Medium |
It was quite easy to learn |
My difficulty is when I use speed rhythm sometimes I don't have enough air to make a good circular breathing....but I work it! I'm a beginner. |
| Anonymous from South Africa |
Medium |
It was very easy to learn |
I just took quick breaths while using my mouth as a reservoir for air and tried to shorten the time needed to take a breath and lengthen the time I can use only the air available in my mouth. Within two days I could do it. |
| G Hobart from USA |
Difficult |
It was rather difficult to learn |
Info acquired from this website and books and dvd's |
| Gabriel Solis from Costa Rica |
Easy |
It was quite easy to learn |
Just practice that's the only way. do it with a pvc pipe as a didgeridoo it helps a lot |
| Anonymous from United Kingdom |
Very difficult |
I tried, but still can't circular breathe |
I am hoping it will come with practice as only just started playing didge |
| Gary from United Kingdom |
Difficult |
I never tried |
I will learn it |
| Anonymous |
Very difficult |
I never tried |
I plan on attempting to learn how right now I am just getting used to playing mine after about 10 years of not playing |
| Gerald Osborne from USA |
Difficult |
I tried, but still can't circular breathe |
I play trumpet also I understand how it works but still haven't gotten good at it. |
| Gerald Storrs from USA |
Very difficult |
It was rather difficult to learn |
Some tips helped but for me the real key was strengthening cheek muscles. I practiced with didge just making buzz with cheek squeeze. other was ALWAYS HAVE AIR IN CHEEKS |
| Giovanni from Italy |
Medium |
It was very easy to learn |
Small problems to feel out of breath |
| Glen from Canada |
Medium |
Medium easy or difficult |
Practice |
| Glenn from Australia |
Very difficult |
I tried, but still can't circular breathe |
I am struggling with the whole thing can play basic didj ok but not for long lol I'm not giving up and working on the straw in glass method presently. |
| Gordon Matheson from Australia |
Medium |
It was very difficult to learn |
The only way I'm able to circular breath is to clear my mind and concentrate.. Must practice more. |
| Gregor from Germany |
Difficult |
Medium easy or difficult |
I played and played..and in the end I used the free software "play didj"..that was the breakthrough because there were rhythms listed where the time for breathing was declared..and then the break of playing got smaller and smaller |
| Heather from USA |
Medium |
Medium easy or difficult |
Played the trumpet/& trombone |
| Hue Stephens from Australia |
Very difficult |
It was very difficult to learn |
Well I still cannot breathe proper like from the stomach I can do the basic circular breathing which wasn't as difficult as I thought. but yeah learning to breathe from the core of my being I need much more practice and guidance.. I met a dutch traveller named Atlas whom taught me instead of practicing the "blowing through a straw technique" the "chewing gum leaves technique" which I found quite helpful. Just a comment about the above question 'women and didgeridoos - I don't really know I think that to play properly like from the stomach core it is potentially damaging to reproductive organs is this correct? [OUR COMMENT: this is an urban myth, there is no evidence at all that playing didj could be damaging to reproductive or any other organs] |
| Ido from USA |
Medium |
I never tried |
I still don't have my didgeridoo so I have not tried yet. |
| Isabel from Portugal |
Medium |
Medium easy or difficult |
I never play the didgeridoo but learned the circular breathing with Raja Yoga. I am not sure it has the same difficulty as we have to apply it to the instrument. |
| Anonymous from USA |
Medium |
It was quite easy to learn |
Straw and cup of water technique with the help of diagrams and explanations from different people. All of this was found online. |
| Jackie from USA |
Medium |
I tried, but still can't circular breathe |
It is a very hard technique for me to grasp I a still trying to learn. I love the sound of the Didgeridoo and want so badly to learn. I have found watching others helps me the most |
| Jacob from Australia |
Medium |
It was very easy to learn |
The straw in a bottle of water |
| Jake from Australia |
Difficult |
It was quite easy to learn |
Some one told me to start with a glass and fill it with water and blow through a straw and don't let the bubbles stop so you have to use your cheeks to blow out air while you breath in just like you need to do while playing didge |
| Jared from USA |
Very difficult |
Medium easy or difficult |
Difficulty smoothly transitioning from cheek and throat pressure back to lung pressure. difficulty remembering to stop inhaling through the nose before stopping the force of air with you cheeks to continue the note more smoothly. I found that dropping your jaw instead of keeping it shut when preparing to circular breath made it easier to push air through the lips because you can use your mouth throat and jaws instead of only using your cheeks. |
| Anonymous from USA |
Difficult |
Medium easy or difficult |
I just dedicated my self to practicing everyday. Asked others who played. Read and watched as much information as possible. Then eventually took a lesson to refine my technique and learn traditional means. |
| Anonymous |
Medium |
It was quite easy to learn |
Forget Don't think |
| Jeannie from USA |
Medium |
I never tried |
I am imagining it is breathing in through your nose while breathing out through your mouth in a continuous loop |
| Anonymous from USA |
Difficult |
I tried, but still can't circular breathe |
I bought a didgeridoo in 1998 in israel. I played it everyday and it never got shipped back to the US. I have been interested ever since. Have tried to learn circular breathing off and on and am getting better |
| Jenessa Sneva from USA |
Medium |
Medium easy or difficult |
The habit and necessity of breathing through the nose while exhaling was a tough one to learn. It's like learning another way to be conscious of a supposed "involuntary" function. the timing between the short inhales and exhale of the cheeks was difficult to pin point for prime circular breathing |
| Jeremy from USA |
Difficult |
It was quite easy to learn |
Once the main concept was explained it was all downhill from there |
| Jeremy Obrien from USA |
Medium |
I tried, but still can't circular breathe |
I've just had not near enough practice yet |
| Jim Miller from USA |
Medium |
Medium easy or difficult |
Have heard of the water spitting method. Not tried it yet. Seems I can do it when not thinking about it - for a very short time. When I realize it then I choke up. |
| Joaquim Maricio from Portugal |
Medium |
It was quite easy to learn |
I practiced with a straw and a cup of water and it has helped me a lot. |
| Johan M |
Difficult |
It was rather difficult to learn |
Because I'm an 17 old exchange student I've got a lot of people who wants to help me out with as much about the aboriginal culture. So I've was offered to borrow one when I first came to the country. But most of the work I did was by my self. I think that circular breathing is an art that you have to learn by your self. No one can teach you how to do it they can help you but in the end it is up to you. |
| John from USA |
Very difficult |
I tried, but still can't circular breathe |
I don't understand the concept of breathing in through nose whilst playing/ exhaling through mouth |
| John from USA |
Difficult |
Medium easy or difficult |
My nasal passages would block when the didge was pressed to my lips |
| John Skillcorn from United Kingdom |
Medium |
It was quite easy to learn |
After watching a video I sort of worked it out for myself. The trick is to keep the lips tight enough so that the exit air is restricted. This maintains the pressure. It was a bit like learning to swim the breaststroke - getting your arms and legs in synch with each other. |
| Anonymous |
Very difficult |
It was rather difficult to learn |
It just took lots of practice. |
| John Watson from USA |
Difficult |
I never tried |
I am new to the Didgeridoo and just studying about them and circular breathing. |
| Jordan Ackerman from Canada |
Very difficult |
I tried, but still can't circular breathe |
I'm going for lessons when I arrive in Perth in may 2011 |
| Anonymous |
Medium |
It was quite easy to learn |
It took me a couple of days to learn circular breathing. One of the tips that helped me was blowing with a straw in a glass with water and keeping a constant bobbling while breathing. The main problem while starting is synchronizing the breathing with the cheeks to maintain the flow of air. |
| Joshua from USA |
Difficult |
It was rather difficult to learn |
Just practice and persistence. |
| Karl from Australia |
Very easy |
It was very easy to learn |
Short sips!!!! |
| Anonymous |
Medium |
Medium easy or difficult |
The glass of water to understand the technique and visualise true the bubbles in the glass with a straw and the will to succeed! |
| Anonymous from USA |
Medium |
Medium easy or difficult |
I learned through the straw in water technique. |
| Katie from USA |
Difficult |
I tried, but still can't circular breathe |
The air leaving my puffy cheeks doesn't blow hard enough to make a drone. |
