[TPIN] Re: Air and Stomach Conception

[Matt Hilgenberg]

I think this thread is going into the world of "No it isn't," "Yes it is," and away from the original poster's question.  
Chris,  what your teacher is talking about is something that has been discussed here recently, and if you do some Google searching for TPIN + wedge + breath + abdominal you should find lots of archived material of us discussing breath control and how to use it.  The breath with the stomach in is called many things- wedge breath, yoga breath, complete breath, etc.  It has also been covered in several books- The Yoga Complete Breath, Pops' book No Nonsense Trumpet from A to Z, Claude Gordon's Brass Playing is no Harder that Deep Breathing, Jeanne Pocius's new book Trumpeting by Nature, and Bobby Shew's lectures and private lessons.  
Basically, it's a way of taking in a breath from the bottom of the lungs on up, and then compressing that air by bringing your stomach in toward your spine.  When done correctly, it makes the air faster and more energized as it leaves your body, and can take some of the unneeded pressure off your face.  I think this pressure is what your teacher is talking about when he says tension.  A little tension (or gripping, or flexing, or whatever you want to call it) is necessary to produce a note.  Excess tension is what we want to avoid.  Breathing this way can help reduce excess tension.
Hopefully that helps.  Like I said, a little internet research on this stuff will take you a long way.
Good luck,
Matt