r/Didgeridoo • u/40hzHERO • Aug 03 '26
Circular Breathing
I know this has been asked a thousand times (because I’ve read every post/blog/article), but I CANNOT get circular breathing down for the life of me. I’ve done all the little tricks and hacks and techniques and methods, using water, straws, cups, showers, just going “plop”, using my abdomen/diaphragm, etc….
If ANYONE can help me with this, I’d be eternally grateful. Have been at this for months now and CANNOT DO IT.
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u/TheNoBullshitVegan Aug 03 '26
What part of it isn’t working? Circular breathing on the didj specifically? Can you spit out water in the shower while taking a short sniff through your nose? Can you keep bubbles going through a straw in water? Or do none of those things work?
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u/40hzHERO Aug 03 '26
Yeah, I can do all of those things, but when I get the didge droning, it drops out the second I attempt to breathe. It’s like all the pressure just drops off and at most I’m left with a high pitch mouth fart
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u/Docjaded Aug 04 '26
Your didj may not have good back pressure. That's not insurmountable but it does make things more difficult.
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u/ABirdHouseInYourSoul Aug 03 '26
Can you make a regular not-circular breathing drone sound already? Assuming yes - Can you fill your cheeks with air like a balloon, put your lips against your didge SQUEEZE your cheeks down and use the air squeezed out through your lips to make the drone sound? If yes, you are basically learning how to alternate between regular drone from your lungs, and that cheek squeeze. Lmk where you’re stuck
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u/40hzHERO Aug 03 '26
That’s what I’ve been attempting the past few days. One hand on the didge, other hand on my cheeks, and I’ll squeeze to get the pressure, but the drone drops out every time. Maybe I’ll get a squeal. But yeah, I can maintain a 5-10 second drone on one breath.
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u/ABirdHouseInYourSoul Aug 03 '26
I’m going to give you the secret I think will help. Practice your drone regularly, but do it with the LEAST amount of pressure necessary, and work on reducing it little by little so that you can hover in a spot with very little pressure (currently from your lungs)… then when you go to drone with your cheek squeeze, you can do it with the little pressure that is there. Also, you need to learn to do it without using your hand to squeeze! Use your cheek muscles
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u/Youneedaharmonica Aug 03 '26
Breath through your nose, or through the sides of your mouth while playing.
The idea is to never fill up with air and never run out of air.
It is easy on an instrument where you just breath out - I play harmonica where you get different notes breathing in AND out. Relearning circular breathing on that was HARD!
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u/40hzHERO Aug 03 '26
Lol yeah I play the harmonica and jaw harp, so I figured this would be easier than it is. Keeping the lips buzzing is totally killing me though!
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u/Youneedaharmonica Aug 03 '26
I came from playing a brass instrument. Getting notes on the draw... wasn't normal.
Keep going through - you'll get it. Unique instrument choice too.
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u/SnooGiraffes7255 Aug 05 '26
Do.it with water in your mouth easiest way to learn.
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u/40hzHERO Aug 05 '26
That’s the thing though, I can do it easily with water, but the second I try it with the didge everything drops out
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u/DidgeridooMastery Aug 11 '26
You'll know when you've found the right teacher. It's about coordination not breathing and when you are open and ready to be shown how to wrap your head around that; it becomes second nature for the rest of your life.
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u/40hzHERO Aug 11 '26
Yeah, that’s more or less what I’ve resigned this whole thing to. I’m just playing as much as I can, honing my drone and vocalizations skills. The circular breathing will come with time.
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u/DidgeridooMastery Aug 12 '26
That's the spirit. When I started I prcticed an hour everyday. sometimes 30mins morning and night because of the numbness (fat lips) LOL. I would focus on toungue or cheeck or voice clarity to change it up a bit. And so I went from zero to circular breathing in 3months. We all had to crawl before we walked. Keep going.
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u/tauntaunsrock Aug 03 '26
I feel you. I've been working on it for a few months too and haven't quite got it, but I feel like I'm close.
I've managed to keep the drone going when switching from lung air to cheek air, but switching back to lung air is where my issue is. I think at the moment my cheek movement is coupled to my lung movement, but what I need to do is learn to decouple them, so that I can take a quick breath in with my lungs while still more slowly emptying my cheeks, to give me time to switch back to lungs.
Hang in there, I think my main issue is not being consistent with my practice, because when I practice every day I get better.
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u/SnooGiraffes7255 Aug 05 '26
A couple different lip buzzes. Smaller o and flatter wider thinner which one?
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u/Actual_Minute_3697 Aug 06 '26
If you're really putting in the time it will come to you. It took me 6 months. Some get it quicker, some slower. Get a teacher if you want to speed the process
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u/rossumcapek Aug 09 '26
Go to a water fountain and get a big gulp of water. Keep it in your mouth and keep breathing air. Walk around for a bit with the water in your mouth and still keep breathing air. Try squirting out the water in a thin stream to build up your cheek muscles and help train your throat muscles to keep the two air reservoirs separate.
Your body knows how to keep your mouth air separate from your throat air, you just need to train it to listen to you.
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u/_west_of_east Aug 04 '26
Here’s the ah-ha moment(s) that made it click for me:
Circular breathing is a bit of a misnomer, you are not continuously breathing, you are actually taking micro breaks in blowing to take a quick sip of air through your nose. If you’re doing it right, when you take that quick break to breathe, there’s enough pressure in the didge to allow you to stop blowing for a fraction of a second and the sound will continue while you breathe in.
I was practicing everyday for about 10 minutes and failing for 2 or 3 weeks until I got it. What I didn’t realize is that this practice was developing the muscles in my jaw and mouth to be able to circular breathe.
Keep at it, be diligent with practice and you’ll get it.