Breathless
Staggered breathing. That’s what musicians in a section who are playing or singing the same part do when they need to take a breath but don’t want to create a gap in the music by everyone inhaling at the same time. By alternating their breaths, they create a seamless note or phrase.
The technique took a profound turn one evening at the conclusion of a Wilshire Winds rehearsal. We ended the hour as we always do by sharing concerns, and then someone was asked to pray. But a few sentences into the prayer, the person praying was overcome by emotion and gently nudged the adjacent player in that section. That person continued the prayer immediately and carried it all the way to the “amen.” The result was a continuous, seamless prayer.
We’ll call it staggered praying, and that’s what we can do when we pray with each other. Instead of letting someone get fatigued or distracted or overcome, we can continue a thought and even expand on it to create a continuous flow of petition, thanksgiving, blessing, or whatever the focus of the prayer time is.
There come times in most of our lives when we’ve prayed about something so long and so hard that we’ve run out of words and we’re prayed out. That’s a good time to have someone close by whom we can nudge to continue the prayer on our behalf. In that way, we can help each other “pray without ceasing,” as Paul said.
With staggered breathing, the more people playing in a section, the less winded they become and the better they are able to perform. The flutes, clarinets and trumpets often benefit the most because those are the biggest sections. Playing the baritone saxophone, I’ve rarely had a section mate, but I often have the same melody or harmony lines as the euphoniums, trombones or tubas, so I try to stagger my breathing with them. Since we don’t sit together, I do it without them knowing it. Similarly, we can stagger our prayers with those in need without them ever knowing it. That’s what prayer lists and are all about.
Immediately after the final “amen” of the staggered prayer I described, someone in the band said, “Now that’s a section!” When we pray together in the same way as a church or as neighbors or as colleagues at the office, it might be said, “Now that’s a community!”