In a bad spot with my playing ability.

matthew.mcginn · New Member Joined: 14 Feb 2016 Posts: 8

I'm in high school band, only been playing a solid two years on trumpet(was not in band until I was a sophomore.)

This whole month has been a rough patch with my playing ability. I'm experiencing fatigue in warm up and no endurance. So that also hinders my musicality. I have been giving myself rest days. A lot of them because I hold myself to high standard and cant stand the way I sound.

I resort to this forum because my trumpet teacher gave up on me. I need veterans to help me out to explain their rough patches in their playing and how they over came the obstacles.

(sorry if my thoughts are scattered, at school and dont have internet at home.)

abontrumpet · Heavyweight Member Joined: 08 May 2009 Posts: 1779

First, get a new private teacher. Maybe it's not so easy to find one, but it will be the most useful.

Second, just find what makes it fun for you. There is no standard you need to live up to. Just play when you feel like you want to and play what you want. Copy your favorite things.

Some help: take a full breath and relax the lips as you do so. Then play with the most beautiful sound in mind. Drown out the sound coming out of the bell with the one in your head. Don't become emotionally attached to your trumpet playing. Be a curious child and say "that was not what I want" but you are not allowed to say "that was bad." Saying "I can't stand the way I sound" will absolutely ruin your playing by ruining your love for music. If your approach (taking a full breath with relaxed lips and playing with ease combined with keeping a great sound in mind) is intact, then success will find it's way. It could be in one week, it could be in one year. You just have to have faith in the process.

You will have a lot people commenting: play this exercise, it changed my life, try this, try that. Ultimately trumpet playing is a process of self-discovery. You need to find your joy with the help of your colleagues and one great teacher at at a time (for now)...not 1000 internet strangers.

Good luck and have fun.

mm55 · Heavyweight Member Joined: 01 Jul 2013 Posts: 1412

A new teacher is what you need, but you probably already know that. Internet forums can be helpful, but the teacher really needs to be able to hear and see you while you play. Skype lessons over the internet can provide this, while you are deciding how to get local in-person lessons. If you can't find a suitable teacher for regularly scheduled lessons, single one-off lessons can be very productive with the right teacher.

I know how it feels to have a teacher give up. Long ago, I studied with a well-respected professional player and teacher; head of brass at a music school where I was studying composition. He gave up on me, almost from the first lesson, as I recall. Fortunately, the school had other fine teachers. Not all student/teacher combinations work out, but it's well worth finding a situation that works.
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TRUMPONIMUS · Posted: Tue May 24, 2016 6:45 am Post subject:

matthew.
I would be reluctant to try and suggest anything until I knew why your former teacher "gave up on you"....
Why did they feel that they could do nothing to help YOU ... Their Student!

I would have to know some more background on your student/ teacher relationship before I would get into what I don't know.

Jimmy.
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zaferis · Posted: Tue May 24, 2016 6:50 am Post subject:

"my trumpet teacher gave up on me" is an unsettling comment.

Without knowing the situation, you & the teacher, this, to be honest, sounds fishy.

Any approach to getting better with a trumpet includes working on the elements/fundamentals (breathing, sound, fingers, reading, etc..) not glamorous or flashy and may, to the student, seem mundane and worthless - why I have an uncomfortable sense here - the 2 year student judging the instructor. You may be correct but, maybe the teacher is done with a student not working on tasks given.
Yes, it should be enjoyable, after all it is music, but, there is an element of routine, drill, repetition, etc....

High standards are great.. now work toward them. Doing it on your own will be slow and frustrating... if this teacher is "done" with you.. search for someone else..

Where are you? maybe you can make a connection through this forum. After exhausting looking for someone in your area, Skype/FaceTime lessons are another option.

good luck
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GeorgeB · Posted: Tue May 24, 2016 7:35 am Post subject:

You've been given some good advice here, Matthew. The main thing is, don't give up. I played for 12 years during the 50s and 60s but had to give it up because I had a wife and three children to care for, and living off music just wouldn't do it. So I started again in March, after 52 years. No, the trumpet isn't easy, and yes, I have days when I am not happy with my progress, but I just keep remembering how much I loved the horn and music, and how much I want to do it all over again.
A good teacher is certainly a number one consideration, but attitude is more important than anything. Someone else here summed it up: you can say you are not pleased with how you played today, but you can never say you played badly.
Best of luck, and stick with it.
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mercer · Regular Member Joined: 19 May 2016 Posts: 41

I'm so sorry you're going through such a frustrating time. We've all been there. Can you elaborate on the details? When you compare this current "rough patch," what are you comparing to? What has changed since then? Could this have anything to do with your three-year-long lip cut that has been festering and has just recently healed to a scar? You mentioned this in another thread. Since it sounds like you had this cut during the whole time you've been playing, even if it's now completely healed, this cut/scar or absence of both would be enough to affect a change in your embouchure. Also, what happened with your former teacher?

Ed Kennedy · Heavyweight Member Joined: 15 Jan 2005 Posts: 3187

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVREWJ4xfoI

Try this. Basic tone production. Move on to simple songs like in your beginning band book.

dstdenis · Posted: Tue May 24, 2016 8:06 am Post subject:

Cheer up. This can be fixed. Ask your band director to recommend a good trumpet teacher, then arrange a lesson with the teacher.

"Experiencing fatigue in warm up." That doesn't seem right. You should feel fresh and strong after getting some rest and recovery since the last time you played. Maybe your warm up routine isn't right. You should warm up nice and easy, not too loud, with a little rest between each thing you play. Don't play loud; don't play stressful material; don't play continuously without taking a breather.

Rather than taking entire rest days off, I would suggest you go ahead and play every day, but back off. Take it easy. Don't push yourself to the point of exhaustion.

While I have ideas about what might be causing the other troubles you've mentioned, I'll spare you the guesswork. A good teacher could see you play in person and give more specific advice tailored to your situation.
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oldenick · Posted: Tue May 24, 2016 8:42 am Post subject:

We all have ruff patches. They are almost universally overcome by a return to fundamentals of tone production and articulation. A daily routine of long tones/flow studies, tonguing, lip slurs and simple melodies can solve many problems. I would investigate the Bill Adam forum or do a search on daily routines. You will get lots of information. It is important to keep it simple and always make your best sound.

This is where a teacher is really important. He/she will keep you honest and keep you from killing yourself with material you are not ready to tackle yet.

Good Luck

Nick
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Andy Del · Posted: Tue May 24, 2016 1:03 pm Post subject:

Hmm. Trouble playing. Tired on warmup. Finding things hard. Teacher gave up. Been playing 2 years.

I suspect, and it can only be suspect, as there is very little information on what you have been doing on the trumpet, that you are expecting too much of yourself, and also either NOT listening to your now ex-teacher, or haven't given their solutions enough time to work out. A month is nothing.

I have been in this place, tired all the time. Actually, at the moment I am carrying over fatigue from the previous day's playing due to a schedule of performances coming up over July - September which require some serious preparation NOW.

When it doesn't work, you need to get it working. That may mean going back to basics. REAL basics, such as posture and breathing. Spend time on it. Spend time on buzzing, regardless of which type or how you view it. Spend a lot of time on getting a positive response from your lips on 1 note. Only 1. When this happens, move to 2 notes, very gently and reasonably softly. Try to build up your sound each day as far as it will go and DON'T go past that point.

Patience, committed practice, guidance from a good teacher, and enough time to get to where you want to go is needed...

cheers

Andy
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Hawary · Posted: Tue May 24, 2016 8:28 pm Post subject:

Like its been stated above, the information provided is not enough to base a proper opinion on, but if I was was to make an assesment based only what I've read, I would make a wild guess and say that your problem might not even be trumpet related, I mean I suffered from depression once and there are a few keywords here that made me feel like this could be the issue.

Most people who never suffered depression think that depression means sad, well it doesn't, it feel like there's a switch somewhere inside you that went off and you don't really know how when why it was turned off and how to get it back and that you simply can not fully function.

Experiencing fatigue too soon, is one sign. Specially when you've had loads of rest as you stated. Another common feeling is that everything negative is amplified, also, In the end of your post, you said your "thoughts are scattered", not your words, your thoughts, and to me that is also something that someone with depression would say.

It could be also caused by something physical, such as anaemia, which could be the result of your fatigue, have you had any doctor checks lately ? How is your life in other aspects going ?

ruotjoh · Posted: Wed May 25, 2016 12:33 am Post subject:

As said you need to take it slow and go back to the basics. If you have problems with basic tone production then you can't fix it within a month or two and playing/practising this way will only do more harm than good.

Something is wrong in your approach and without a proper guidance from private teacher it's very hard to fix whatever you are doing wrong. Find a teacher and listen what he/she says. Forums like this can be a good source for generic information but non of us really knows what is going on without seeing you playing.