Suggestions for improving early morning chops

[jbeights]

I wanted to post this since we are coming up on that time of year lots of Comeback players are asked to perform at their local morning Easter Sunday services. Bruce Haag shared these tips with me a few years ago and it had a dramatic effect on my ability to play long early morning programs. I hope it helps for you guys too!

Wake Up Sunshine!!
Suggestions for improving early morning chops
By Jeff Beights


Most musicians, beginner, amateur or professional, will, at some point in their career, have to play an early morning gig. In my experience this is typically the morning church performance. Back in high school and up until last year, this was one of my most challenging gigs. I would struggle with endurance and technique. I was most often frustrated because of the gap between how I actually performed and how I know I could perform.

I do not like surprises when it comes to performing in front of people. So, to prepare, I like to do a few test runs for the actual performance. Knowing that this past Christmas program at church was a little demanding with some upper register playing, I figured it would be best to see how the chops would handle the early morning workout. So, over the Thanksgiving holiday, I decided to get up early and pretend that I was going through the steps I would be on performance day. I got up at 6:30 in the morning had a two or three cups of coffee, got dressed, warmed up, started the “warm-up” rehearsal at 8am just like at church and then played through the program the first time starting at 9:00am. I rested from 10am-10:45am and then played through the entire program again just as I would be later in December for the actual performance.

Well, needless to say I was about ready to quit. I had played through this program many times in the evening, sometimes at the end of my practice, and was able to handle the music fine. But turn the clock upside-down and it was as if I took 3 years off my playing ability. I experienced embrasure fatigue half way through the first time, I had limited range and tone quality was just bad. I was very angry with myself in that I did not know why I practiced so hard if this is what the product was going to be when I need it most.

So, I talked to my teacher Bruce Haag about it. What he told me completely changed the results of the following morning. Below is an outline of what Bruce wrote to me in response to my situation:

1. The night before your morning gig, go to bed 2-3 hours earlier than you normally do. It might be hard to fall asleep at first, but just try. Don’t drink any alcohol or take sleep medication or eat salty/greasy foods. You want to be fresh in the morning.

2. The next morning, wake up 2-3 hours earlier than you normally do. In my case, I went to bed at 8pm and got up a 5am the following morning. I did have one cup of coffee but that was it. Keep in mind caffeine causes dry mouth and can give you the jitters.

3. Go for a good hard walk or run. You want to break a sweat. So, 5-10 minutes will not cut it. 30-60 minutes at a brisk pace is what you are going for. (Make sure you are medically cleared for this kind of exercise first) You need to really wake up the body and make sure you get the circulation going. The purpose here is the wake the entire body up.

4. While you are working out, stretch the facial muscles and massage the cheeks, around the mouth, around the nose and down the neck. Do some “horsey” noises or flap the lips. Try to get big flappy sounds. This will help wake up the embrasure muscles.

5. Then, after a short rest from the workout, eat a good, well balanced breakfast. Not a Vegas style buffet and not too light either. I like to do two eggs, toast, a little yogurt, water and some fruit.

6. Get showered and dressed. By this point you should be very alert and awake. Once you are ready, do some light, very gradual warm-up on the horn. If your normal warm-up includes upper register work, you may want to hold off on that and save it for the performance. Do lots of tonguing and some flexibility studies. Pedal tones are good, but not too many because it can leave you too loose. Don’t forget your breathing exercises!

7. After this, you should be ready to perform as if it was a normal evening practice.

After following this routine the next morning, I was completely amazed at the difference. On the day of the performance, I was able to play both services as if I was playing in the evening. The key is fully waking up the body and having a good breakfast. I am not a big breakfast eater, but eating a good breakfast does keep you from getting the hunger shakes or feeling light-headed. When you don’t wake up the body or the facial muscles completely, you can actually traumatize the muscle tissue in your lips causing you to fatigue quickly and loose technique. Try it. You will be amazed at the difference.

If it does not work, as Bruce said, have the Pastor move the services to the evening.


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“Breathe and play the first note with a beautiful sound.” –Allen Vizzutti
“Don't stop where I have, but go further." –Claude Gordon

[HealthyTpt]

It's more important to warm up uour ear than anything else. If you have a piano sit by it and play 5 note scale patterns on it along with your mouthpiece. It will warm up uiur ear and your face.
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Thank you for your business. Happy playing!

- Sean

[jbmusicschool]

I totally agree with this! I study with a Houston Symphony trumpet section player and he studied with Bud Herseth and Arnold Jacobs. That is exactly what he said. Your ear takes you to the note, not the valves!

[Dale Proctor]

Not being a good early morning player, I discovered most of this on my own. Be well rested, lay off the salty food for a day or two before the gig, be well hydrated, and get up plenty early so your body has a chance to get into its usual "daytime mode" before you play.
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"Brass bands are all very well in their place - outdoors and several miles away ." - Sir Thomas Beecham

[scottfsmith]

Is this related at all to how they say shaving first thing in the morning is not as good as the face puffs up over night? My lips feel puffed up when I play early in the morning. Some days it goes OK but some its a disaster. All of the above fixes seem to be helping your face wake up. I never had problems playing trombone first thing in the morning as there is more tolerance in a trombone setup.

[Bruceneibaur]

I love these tips you posted. I think they will work really well. I have found that staying hydrated properly does wonders, and helps out early in the mornings as well. I also like to make sure long tones are part of the warm up, focusing specifically on the tone and dynamics (getting gradually louder and softer on each tone). For me this seems to do the trick.

[Shaft]

How I leave my chops the day before has a big effect.

Overall - If I have been playing efficiently, and not pushing to 91-100 percent then the next day is good to go after a couple of minutes.
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[mcgovnor]

jb on target. your teacher knows what he's talking about. The rest.... learn from op. And learn to stay on point. Your unrelated thoughts are worthless afa the op's contribution.
When I was 22, I played till 330 am and was in the studio at 10 am..np.
At 40, I was up 5 hours before a date, working out, breathing, yoga, shower, breakfast, and..ugh..I have as near to perfect pitch as one can get.
I often would play for 3 hours before a morning session in 45 minutes segments..
A friend studied with Ray Mace, a free lance legit player in NY who plays with everyone.
He had to miss a lesson the following evening, so he faxed Ray to let him know at 4 am. Much to his surprise, Ray hit him right back, telling him to reschedule.The student asked Ray why he was up so late. Ray said, "I'm not..I'm up early..10am session with the Philharmonic.'