Help! Tone and range suddenly gone --- URGENT

[pandawee]

Hello! I am new the forums, and am entering 11th grade of school. I have been playing the trumpet for 5 years and consider myself pretty good at it. Our band last week had our "before school" summer practice to get ready for marching season, and I hadn't practiced as much as I should have during the summer. Despite having fatigued lips by the end of the day, my tone and range (high 'A' usually, can hit the 'D' above that on a good day) were pretty good. I took 2 days off from my trumpet after that to give my lips a rest, and after bathing it I attempted to pick it up and practice for a solo I want in our halftime show. Suddenly it seems as if my tone went south, with an airy and slightly raspy sound, and my range decreased to a G, which I could only hit with a bad tight sound. My lips seemed to be fatigued even more it seems. Can someone help me and tell me what I am doing wrong?? Thank you in advance.!

[Robert P]

I suggest posting video of yourself playing to get the best results from asking for suggestions here.

You're also going to hear a chorus of "find a good teacher". Which you should.
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[dstdenis]

I think you answered your question in your post. You didn't practice enough over the summer break and, when you came back, you tried to play music that's too difficult and strenuous for you in your current condition. That isn't gonna work. You need to pace yourself and ease back into playing shape more slowly and carefully, resting often. Good luck.
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[GeorgeB]

[Lionel]

[lewins]

I also can't help but wonder if you got your horn fully put back together after giving it a bath. Perhaps one of the valves is slightly out of alignment. It's pretty obvious there's something wrong if you put them in backwards, but sometimes on less expensive horns there is some play in the alignment that is causing the sound issues and causing you to fatigue much quicker than you normally would.

[HornnOOb]

My take is that you have strained your chops. Playing heavily / over-playing after extended periods of infrequent playing (summer vacation), can cause problems. I did this to myself when I was in my first couple years of playing. I got too intense and did not rest adequately during long practice sessions - playing long and loud. My suggestion to you is to take at least 5 days off playing completely. Rest your face! When you start-up again, take it easy and work your way gradually to a full practice routine - and make sure you rest frequently during practice sessions. Maybe use the 5 days off to listen to trumpet recordings and review music theory?

Good luck!
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[trickg]

This kind of thread topic seems to come up a lot this time of year, every year, and it's always the same types of complaints - thin tone, swollen chops, loss of range, etc.

Ultimately it boils down to two things that combine to cause problems:

1.) lack of proper practice to build strong embouchure fundamentals/lack of practice over the summer months
2.) Overdoing it with too much playing, playing too loud, and way too much mouthpiece pressure - the natural instinctive (yet counterproductive) response to needing to play louder while the horn is bobbling all over the face due to the marching.

If you are in a high school marching band, about the only things you can do is to learn to roll/glide step better to reduce the amount of shaking on the face the horn is doing, and....

WORK ON YOUR FUNDAMENTALS!

There is no shortcut, trick or fix - you need to:

-- do long tones - keep it low, and focus on keeping mouthpiece pressure to a minium
-- do lip slurs. Lots and lots of flexibility work
-- do lots of articulation work - lots of single tonguing, but do a lot of double and triple tonguing if you can

Those three things combined are the keys to building a strong, focused embouchure.

With all of that in mind, there is one thing you can do after a marching practice that will help to reset your chops:

soft soft long tones

Start at low C, work your way down chromatically to low F#, then work your way back up to G in the staff. Take your time with this - don't rush it, and allow for a bit of rest between pitches - one good long breath per note should be enough.

Keep us posted.
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[oxleyk]

[oldblow]

I read the description of the problem, I had the same thought that Lewins did.

Check your horn, and see that you assembled it absolutely correctly. Are the valves all seated properly? Did you lose a felt? A cork? Are your spit valves properly sealed?

All the advice about practice is good, of course, but check the other stuff too.

And good luck with your problem. You should be able to work it out in time for the season.
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[abontrumpet]

1) Don't worry about it
2) Rest
3) Play the prettiest sounds you can
4) Get a teacher

[jiarby]

Reap What Ye Have Sown...

I mean, seriously...

You didn't give a crap all summer about making yourself a better trumpet player... but now, suddenly that your work ethic is showing, you give a damn!?

There are no shortcuts. Practice and get better.. or don't

[LakeTahoeTrpt]

[Rod Haney]

When you say you have a high are you speaking of the note above high c or the 1st a above the staff. IF you were hitting a good hi a (above hi c) and on a good day could do a double d and can now only manage the g above the staff then I cant begin to tell you where to find an answer besides a very good teacher. Once you attain a hi a (which is a hard note) and can get a DD then you understand all the mechanics or are one of the few freaks out there. I suspect you were talking about a above staff and a hi d. If this was the case you need simple practice and to stop taking time off. When I played regularly long before maybe even your parents weren't around you had to have a strong hi c every time to get jobs and if you wanted to play 1st or lead you needed to have a strong hi G above hi C and it needed to be reliable. I haven't earned a dime playing music in 50 years but I'd bet it still takes this to make a living. You are in hi school and the rigors and demands aren't as high, but in my HS band we played 4 hours a day 5 days a week as a band, if you practiced or played stage band you played a few hours more and we had band thruout the summer including lessons and festivals. There was never a chance to get out of tune. This was a very very good band and the stage band made 3 LP's so it was unusual and the band dir. was x woody Herman but I was always busy with band, have things changed so much thru the years? Get a teacher and put the horn to your face more and this probably wont happen.
Rod