Your Comeback Experience

[TBone]

...I know... not the most original thread, but I'm just curious:

On day one of your comeback, what was your range/endurance/flexibility/tone?

I couldn't play above a middle G, and even that G was questionable. Endurance-wise, I felt pretty good... but then again, when you're playing below the staff, who needs endurance, right? Hehe. The good news is that 3 days into the comeback, I have a middle C. Hey, at this pace, I'll be playing double C's in a few weeks or so! HA!

My tone (after a long warm-up) is pretty good... I'd even go so far as to say it's brighter and more consistent than it ever was. I attribute that to a more natural embouchure. Flexibility-wise, I feel great. Lip slurs are coming quite easily (again, we're only in the low range, but I was never able to do them before).

By the way, I'm not "coming back"... I was just on a really long break .
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I picked the trumpet back up after an 8 year "break", and boy does it feel good to have the rest of my left arm back.

[_swthiel]

Hey, I'll play!

Background: I basically stopped playing on a regular basis in January 1977. I started playing off and on in 1983 or so. My typical pattern until this year was to pull the horn out, work for a couple of weeks to a couple of months to do some performance or other, then the horn went back into the case for months to years.

Range. My recollection is that I just about always had a usable high G (top of staff, no ledger lines) and could usually hit high C. With some work, I could usually build up to a usable high D in a few weeks. Your mileage may vary. 11 months in, I have more range than I've ever had, although it's not yet consistent day-to-day.

Endurance Endurance has always been a problem for me, and I had essentially none first day out of the case. Making it through 15-20 minutes of playing was all I had! Second day would be much better. But, even now, I have trouble making through a full big band gig on the 3rd and 4th books ... but I'm making progress!

Flexibility. Flexibility has always come back pretty quickly, probably because of what I chose to work on when started. In PMs with some people more knowdlegeable than I am, I've come to realize that what I chose to work on initially might be a poor choice for many people even though it works for me, so I won't go into the details here.

Tone. First day out of the case, the sound was awful. Really edgy if I played loudly, super-breathy if I played softly. The sound would sort itself out (well, mostly) in a couple of weeks. I didn't really start getting a good sound until mid-year this year, maybe six months into what I hope will be my final comeback (I'm stickin' with it this time, come whatever!). What made the difference this time was (1) some good advice from my friends here on the Herald and (2) taking a few lessons from an excellent teacher. At this point, I think my sound might well be the best it's ever been -- clear, full, and bright but not too edgy. Don't get me wrong, I'm not Phil Smith (yet!), I'm just happy with what I can do now.

Thanks for asking this question, it's given me the impetus to reflect on how far I've come this year! OVerall, I'm really happy with the progress I've made this year. Compared to some of the people on the Herald, I'm not a stand-out, but that gives me some new goals to reach for, right?

Steve

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Steve Thiel
Save the bandwidth!

[ This Message was edited by: swthiel on 2003-12-05 15:29 ]

[TBone]

A usable G? Very nice. I wish I had that "out of the box". Oh well, all in due time, I suppose. I'll admit that my range was always a source of frustration for me... even at my peak, it was my biggest weakness: high C on good days, and barely usable. But, I always attributed it to my screwy embouchure (fixed now). Because I'm using a "new" embouchure, I'm practically playing for the first time - ever - in some ways. It's so good to be able to play with almost zero pressure. It feels great. Same with the flexibility; I never had any before.

Congrats on the successful comeback!

[valvepimp]

On day one (which was mid July of this year) my range was still pretty good. Though it sort of "hurt" to do so, I could play E above high C with a good deal of volume. Today my range is probably at about 75% of what it once was. I can hit all the high notes I used to, but maybe not quite as loud and for not as long.

My endurance was and continues to be not good (see my post below about it) but I am hoping that time and lip flexibility studies will bring it back.

My flexibility was non-existant on day one. Took a couple of weeks for me to be able to maneuver around the registers. Today I'd say it's pretty good, maybe at about 80% of what it once was.

My tone was really awful at first. When I wasn't blowing an accidental flutter tongue, I was cracking notes left and right. This began to improve within a few days, and today my sound is good, not great. I still remember what it was like to make a sound that really pleased me, and that hasn't happened yet. But it remains a light at the end of the tunnel that I continue to watch out for.

What you hadn't asked about (but I'll tell you anyway) is technique, although flexibility is admittedly a part of technique. This is the aspect of my playing that is most akin to what I used to sound like. To hear me play some things, you wouldn't be able to tell I ever stopped playing. Double and triple tonguing seem to be at about 90% of where they used to be, and my ability to slur rapidly in the upper register has also returned with alacrity. It's when I slow down and play long tones or melodic passages that I still crack and miss the most notes. Except for endurance, all facets of my playing have returned at a rate that I am happy with, and while I can't say for sure, I'd be willing to guess that with constant practice I can return to where I was at my pinnacle within perhaps another eighteen months. Which will make me a forty something yr old player who blows like a conservatory student. I won't exactly be setting the world on fire, but it may yet induce high levels of personal satisfaction. And who's to say I can't surpass where I used to be just cuz I'm in my forties, right?
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[plp]

My range was from low F# to 4th line D, tone sucked, and endurance was about 15 minutes. The good news, and the one thing that made me get the horn out of the case the next day, was flexibility. Starting at low G and doing slurred stepped intervals up in graduated half steps, I could still go from low G to middle C. It was not in tune, tone was all over the place, but it was still there.

[woffles]

Just started playing again after 16 years. May still get an instructor but for now I am doing a lot of reading on this site and others about proper techniques.

The first day I still had a decent range but I was playing with a lot of pressure like I used to. Since reading on how to improve the embrouchure I have been sticking to the lower notes from C in the staff and down mostly to build it up first before I go back into the upper ranges.

Like some of the others stated, the higher stuff had a real hard edge to it and the lows were full of air sound. It is starting to improve slowly. Technique is so so. I bought a metronome. I also set up a mini recording studio with a mini disc recorder and record all of my practice. It's only been about a week now. The metronome showed me how sloppy my rythm had become and the recording shows how poor my sound started out and how sloppy my tongueing is. I also have a tuner set up while I practice to see how much I am killing the notes! I can already hear some improvement in a weeks time though. I figured it would be more beneficial recording my practicing instead of just keeping a journal like some have suggested. At under 2 bucks a disk and over 2 hours on each disk I plan on keeping a comprehensive sound journal on my progress. I suppose the same could be done with a computer but I didn't want to practice in the room I keep it in. I built a holder for the recorder and my tuner so they hang right below my music on the stand and the mike is near on its own stand.

I anxious to hear the difference in where I am now and where I will be in 6 months or more down the road. Hopefully there will be a large difference. The first day was real depressing when I played it back!!!