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HaveTrumpetWillTravel
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 06, 2021 2:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

For OP, I sometimes have the same issue with "stale air" and it's not a function of health (I believe). Instead, it's matching the amount of breath to the passage and not overblowing or overbreathing. I am still working on this and sometimes also have to add exhales. I don't think taking up jogging (or the like) would improve this for you. There are some great threads on here about the problem you are working on.
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ebolton
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 07, 2021 1:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Jeff, I tried to register for your site so I could see that video, but when I got to the part where an email was sent, that email never got to me.



Jeff_Purtle wrote:
Here’s a lecture worth a listen from Dr. Larry Miller, M.D. who was a successful cardio vascular surgeon and specializing in sports medicine.

https://www.purtle.com/audio/claude-gordon-brass-camp-1992-larry-miller-health-fitness-and-physiology

Jeff

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Andy Del
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 07, 2021 1:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

hibidogrulez wrote:

Please feel free to ignore, if you must.

[rant]

You misunderstood my original post. I do value my health, but my physical fitness is sufficient for everyday life and that means it's hard to find a proper source of motivation to 'do more', especially when daily life includes a million distractions. I've tried exercising in the past and never could keep it up because it's so dreadfully boring (team sports are even worse because of the attitude of most 'team players').

So I have to motivate myself somehow, and the promise of improving my playing even a little bit does the job for now.

As a ‘textbook couch potato’, it is even MORE obvious now you need an attitude adjustment. Living like this is not normal. I would suggest that I did not misunderstand your original post, rather you do not realise the import of your post!

If life distracts one from exercise to the point you described, then they need to look at their life and reorganise it, lest life does the reorganising for you in a more succinct and possibly permanent way.

And if you don’t like team-based activity, how do you get along in an ensemble? It is after all, a team activity!

I return to attitude adjustment...

I know there’s nothing worse than a reformed couch potato, which I was back in the early 1990’s. Getting out of breath, having palpitations while playing taxing passages was a message I eventually listened to. I took it seriously and got fit. Today, I am no gym junkie, and don’t have an exercise routine, unless one counts walking the dogs. I do some water sports. I am active. I make an effort to eat wisely. All of this without being over zealous. It pays off - cardiologist is stumped at how well I can do stress tests, I feel like I am playing at a good standard and have not only scope to develop, possibility is there.

Why not turn the TV off, do 30 minutes of practice, go for an hour walk and do another 30 minutes? Do it daily. Get back to everyone in a month and report how things are.
[/rant]
Cheers

Andy [/list]
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Richard III
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 07, 2021 2:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

As a confirmed gymaholic, I can say being in shape makes all of life better and easier. I have for over four decades done weight lifting, flexibility exercises and cardio. I don't have any physical ailments or complaints. I rarely get sick. And holding a marching baritone is not taxing on my arms or shoulders or back. I really enjoy the gym and hate it if I miss a day.

You can live your life any way you want. Investments in fitness pay huge dividends especially when getting older.
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tomba51
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 07, 2021 4:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

If I remember correctly, Bud Brisbois recommended a fitness program for trumpet players. I think that the program he used was devised by the Canadian Air Force.
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Bethmike
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 07, 2021 7:02 pm    Post subject: Physical Fitness Reply with quote

Richard,

Agreed on all points! Starting at a gym 44 years ago at 18. Still at it. Get cranky when I miss workouts. Still don't like stretching, but appreciate it more now at 62 than ever before.

Makes trumpet playing easier too.

Mike
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deleted_user_687c31b
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 07, 2021 11:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Andy Del wrote:
if you don’t like team-based activity, how do you get along in an ensemble? It is after all, a team activity!

Mainly because 'sports people' tend to be so competitive and result driven. The musicians I know are generally relaxed and easygoing, and those that aren't I tend to avoid.
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delano
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 07, 2021 11:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I only want to play with musicians who are 'result driven'.
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deleted_user_687c31b
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 08, 2021 12:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

delano wrote:
I only want to play with musicians who are 'result driven'.

Result driven yes, competitively result driven, no. The people I'm referring to are the people that derive their self worth from putting down people who are less skilled than themselves. There are too many of those people in team sports for my liking, though evidently there are musicians like that as well.
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delano
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 08, 2021 1:01 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hmm, I don't know. In the jazzworld it's quite common to have very competitive jam sessions. If I remember well it was in the days of the development of the bop usance to make it so difficult that less qualified players had to leave the bandstand. In the past when I played bass guitar I remember some sessions with an American trumpet player living in Europe where every session started with some standard in ridiculous up tempo just to get rid of some players.
Listen to 'For Musicians Only' , Dizzy Gillespie's view on it.
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deleted_user_687c31b
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 08, 2021 1:31 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

delano wrote:
Hmm, I don't know. In the jazzworld it's quite common to have very competitive jam sessions. If I remember well it was in the days of the development of the bop usance to make it so difficult that less qualified players had to leave the bandstand. In the past when I played bass guitar I remember some sessions with an American trumpet player living in Europe where every session started with some standard in ridiculous up tempo just to get rid of some players.
Listen to 'For Musicians Only' , Dizzy Gillespie's view on it.

When a band has certain standards in order to reach a certain level of performance, that's ok. A professional playing with other professionals having standards, or people being competitive as part of a competition, have every right to do so. But when amateurs who are only slightly better than someone else abuse their position to exclude or trash those 'beneath them', that's where I have issues. Fortunately, as a hobbyist musician I have the luxury to avoid such people. With team sports, not so much. Being a short chubby guy, I've been on the receiving end of verbal abuse far too often.
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cgaiii
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 08, 2021 11:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Exercise, stretching and fitness make life better for me. When life is better, my horn playing is better.
I try to swim a mile (well 1600 meters) every other day, stretch and do various weight bearing exercises every day. I am not the most fit person in the world by far and do not look anything like an athlete any more, but fitness is certainly part of the quality of life for me, as is trumpet playing.
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Andy Del
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 09, 2021 2:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

hibidogrulez wrote:

Mainly because 'sports people' tend to be so competitive and result driven. The musicians I know are generally relaxed and easygoing, and those that aren't I tend to avoid.

Mann, you need to hang out and play sports with different people! They sound like the antithesis of sporting!
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LaTrompeta
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 10, 2021 3:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Aerobic exercise will help your VO2Max, which is the amount of oxygen your cells can uptake. That has no bearing on brass performance. Playing trumpet we don't need a whole lot of air volume to begin with. Also, having shredded abs isn't going to get you a Dubba C.
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deleted_user_687c31b
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PostPosted: Thu May 13, 2021 12:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Figured I'd check in after a while for a progress update. Since I wrote my original post, I've been exercising daily (either 30min of cycling or 45min of walking). Truthfully, it's been harder than expected. In the past I usually got a rythm in a week or 2 at most, but this time it still takes a lot of energy to keep going. I'm starting to wonder whether it's because I'm getting older, or maybe that I've had Covid somewhere along the line. Regardless, trumpet playing has improved but that's more likely due to life being less stressful and a technique tweak than any physical fitness improvements. I do agree that it's useful for other reasons, so I plan to keep it up...but for lung capacity or breathing improvements, it has done little so far.
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cgaiii
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PostPosted: Fri May 14, 2021 7:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

hibidogrulez wrote:
I do agree that it's useful for other reasons, so I plan to keep it up...but for lung capacity or breathing improvements, it has done little so far.

It will take a long time to see noticeable improvements in your lung capacity and breathing. Often they are slow and imperceptible, hard for you to observe in yourself. Then one day perhaps several years from now or six months from now, you will do something on trumpet or in life and you will feel it is easy and realize it was once hard.
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chuck in ny
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PostPosted: Mon May 31, 2021 5:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

nice can of worms subject.
you need a good physical unit to play the trumpet. i really admire when thin and young females can play effectively. their strength belies their appearance and of course the same for young boys.
some people are constitutionally strong and can blow really well despite a sedentary lifestyle and a large appetite for food. things catch up with them but often surprisingly later on.
the rest of us are well advised to take care of ourselves and get resistance and aerobic exercise. ending with a larger can of worms, the best thing you can do with your deficiencies is to address them.
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joelf
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 01, 2021 5:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm not 5'3"; nigh 67 years old and 187 pounds---not a good weight at all. I've been assiduously trying to knock off the weight dieting and running. Playing (guitar, my main squeeze) is sedentary when sitting---which is what I do.

But since getting into the horn recently (see my post in Fundamentals) a very welcome fringe benefit has occurred: the breathing and long tone practice has been a boon to my endurance running (I'm talking a few blocks here but I feel a sea change for real). Being a non-smoker doesn't hurt. But aside from wanting to see where I'm at playing in a year I bet I'll be way healthier (and lighter) too.

Good luck to you all. Take care of that temple...
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trickg
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 02, 2021 5:08 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

hibidogrulez wrote:
As a textbook couch potato, physical exercise hasn't exactly been my hobby (mostly because I found it rather dull). Lately however I've been experiencing some shortness of breath while playing the trumpet (which is likely technique related though) so I figured I'd try and pick up cycling again, with improving my trumpet playing as a motivator. I've been wondering though, how much does general fitness affect trumpet playing? I'm pretty sure it won't hurt, other than less time to practice (and it obviously has other benefits) but in your opinions, does it help make you a better player?

I love this forum - nowhere else can a person ask a simple question and get 2 pages of semi-related posts than never really directly addresses the question.

You asked: "...but in your opinions, does it help make you a better player?"

My direct answer to the question is, yes.

I've been an on-again, off-again gym rat since I was in my mind 20s and I started to gain weight around the middle when my metabolism slowed from the nuclear reactor that most young men have up through their early 20s. I started by doing cardio, but moved into mixing cardio and weights. It wasn't long before I started to notice the impact it had on my playing because I was an Army trumpet player at the time, so I was playing every day.

Granted, it's not going to fix certain technical issues, but it fixes the wind machine and support muscles that we need in order to utilize proper airflow. Things that will improve: endurance, range, (a little bit - not a lot) control, sound, dynamics in phrasing, etc. I've particularly noticed how lifting weights has helped - I ALWAYS have better gigs if I'm working out and lifting regularly. Playing just becomes easier, and therefore, "better" - does that makes sense?

But to reiterate the answer to your direct question, yes, getting fit will make you a better trumpet player and for a lot of different reasons.

cgaiii wrote:
It will take a long time to see noticeable improvements in your lung capacity and breathing. Often they are slow and imperceptible, hard for you to observe in yourself. Then one day perhaps several years from now or six months from now, you will do something on trumpet or in life and you will feel it is easy and realize it was once hard.

I completely disagree with this. Last summer because of Covid 19 our local Y was allowing folks to swim laps by appointment only. I was going with my wife nearly every day because she likes to swim, and she likes to spend time with me - we went almost every day. There were quite noticeable improvements in my breathing and lung capacity in just a few short weeks, which is a whole lot less than "several years or six months from now." It happened in less than a month.

I went from only being able to take 4-8 strokes between breaths to being able to traverse the entire length of the pool on a single breath. The first couple of times I made it, I barely made it, and I was only able to do it maybe once or twice during the hour laps session we had. Inside of a month I was able to do it pretty much every time I wanted to during the whole hour we were there, and if it was early in the swim, making it to the other side of the pool on a single breath was nearly effortless. That's weeks - not months. Keep in mind, I turned 50 last summer - I'm not a young man.

Do you have any kind of medical background that would support the statement you made?
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topazann
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 15, 2021 3:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I find swimming to be the best exercise for trumpet as it gives you negative pressure(having your lungs empty) training as well as pure cardio benefits(air-to-blood efficiency, slower heart rate, bigger lung size) and is better for your joints.

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