Maybe a silly question, but what about really bad days?

saelee · Regular Member Joined: 03 Jan 2002 Posts: 34

Hello all,

I had one of the worst practicing sessions yesterday, and I've had bad days, but not in a while.

Question is, even when you are built up properly, and playing properly, do you have days that are just terrible and what do you do to recover from them?

I can play up to A above High C, but yesterday, even a High C, although not to difficult, just didn't feel right. My sound was also not very good and would fuzz out here and there. VERY BAD DAY to say the least.

Your thoughts as always are appreciated.

Thanks.

davidquinlan · Posted: Tue Aug 06, 2002 7:54 am Post subject:

Maybe you need to take a day or two off?

Every three or four weeks or so, I take a couple of days off playing altogether... just to take a rest, recharge the batteries so to speak

I have found that this has helped in the longer term.

Cheers
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David Quinlan

gfpstudios · New Member Joined: 05 Aug 2002 Posts: 3

Doc Severnsen once said, "Playing the trumpet is like wrestling a bear...sometimes the bear wins." I agree totally. There are days when my tone sounds like I am being accompanied by whale song. I clean the horn, check the corks, but no effect. It is just that when you practice consistently, you will have those days. I used to practice 7 days a week. I have cut back to 5 days with a mean practice mute and I have not had the problem since. Advise: if you have a performance and are experiencing this problem, lay off the day before. You should be OK...even great

Keep practicing,
Greg
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OLD DRUM CORPS SOPRANO PLAYER

DaveH · Heavyweight Member Joined: 20 Nov 2001 Posts: 3861

I wouldn't be surprised to find that every player - no matter how good or even famous - has an occasional bad day. Each one may see it somewhat differently as to what a "bad" day means - but I think that just about everyone can say they have had some bad days here and there. I don't think it's anything to be too concerned about.

dwm1129 · Posted: Tue Aug 06, 2002 8:09 am Post subject:

trickg · Posted: Tue Aug 06, 2002 8:18 am Post subject:

I tend to think that it happens to everyone. When I have days like that now, I just put the horn away and call it a day because I don't want to either frustrate myself or damage my chops by pushing them too hard to do something that just isn't going to happen.

A month or so ago I had a gig (public performance as opposed to the private gigs that we normally play) where I realized by the middle of the first set that the whole gig was going to be a struggle and I didn't have much fun because I was working my tail off just to make the grade. I really wanted to play well on that gig and I thought I did everything right to prepare for it. I made sure I was hydrated, had gotten something to eat, had gotten enough sleep the night before, hadn't overworked my chops in days prior, etc.

Then, last weekend, I had a really good gig where I was on, my range was there and I didn't chop out before the end of the gig and I did almost nothing "right" in the day or two prior to that one. After more than 20 years playing, I still don't know exactly what combination of things goes into having a good performance. It might just be that there are good days and bad days and you have to learn to accept them as they come. They key, I think, is to be prepared to the point where a bad day is still pretty good.

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Patrick Gleason

[ This Message was edited by: trickg on 2002-08-06 11:19 ]

Quadruple C · Heavyweight Member Joined: 28 Nov 2001 Posts: 1448

[ This Message was edited by: Quadruple C on 2003-09-20 23:17 ]

pair of kings · Posted: Wed Aug 07, 2002 10:03 pm Post subject:

When you play for a living -it is a different story. Much as you might want to put the horn down - you cant. The audience doesn't care how your chops feel. Same thing with the 2nd or 3rd show/gig/set - you have to make it happen as if you are as fresh as the first. On a heavy gig day, I find it helps if I warm up ahead of time (an hour+) instead of right beforehand. A big key is to stay relaxed. Most times the chops will come around if you don't push it. If I am feeling stiff, I might just back off the volume a bit 'til I loosen up. Sometimes it doesn't - then it isn't fun, and you start thinking of how many easier ways to make a living there might be.
I will just add that a friend of mine who was a long time student of Claude's doesn't EVER sound like he has a bad day. Some days it is more work than others, but he can always do the job ALWAYS. That is one reason I pay attention when he talks about things that Claude told him. one that comes back to me often is just relax,take a big breath and blow - yeah and watch the tongue.

[ This Message was edited by: pair of kings on 2002-08-08 01:07 ]

John Mohan · Posted: Mon Aug 12, 2002 2:42 am Post subject:

My experience with the Claude Gordon Method was/is that my playing became very consistent when I started studying from Claude's books (about 25 years ago).

I don't have "bad days".

I think that as you get older and finish growing, your consistency improves also. After all, until you're about 20 or more years old, your body (including your mouth) is changing and growing.

Just be patient and don't waste timing seeing "how high you can play", or what you can or cannot do on any given day. Just have self-discipline and practice your daily routine and things will even out for you.

Sincerely,

John Mohan