Any advice would be appreciated

[cmatice]

Okay. This year in marching band we have after school rehearsal 3 days a week and a game on Friday. So by the time I get home I have played 3 hours already that day and my chops are pretty much done for. But I really want to practice on my own some. My chops are just exhausted, so I can't do anything. Does anyone have any ideas on how I could practice at home? It is sort of hard to gain endurance when I am already exhausted when I get home.

[MattC]

If your chops are blown, just rest. Best thing you could do.

I went through Jr. High and High School playing until I couldn't play almost every day. It really was not a good idea. But I loved to play

My band director was famous for driving us into the dirt. He'd tell us to not hold back anything during practice before a big event. We left a lot of our best performances on the practice field. Learn to hold back some at rehearsals. Take some breaks.

Also, if you need more time--see if you can get in to practice at lunch. My band director left the door open for me at lunch and I'd play then. At least if I got tired, I got tired after I practiced my stuff.

Three hours of marching band is a lot. We did that 5 days a week, games on Saturday The one advantage was that we did build up.

Practice on the off days. Don't drive yourself into the dirt. That's how you get really bad habits like strange embouchures.

[MattC]

One thing I'll add--

if you are playing first, keep in mind that when there's a unison part you are likely covered enough that you can fake it. Seriously, 2nd's and 3rd's will play out a lot on unison parts and you probably won't be heard anyway.

If you are leaving the field already blown, you probably aren't doing yourself any favors.

I'm sure there are people with more relevant experience (say, drum corps vets) who can speak to this better than I. Maybe I'm off base. But I do remember getting some bad embouchures during times when I played to exhaustion and it took a LONG time to fix.

[crzytptman]

What's more important to you - marching band or your own development? Sounds like something has to give. Choose wisely.
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[HornnOOb]

You're getting plenty of playing time with your marching band practices. Don't worry about playing more when you get home. Let your chops rest.

I wouldn't be at all concerned about how much playing time you have in HS. The real issue is, do you intend to continue after HS, college and beyond. Here's my point: If you don't intend on playing for the next 10-25 years, what difference does it make if you play a little extra after you get home from band practice. Your HS marching band time is to be savored and experienced to its fullest. You have many, many years ahead. Spend the time after band practice kicked-back on the couch LISTENING to the trumpet music you like. Listening to a lot of trumpet music is almost as important as playing.

As for me, I stopped playing after HS. Never touched a horn again until I was 55. You have no idea how much I now wish I had continued playing throughout the past 40+ years.
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I rode in on a horse and can't seem to get out of L.A.

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1971 Getzen Eterna 900S Severinsen Model
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1951 Olds Special Cornet

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[irith]

Biggest thing I advise related to marching band is keeping a "balanced diet". You need to find some time to do a bunch of soft, low playing - the opposite of what you have been doing. Get a nice gentle warm-up and warm-down in every day, this will help keep your chops in more normal, productive form. You will find that you are less exhausted because your playing will be more efficiently. Try lots of breath attacks, slow slurs, all pp and in the lower half or so of your range. Definitely don't venture above middle C and mostly stay at or below G in the staff. Touch the upper notes when warming up but don't devote time to it. You're getting hours of that every day in band. Clarke, beginning of Schlossberg, etc. is what you want to get some time on.

I would suggest a minimum of 30 minutes a day of relaxed playing on your own to counteract marching season chops. Probably 20 minutes warming up and 10 warming down. Get up a little earlier in the mornings and get that time in, and you'll start to feel a lot better. Once you get accustomed to this you can start to add some more technique work to keep actually developing your chops if you have the time. Always keep in mind balance; no need to work range on your own in marching season.
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[James B. Quick]

Instead of doing a full practice session at home, on some days just do some pedal tone excercises to get the blood flowing in your chops, and then leave it at that....

jbq

[irith]

[James B. Quick]

[xandrucruza]

Quit marching band! Or become drum major.
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Xandru Cruza

[andybharms]

I teach a lot of high school trumpet players privately. It is a problem most people face, but it is also very possible, and professionals deal with long playing days and lots of work to do in the evening all the time. Like all problems, there are solutions. A handful of strategies:

1) Get up earlier. Go to school when it opens, and get in a good warm-up and fundamentals session before anything else happens. Don't push too hard, just make nice resonant sounds, and practice with perfect technique and your best musicality. I like Clarke 1, the first few pages of Schlossberg, or some nice easy scales.

2) Try and take it easy in marching band. Someone else pointed this out-- let your friends take the unison parts, or play very softly. If you feel your form slipping, try and lay out. Every time you put the horn to your lips and play, you are building a habit; make them the right habits. Better to not play than play with bad form.

3) Try to make some time to warm down after band. Low notes, soft playing. When your lips feel soft again, put the horn away. It isn't always "cool" to show this level of commitment to your trumpet when everybody else is talking and laughing, but you'll feel a lot better in the evening so who cares.

4) Apply some Burt's Bees after rehearsal and throughout the day, or just pure vitamin E goop. It'll help a ton.

4) Warm up AGAIN at home before you sit down to practice in the evening. Just like with athletes... if more than a few minutes go by without playing, you need to play at least a few notes before diving in. Legend has it that Maurice Andre would always have his horn around and played a note every few minutes, just to keep his lips fresh.

5) When you are doing your evening practice, try not to push too hard. A few minutes on the horn, a few minutes off. Intermittent practicing and studying. And... Be a fighter about it. Someone famously says, "you can have excuses or you can have results." So your upper register is shot. If you're like me, there's plenty of other work that needs to get done. Practicing tonguing low notes. First couple of Mahler 5 phrases. Carmen. Transpose some things down. Or just put your favorite trumpeter on itunes. Do what you can now and hit the rest tomorrow with a fresh set. All good use of your time.

Hope some or all of these help!
_________________
Andrew Harms, DMA
http://www.andrewbharms.com

[andybharms]

deleted
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Andrew Harms, DMA
http://www.andrewbharms.com

[Emanski]

Practice first thing in morning. Use practice mute not to wake others up.
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Cymanski
Monette 149XL Trumpet
GETZEN 3850S Cornet

[royjohn]

cmatice,

I think you've gotten some really good suggestions, to which I can't add much. My concern, having suffered with some really silly directors, is that something is wrong when you have to play for three hour on three days to prepare a football marching band program. Somebody (guess who?) is into mindless practice. So if you lay out or do whatever you need to do to keep some of your chops for later, you are certainly justified in this. If there is a way to get some of the kids and/or parents to complain about this mindless practice, go for it. It is easy enough to practice rhythms without horn on lips, fingering without horn on lips, marching without playing, soft playing, etc., etc. It is not necessary and is even counterproductive to practice simple material endlessly, fff.

If I were running this program, I'd give out the music a week early and let folks learn it at home. When you come in to practice, you play it, maybe on the spot, one by one, and when you have it down, you get to leave. I think you would find that folks had more fun and got the stuff down quicker. Well, this guy is not the last dumb director you will meet . . . .
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royjohn
Trumpets: 1928 Holton Llewellyn Model, 1957 Holton 51LB, 2010 Custom C by Bill Jones, 2011 Custom D/Eb by Bill Jones
Flugels: 1975 Olds Superstar, 1970's Elkhardt, 1970's Getzen 4 valve
Cornet: 1970's Yamaha YCR-233S . . . and others . . .