What's Your "Rough Day" Routine?

[Lionel]

Over-trained chops are the nemesis of young trumpet players. You only need to practice 5 to 6 days/week. If you're having a day when nothing works?

DO NOT PLAY!

Take the day off and maybe the one after too. Rest is more important than exercise.

Given a choice on performing while out of shape vs being over-trained? I'll take being out of shape firat.
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"Check me if I'm wrong Sandy but if I kill all the golfers they're gonna lock me up & throw away the key"!

Carl Spackler (aka Bill Murray, 1980).

[Nonsense Eliminator]

[JVL]

i adopt both Lionel and Nonsenseliminator's attitude, according to context, schedule, priorities.

But Lionel points something very important, and to this i'd add that sometimes, we're addict to practicing, and then we don't rest, while we could 1) recover better 2) enjoy life, that IS the main point, the essence.

best

[roccotrumpetsiffredi]

I like blowing on a tuba mouthpiece if things get rough on trumpet, putting a vibrating airflow through all the flesh of the mouth/lips via a deep hum of your voice, then coming back to trumpet, but with the mindset of continued gentle playing, then put it away for at least 12 hours.

Personally i have found an active rest to be superior to days off.

Best of luck, i constantly ask myself, why didnt you just play the violin, instead of the trumpet? But the answer has always been the same, the violin, no matter how old, italian and expensive, can only dream of sounding like the trumpet:)

[dr_trumpet]

I find that I gain most on off days by making it work. Find the way. Figure out what the issue is and stick with it until it's managable. As a professional, I cannot afford an off day with my playing. An off day is far different from a day off. Off days happen for many, many reasons, but a day off is rarely the best answer.

AL
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Dr. Albert L. Lilly, III DM
Artist/Clinician for Vincent Bach Trumpets (Conn-Selmer)
Principal Trumpet, Hendricks Symphony (Avon, IN)
Arranger/Composer; Lilly Music

[dkwolfe]

Good Afternoon;

I'll second what Al said; "what I gain most on an off day is making it work." Figuring out how to get the sound you need or want when everything isn't working right from the start is a huge bit of information, and that is really what sets some folks apart. Everyone can play well on good chops, professionals play well on any chops (as many others have often said).

All of the above said, here's what I do (I'm not a "professional musician" although I do try to hold myself to that standard). Warm up with Chickowitz Flow studies (starting on a written G). I play the first two series, and then play some lip bends. Continue with the flow studies until I get to the series that goes up to a written G on the top of the staff. Then it's Magio 1 and 2 (working down to a pedal G or F# on the 2nd one). Finally it's back to finish the flow study exercise. If I'm getting the sound I need at that point, and I don't have a gig coming up, I put the horn away for the rest of the day. If I'm not getting the sound I want, or I have a gig soon, I keep working on things (Clark 2 and/or 3, Belk Flexabilities, etc.) until I have the sound I want, and then it into the gig material.

Your millage may vary.
D
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Nullius in Verba.

[treymeansthree]

The thing that helps me the most on days like that is very soft air attacks for as long as it takes to get my response to where I want it. I was very fortunate to have an off day when I took a lesson with Ray Sasaki at the University of Texas. I played Charlier 2 for him. My tone was terrible and I was struggling quite a bit that morning. He had me do soft, low playing for about 30 minutes from the Schlossberg book. We worked on getting the air attack response to be immediate when I started playing. When we got done with that, he had me play through the etude again. It was the most night and day difference I have ever seen in my playing. Prior to that lesson, I could always tell from the first note of the day if it was going to be a good day or a bad day. After the lesson, with the exercises he had me do, I have always been able to take what would have been a bad day and turn it into a normal day.

Hope this helps!
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Trey

Bb - Warburton 434-ML
Picc - Yamaha 6810S
Flugel - Yamaha 631

[Lionel]

[chrispate]

I'm with Al. I think that off days are often a blessing in disguise and can highlight the deficiencies we're not entirely aware of by making them much worse than they typically are. Depending on what's happening in your playing, this can help you prevent or limit the number of times you have off days by learning how to address the underlying cause and not just the symptoms. While there are a multitude of reasons why we have some off days, I believe it's due to unhealthy playing the day before (or several days before) most of the time.

I find that sticking to my (flexible) routine and calmly addressing the issues, whatever they may be, is the best remedy when this happens.

Chris

[kevin_soda]

"Unhealthy playing" is probably an unfair choice of words. Sometimes it's growing pains and sometimes it feels so good that we overdo it. I don't find that "unhealthy", just part of the deal.
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Kevin

[JVL]

Lionel
you're very welcome, your posts shows how much you want to help people sharing your knowledge & experience !

to such kids, you can say to them what Jon Faddis told : during a masterclass, he listened to a 16 y.o. kid who sounded a little like K. Dorham or D. Byrd, i don't remember, so Jon Faddis suggested him to listen to that great jazzman. The kid replied "i listen to nobody, because i don't want to lose my style" ! So Jon Faddis told him something like "style, your style? what style? you have no style, you have everything to learn, etc...."
It's not the exact dialogue, but it's the spirit..

take great care

Best

[JVL]

If you talk only about physical & physiological aspects, a day-off, so a total break day brings different physiological processes than soft light practicing.
The first one helps with physical tissues integrity, while soft light practice oxygenates and vascularizes who then can also help the micro-cicatrization.

sometimes one is better than the other, it depends and you have to know, be aware of what's going on in your body to adopt the right measure. Otherwise, mostly if not incorporated during the right physiological process, it can compromise or slow down the recovering process (kinetic of recuperation).

i repeat, both have their utility, according to the context. Same with warm-down : if you do it while your glycogenic reserves are empty and your chops are "dead", you'll do more harm than good : better to just flutter.

best

[trickg]

This is a really neat discussion.

It took me a long time to understand that when I was having an off day in the practice room, the best thing for me to do was to get in some light playing, and then put the horn back in the case. My approach before that was to continue to try to force it trying to get it to work, and in the end I'd end up beating myself up and doing more harm than good.

I had an off night the other night. The chops, for whatever reason, just weren't there - they felt stiff, unfocused, nothing was coming easy, and my accuracy was all over the place.

At that point I stopped what I was trying to work on and did some easy long tones and articulation exercises in the staff, then I put the horn away. When I came back to it the next day, things were greatly improved.

I see where dr_trumpet is coming from though - when I have an off day and it's a gig day, I have to do what I can to get through it.
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Patrick Gleason
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"95% of the average 'weekend warrior's' problems will be solved by an additional 30 minutes of insightful practice." - PLP

[tim_wolf]

One thing I learned years ago is sometimes our chops feel like crap, but it has nothing to do with playing.

For some reason, my chops always felt awful on Saturdays. I blamed it on this or that. But then, I happened to not play for a few days, and lo and behold, my chops still felt like crap on Saturday. Long story short, I finally made the connection that three hours every Friday night surrounded by smokers in my bowling league was the reason. When I happened to not bowl on Friday, the chops felt great on Saturday.

I was sure glad when Pennsylvania implemented the no smoking in public buildings law. Never had an issue after that.

[dstdenis]

Michael Sachs has a section of warm-down drills in his method, Daily Fundamentals for Trumpet. In this section, he wrote that it's helpful to play these kinds of things after a session of strenuous playing, rather than just putting the horn back in the case right away. He feels that this reduces the chances of having an off day the day after a strenuous day. I've used his warm down drills after strenuous sessions, and I've found it does help.

Sometimes an off day sneaks up on me for no apparent reason. In those cases, I realize that I can still play trumpet at some level of skill and ability, just not at the level I expected. As long as I'm sure it isn't just fatigue, I try to be honest with myself and find the level at which I can still play well. From there, I try to get things working as well as possible in the time I have. Learning how to regroup is a useful skill, especially if you have to play a rehearsal or performance that day.
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Cornet Getzen Custom 3850S
Flugelhorn Courtois 155R
Piccolo Stomvi

[kevin_soda]

I like this thread too. I think for me it's less about "powering through" a rough day and more about listening to my body. Allowing myself to find a simpler path to the music usually turns a bad day into a decent one. If I just put the horn away, I miss this unique growth opportunity...
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Kevin

[Turkle]

So, I think there are two separate issues being discussed here.

Sometimes we have a rough day after a super hard-blowing gig or sometimes the body isn't quite in alignment or our breathing is bad or whatever. And sometimes we have the luxury of taking a day off. On those days it's nice to relax with low, long tones, Schlossberg, and the first 8 notes of Charlier #2 until everything feels nice and dialed in. Play through a couple of Abersold recordings and call it a day.

But when you're on tour, or a working professional, or in college, or otherwise expected to play at a high level every day, we often don't have that luxury. Then you have to figure it out and get a magnificent sound out of your instrument no matter how bad you feel. And that's the mark of a pro - having a strategy in place to play beautifully no matter if everything doesn't feel right.

When you perform every day - as many of us have - you need that strategy to get everything in alignment even if your chops are "off." For me, that was, and continues to be, Schlossberg. The first few pages of that book are just plain magical and have saved my bacon on many an occasion.

I no longer perform every day - I have the luxury of days off if the chops are busted. But I sure remember what it was like!

Cheers.
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Curry 3.

[Andy Del]

After 4 days of contemporary music, I am right now, knackered. With 3 x 3 1/2 hours rehearsals, followed by an afternoon run through for an performance, this was a lot more and heavier playing that I have done for quite a while.

Apart from the best preparation I could muster, I knew I'd be in a position of getting fatigued, and if not careful id be in a poor place to perform. I believe this is where many make a crucial mistake, thinking they can muscle on endlessly then wonder why things have gone south the next day / week...

So I took a few decisions to take conctrol of the situation.

Teaching all this weeek week was about 4 hours each day, so I got in early, and did very careful warmups, making sure my response nad range are feeling good. I didn't overdo things in lessons - letting them play more, and I demonstrated far less than usual.

A warm down after each rehearsal was needed, but being given lifts by others, I had to do floppy buzzing on top of a 20 second low note warm down.

The main tactic was to not have to work too hard on the gig. Eb and piccolo came to the rescue. It took an 'overture' from being a gonzo piece of insanity to quite managemable, and another, easy looking, but awkward to play work became simple.

Th only person to notice was the other trumpet.

This morning, I feel very tired chop wise, so a day off is going to happen. I'll just free buzz while mowing the lawn! Knowing your limitations, and planning accordiangle can save a lot of angst!

Cheers

Andy
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so many horns, so few good notes...

[lambchop]

[JVL]

hello lambchop
hard to answer you, and i confess i don't understand well what you're describing...
how long have you been playing trumpet (when did you start), how long and how/what do you practice a day?

sometimes, variations from day to day in regard of chops feeling (hard, stiff, soft) and vibration response can be induced by food allergies
best