ISOMETRICS

[_Don Herman]

(1) On the muscle bound issue... In Karate, I taught (as I was taught) that too much mass without proper balance (strength in motion) would slow one down. The fastest move starts from a relaxed state. Of course, in the body I'm not sure how "relaxed" applies due to "resting tension" -- the thing that makes our fingers curl when at our sides rather than hanging straight down. (Or, maybe they curl because straight down looks dorky? )

One of my favorite "perfect practice" quotes comes from an English soccer coach, Don Hughes (I think): "Practice doesn't neccessarily make perfect; practice makes permanent". In Karate, we learn by doing a move perfectly, one time -- then repeat for the next million, with help from our Sensei, until we can't get it wrong. It can be a painful lesson.

(2) Isometrics as applied to trumpet playing have always been presented to me as exercises isolated from the horn. I know (I be an engine-ear, after all) this doesn't jive with thermodynamics, aerodynamics, or any physics-based definition, but that's the way I've always seen it. Perhaps we should create a new name for this class of exercises? Think on it between stoplights sometime.

As for the pencil thing, I form my embouchure pretty much as I play but holding a pencil instead of playing a high note. For me (everyone get that? that means it might not work for you) it seems to help develop the right muscles, though I can't ever be 100% certain (of anything! )

I don't no nuthin' 'bout exciting my wife (significant other) with my "we" and "wow" -- she ain't around when I do 'em. Maybe I should do them while we watch the news at night?

As for the workings of my mind, if you like that I suggest immediate psychiatric help!

See ya' - Don

(Mental Note: Do not perform isometrics around the wildlife; don't want to give them the wrong idea!)
_________________
Don Herman/Monument, CO
"After silence, that which best expresses the inexpressible, is music." - Aldous Huxley

[Murray]

Thanks for the informative lesson on the breathing apparatus. When you said, "Forced Expiration...what we trumpeters refer to as "air support" is normally not required, unless we are coughing, sneezing, having a bowel movement, trumpet playing..."well, I believe that the sensation and effort used to have a bowel movement, shouldn't be equated in any sense with "air support" or playing the trumpet! When having a bowel movement, we are trying to do exactly that...when playing a trumpet by using forced expiration, we are trying to blow air through a highly resistant instrument. If I end up pushing in the same way that I do when I'm having a bowel movement, not much air will end up moving (which is really air support...that is, air in motion)...what does air expiration have to do with bowel movements??? The body knows just what it needs to do to have a bowel movement, but this shouldn't be thought of as an anology to trumpet playing in any sense.


When you said, "breathing with forced expiration really isn't a problem, unless perhaps there is an ingual hernia..." well, I guess breathing shouldn't be a problem, but a lot of players do have problems with breathing, specifically because of tension. Whether or not this tension can be labeled as "isometric", well, I couldn't say. I will say that it is possible to have your inspiratory and expiratory muscles at war with each other, which ends up meaning that very little air ends up being blown, under much tension. When I mentioned that you can hurt yourself in this way, I speak from firsthand experience. I tore or damaged tendons in my chest at one point, which led to a trip to Chicago to see Jacobs. He was the one that explained what ended up happening.

Si it looks like this discussion has mutated a bit away from "isometric excersises". I just wanted to comment on these states of tension that trumpet players can experience. Like I mentioned, perhaps isometric is the wrong word. There so so much tendency towards isometric contraction (the bowel movement syndrome) in playing that I shudder when people mention "practicing isometric excersises". You are right Walter, in that you can have one group of muscles working against gravity, and therefore perform an isometric excersise. You could also push your arms against a wall, and perform an isometric excersise, without using antagonistic muslces to offer resistance. But, getting into isometric states by having antagonistic muscles at war with each other, is definately something to avoid!

[walter]

[ This Message was edited by: walter on 2002-09-20 07:56 ]

[Murray]

Right you are Walter. The Valsalva manuever is what the body goes through when having a bowel movement. However, this is not a desired state to be in when blowing a trumpet! Giving birth, having a bowel movement, yes. Blowing air, NO! You will notice while your body is going through Valsalva's manuever, that your glottis closes. This makes it very difficult to blow air! When a teacher tells a student to "push as if having a bowel movement," he or she is giving bad advice! Let's not forget where we put the trumpet! If we played the trumpet from a different orifice, then the technique of "blowing" would take on a different meaning! But the Valsalva Maneuver was never meant for us to be able to move air through the mouth! Try this experiment: Next time while having a bowel movement, try talking. You will notice that is far more difficult to talk...imagine blowing a trumpet!

It is easy to get into the Valsalva maneuver while playing. Our body is designed to do exactly that. In fact, while playing, that's why it is so easy to get into this condition, because our body thinks that we want to have a bowel movement because of the way we are bearing down, instead of blowing air. It doesn't know that we want to blow air instead. Are the muscles the same for exhaling and having a bowel movement? I'm not a doctor, but I would guess that the same muscles are used. Jacobs mentioned that we want to avoid getting into this state, which leaves static air in the lungs, that is difficult to move.

Sorry for being so long winded. There has been much confusion about this subject.

[walter]

[ This Message was edited by: walter on 2002-09-20 07:57 ]