Menstration and the upper register

[Doublebuzz]

Hello Cats,
Although I am very much a man, I notice when my wife is having cramps my upper register suffers. Does anyone else have this problem? I hope I am not alone. I don't want to be alone. IS anyone out there? OK anyway, I still practice the same but I think it is like sympathetic hormones. Anyone have any thoughts or tips?
Later
Doublebuzz

[brnt99]

I think tension is the key. Tension kills upper range. Cramps = tension= tread lightly you sob.

[Max Reverb]

[ This Message was edited by: Max Reverb on 2002-04-28 12:27 ]

[Quadruple C]

[ This Message was edited by: Quadruple C on 2003-10-01 15:15 ]

[edtaylor]

Before we go too far with this we were female in the womb bit, consider that males have both X and Y chromosones whereas females have only the X chromosone. After all woman was taken from man.
_________________
Ed Taylor . . . a Messianic gentile

[Warbird]

This is all I have to say...

This is one of the most disturbing posts I have yet to see...

In Christ,
Joseph N. Pack
_________________
Holton MF ST307 -Marc Bobby Shew 1E10.3
Bach Strad. Mo 43 - Bach 1X
1929 Conn. - Bach 1X
1935 H. N. White Co. Cornet - Denis Wick 4B

[pfrank]

[trickg]

I don't know if my upper range suffers because my wife and I are sharing a life experience or if I'm just stressed out because it's Patrick Must Suffer (PMS) week. Stress plays a big part of how well my upper range is going and trust me when I say, if momma aint happy, aint nobody happy!
_________________
Patrick Gleason
- Jupiter 1600i, ACB 3C, Warburton 4SVW/Titmus RT2
- Brasspire Unicorn C
- ACB Doubler

"95% of the average 'weekend warrior's' problems will be solved by an additional 30 minutes of insightful practice." - PLP

[NelleTrumpet]

Being a woman , I’d thought I’d contribute.

I’ve never had my high register suffer due to cramps. I think what brnt99 said is key – it is not the hormones, but the tension that causes trumpet playing to suffer. Obviously cramps are not too comfortable, but I think they are not an excuse for poor playing no more than a runny nose is. But I’m betting that if being around someone that is crabby and tense makes you tense yourself, it would definitely affect your playing. Some of my worst struggles in playing have come not because of obstacles related to trumpet but during times when I had a lot of external stress going on, such as right now given that final exams start in two days.

As far as edtaylor and Quad C’s comments…they are not quite correct. First of all, women have two X chromosomes, not one. The X chromosome is supplied by the mother’s egg, the other X or Y by the father’s sperm. Now, it has only been a year since I took a child and adolescent development course, so here goes: For the first 6 weeks, embryos are neither male nor female. At week 7, the presence of a Y chromosome triggers the differentiation of the sex glands into testes. The absence of the Y chromosome triggers the sex glands to develop into ovaries. So we are neither female nor male for the first six weeks of life, after which the sex glands differentiate into testes or ovaries. The testes then secrete androgen hormones, which arrest the development of female characteristics, and instead male characteristics develop. If androgens are absent or the embryo is insensitive to androgens, a female will develop. This means several things. First, it could be said that regardless of genetics, female is the “default” gender. Secondly, it is possible for a genetically male (XY) embryo to develop a female reproductive system and body. It is also possible for a genetically female (XX) embryo to receive androgens from the mother and develop into a male.

Woman does not come from man, nor does man come from woman. Gender comes from two chromosomes interacting with hormones in the womb.

Warbird, I don’t think this post is disturbing, especially not disturbing enough to start other threads concerning how disturbed you are. I find it disturbing is the fact that you have “In Christ” and the word “bastard” in the same post.
_________________
Danelle Wilbraham

[trickg]

Danelle,

Nicely said. Here is a question for you that I am curious about. Does playing trumpet during your cramping phase make the cramps worse since so much of that area is used for air support?

Going back to stess and having it affect your playing, as long as I'm not doing a 3 or 4 set rock band gig and endurance isn't an issue, I almost always play better if I've had too little sleep than I do if I got a full night's sleep or more than 8 hours. I think this is because I'm to tired to think too much so I just do it. It's like Crash says in "Bull Durham", "Don't think, It will only hurt the ball club."
_________________
Patrick Gleason
- Jupiter 1600i, ACB 3C, Warburton 4SVW/Titmus RT2
- Brasspire Unicorn C
- ACB Doubler

"95% of the average 'weekend warrior's' problems will be solved by an additional 30 minutes of insightful practice." - PLP

[pair of kings]

Nelle,
interesting to me that you don't notice a difference in your playing. I certainly do. I understand that women singers esp in Europe plan their concert schedules around their cycles because of the hormonal changes which also affect the vocal chords. I notice that my chops tend to get puffy - swollen - that edema thing. Not to mention the blowing part which just is not real pleasant. and it does knock a couple notes off the high end for a day or two. the gigs fall where they fall so it isn't much use to complain. I'd rather play than not play most days regardless.
Now my husband is also a player but I don't think he is quite that sympathetic that his playing suffers from it. My moods are another thing but justs lets me get over it.
Finally Nelle, I do agree with your comment on Warbird's signature. sick of seeing that.

[Quadruple C]

[ This Message was edited by: Quadruple C on 2003-10-01 15:16 ]

[Quadruple C]

[ This Message was edited by: Quadruple C on 2003-10-01 15:16 ]

[NelleTrumpet]

Patrick,
I've found that playing (or doing any sort of activity) tends to make my cramps feel better. Maybe it's because there's so much to worry about when playing that you don't have time to whine about cramps! But seriously, activity generally helps.

Pair of Kings,
I may lose some high notes, I really don't know. I don't really think about it that much so I don't really notice a decrease in performance. And luckily, I don't have the puffy lips problem.

Quad C,
"When the woman is truly revered as a true equal to man in this world we will have quite a wonderful place to live indeed." Well said. I'm glad you see that I generally agree with you. I have read WAY too many psych studies to still believe that there are no gender differences in how people think and behave. But different doesn't mean unequal.
_________________
Danelle Wilbraham

[Quadruple C]

[ This Message was edited by: Quadruple C on 2003-10-01 15:17 ]

[pfrank]

Quadruple C, as you may know, brain research has shown thet women have a larger corpus calosum (sp?), the connection between the two sides of the brain. As a result, the logical part of the mind is more informed by the emotional/abstract part. Women have been shown to be far superior at multi-tasking as well, particularly left handed women. (In left handedness there is a greater sharing of left and right brain functions)

In Christian middle ages Europe, left handedness was considered to be satanic, and even thirty years ago children in Catholic schools were forced to write right handed even if it was unnatural. Immagine if you were a red haired left handed woman in 1100 AD. You would be burned at the stake for being a witch!
I agree with you, oppression can't be maintained. There have been pessimists all along, but I think that the forms of the old world oppression Are slowly leaving. And as the 60s were a flushing out, now we are learning to "not throw the baby out with the bathwater" as we are recognizing the good old values such as personal responsibility and community kindness.
Back in 325, it wasn't just Constatine who took the power, his wife was the active one behind the throne...behind any great man...and any early Christian texts (many of which have been rediscovered, buried) that did not consolidate the power of the Roman priesthood were thrown out. All of the metaphysical and personal approaches to God were thrown out, and as happened in those days, the adherants of those spiritual schools were murdered. It has been estimated that historically, 10 million people in the old and new worlds have been killed in the name of Jesus Christ. People, negative, power hungry, fearful and disconnected (from spirit). People using a Great Truth for their own ends. (This is not anti-Christian any more than a description of Nazi atrocities is anti-German. It's just historical fact. I say "in the name of JC", and include the Crusades and the Conquistadors, etc., etc.)

About your signature--remember what you already know etc., reminds me that the word Education (Greek root) means "bringing out", as is your signature! The ancient Greeks Began the education of children With Music! It was thought that if you knew the musical forms, everything else could be added later with understanding. Sounds right to me!


_________________
"Truth is not in the heights but at the bottom of all things."
Paul Twitchell

[ This Message was edited by: pfrank on 2002-04-30 09:54 ]

[ This Message was edited by: pfrank on 2002-04-30 11:29 ]

[Quadruple C]

[ This Message was edited by: Quadruple C on 2003-10-01 15:18 ]

[Strawdoggy]