Caruso Late in the Day

Goldenchops55 · Posted: Wed Aug 07, 2002 12:57 pm Post subject:

Hello all,
School band camp has started. It starts at 7:30am and ends at 1:30pm. I have absolutely no time to do my Caruso excersises. What I have been doing is doing a regular warm up and the six notes, and then playing at band camp, then at around 8pm later that day, I do my Caruso when I know my chops have recovered. Is this okay? Will I still get results?

_bugleboy · Posted: Wed Aug 07, 2002 3:34 pm Post subject:

If you're doing a lot of heavy blowing, my advice is to lay off of calisthenics. The rest that you will give your chops by NOT playing is probably going to be more beneficial to them than ANY kind of additional hard playing.

After you finish your band camp at 1:30 I would play 3-5 minutes of low F#s as softly as possible, pppp. Hold them as long as possible. When you finish doing this put the horn away until the next day.

Goldenchops55 · Posted: Wed Aug 07, 2002 3:49 pm Post subject:

So I should just totally lay off? Would it be ok to do them on Saturdays? I wish there was a way I could do them before band camp, but I would have an unhappy brother if I did them at 6:45am

. When regular school starts, should I start doing them again, since I only have a 45 minute band period?

PH · Posted: Wed Aug 07, 2002 4:40 pm Post subject:

IF you can do them on the open horn and at a regular volume (without disturbing the fam), you might try just using the six notes, seconds, and harmonics as your warmup.

I suggest playing a few notes on the leadpipe first. If you are playing really hard in band you might not want to do any other calisthenics for now. You might also consider omitting the second setting on the intervals. Just go until the sound shuts off the first time and move on to the next exercise.

Carmine said that doing calisthenics on tired, swollen, or stiff chops often caused the player to develop bad habits from manipulating things unusually.