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If I asked 1,000 trumpet players to give me the reason that they stopped practicing at the end of the day, I bet at least 900 would say it was because they were too tired to continue. In fact, I bet the same statistic would be true for any given practice session, regardless of when it occurred in the day. At first glance, that may seem like a reasonable plan. After all, the goal is to practice as much as you can, right? So surely, in order to maximize the most playing time any given day has to offer, we would need to play until we were too tired to continue. Yes, one would think that would make sense, but one would be wrong. Here’s why…
One of a trumpet player’s biggest inhibitors is endurance. In order to improve endurance we need to have some idea of how the muscles respond to training or, in our case, practicing. If you read any respected source for building strength of any kind, whether it be weightlifting, bicycling, or any one of a thousand endurance/strength based activities, you will see that recovery is not only an important element, but a vital one. The muscles must have time to recover from a training load in order to adapt and grow stronger. If the rest period isn’t there, then the muscles will simply continue to break down and they will not have the opportunity to rebuild in a stronger manner. Since we don’t ever have many extended periods of rest to allow for recovery, we must be very careful about when and to what extent we break the embouchure muscles down. You could certainly draw up a very detail oriented training program about how to do this, but for now, keep it simple.
Throw in some easy days in your playing week: days where you just don’t allow yourself to get fatigued at all. How many of these days you have in a given week is up to you, and it certainly could vary from week to week. You should definitely play and practice on these light days, but just don’t ever let yourself get tired. If you start to feel a little burn, then put the horn down and rest. Wait for longer than you think you should, then continue playing. Many short (15-20 minute) practice sessions spread across the day would be ideal. Even on heavy days you should work to avoid feeling fatigued at the end of every session. Remember, the embouchure is made up of many small muscles and we are asking a lot of them. Treat them with care and they will return the favor many times over.
Craig,
Thanks so much for the posts on practicing! Since retiring, I have all the time in the world to practice, and I have to be very careful about NOT overdoing it. The spirit is willing, but sometimes the chops are weak!
Thanks again for the best site on the WEB!!!!
Roy Griffin