TromboneChat

I know everybody has bad days when they just can't hit the high notes.

Take this morning for example-
My range on a normal day is 2 octaves below flat    to
3 octaves above      but this morning I could barely get to 8va flat   and I was also having trouble with 8va     .

My question is what do you practice when you have a day like this?

I warm up every day with long tones for almost 15 minutes, so insufficient warmups are not the problem (I don't think so anyway).

Help??    

I put the horn away.

When I'm playing really poorly and can't figure out why, then I know I won't accomplish anything by hacking away at it.  Unless you have a rehearsal that day,  or a concert the next, then I suggest you put your horn away for a day and find something else to take your mind off of it.  Come back fresh the next day.  Normally those days don't occur two days in a row.

Maybe you continued playing yesterday when you should have rested? Who knows? I do myself in by trying to noodle some high notes before I'm fully warmed up - the punishment for insufficient warmup is swift and severe, but that isn't your case. I have almost the same suggestion as FSU bone. Warm up (notice the problem), do a low range exercise, and put the horn down for the day. Forget about high range - it isn't going to happen today.

When I have a practice session that's not cooperating with me I usually make sure that I at least make what I wanted to work.  Not like it should, but at least enough to get through.  Then I knock off early.  What happens at a performance when things aren't working?  Sorry, going home?  You make it work.  Concentrate on letting the air work, time, ensemble, etc.  Slow down the lip slurs 'til they work, slow down the tonguing 'til it works.  The idea of practicing, even after you acquire a skill, is to have the skill available all the times, on a bad day, during a blizzard, and you have the flu.  So even if you are having a bad day, no one knows...

Hi thayervalve, boy we all have days like this.  I have to respectfully disagree with putting your horn away after being unsuccessful obtaining you range for the day.   I think that if you have a problem and you want to fix it you have to disect what you are doing and try to do things better.  In my opinion a bad day can't be the difference of a maj3rd.  I don't think you should try to hurt yourself by practicing all high stuff until you get it right either.  I also don't know you or your playing (warm-up, studies etc.) but here are some suggestions that work for me.  Playing simple legato tunes on the mouthpiece always help me.  I play them in a comfortable tessatura and then expand outwards HIGHER AND LOWER.  Always make sure when you are playing high that it is as relaxed as playing in the middle register.  If you feel that you play relaxed in the upper register, great.  If you feel like your upper register is tense then do this stuff everyday.  Eventually your apature will open up and the fuel will get to where it needs to go.  It is a slow process so pe patient.  Playing high dosen't have to be tense if you are useing your air right!  This is stuff we have to work on all the time to get better at.  Once again don't hurt yourself.  --P

I think the answer depends somewhat on how many years you've been at it, the amount of time you consistently put on the horn, and whether these are fairly regular, or only rare occurences.

If you haven't been playing all that long, I could understand this, you may not have developed the right kind of "strength" for playing in the higher range, which is really more coordination and strength in supporting muscles, than in the chops themselves.

If you don't play the horn that consistently, or regularly, but only for a short period, this could also happen.

If these days only occur rarely, then this is fairly normal: some days, the chops just aren't there.  If these notes are generally no problem, but you have problems with them nonetheless more than just occasionally, then I would think you may have a fundamentally weak embouchure, or may not be playing on appropriate equipment.

First, I've been playing 7 years. (I'm in 10th grade)

2nd, this only happens infrequently.

This morning, when I was having the problem, I just worked on Blazhevich Clef Studies for almost an hour.

I practice every day for at least an hour.

And this afternoon, when I went to a band rehearsal, the problem seemed to be gone.

I could have been practicing too soon after breakfast.
(I'm homeschooled, so for the most part practice whenever I want)

Do you study with anyone in Pensacola?  I used to study witha guy named Lee Leffard there.  He was playing bass trombone in Pensacola years ago.  I think one of the great teachers of trombone in Florida is a guy named Harold Van Schaik.  He has helped a few of my commrades at the Manhattan School with their upper register, among other things.  May be you should take a road trip sometime and visit him.  I think he is playing in the Florida Symphony.--P

Howdy,


  You should get hooked up with Don Snowden at PJC. Hes a great trombonist and  a really good teacher. All around great guy too...Tell him Josh sent you...lol

Sometimes I have a bad day when I'm trying too hard or have a deadline looming.  I've found it helps at that point to quit "working" at practicing, put my music stand away, shut off the lights, close my eyes, and just do some heart-n-soul-get-in-touch-with-the-sound playing.

I have few bad days since I've been doing a routine everyday.  It takes around 30 minutes but it's like insurance against bad days.  (the routine: breathing, long tones, lip slurs (gradually more difficult, start in 7th for the high ones), scales and arpeggios (start with low E maj, continue up))

Quote from: "john sandhagen"When I have a practice session that's not cooperating with me I usually make sure that I at least make what I wanted to work.  Not like it should, but at least enough to get through.  Then I knock off early.  What happens at a performance when things aren't working?  Sorry, going home?  You make it work.

In any activity that one must do consistantly, work, practice, sports, it really does pay to learn some 'suck up' skills. I can't tell you how many times I have hade no desire to go to work( like the Monday after Halloween that is coming up). What I do is adjust my expectations on what is needed to be accomplished and tell myself if I make it through the day I am going out for dinner.

Quote from: "EnTransit"Howdy,


  You should get hooked up with Don Snowden at PJC. Hes a great trombonist and  a really good teacher. All around great guy too...Tell him Josh sent you...lol

Funny you should mention him, I do talk to him occaisionally.......like, every Monday at my lesson!!!

Yes, I know all about you as the ITA Solo Competition Winner.

You're famous (with Mr. Snowden's students anyway), but not as famous as James Hubbard!!! (or Clare)    

I've made All-State myself (4th chair last year in 9th grade), hopefully 1st chair this year.

It's important to keep something in mind- you're not a machine. There will be days where the chops won't do the same thing they did yesterday. Whether it has to do with how much sleep you got, what you've eaten/not eaten that day (potato chips/french fries kill my extreme upper register for about an hour after I eat them because of the salt), outside stress from school/parents/relationships, or some other undetermined factor, it does happen. You can choose to accept it as a temporary condition and continue your normal daily routine. If you notice that it doesn't go away fairly soon (as yours seemed to) then you might try to determine if something external is causing it (i.e. my potato chip situation). Also, now is a time when you are learning a lot about tone production, sound, range, etc. and it is easy to let your focus drift and get into bad habits without even realizing it... using excessive pressure, changing your horn angle, more pressure on upper lip than lower or vice-versa... analyzing your practice habits might reveal something you're doing that you don't even know you're doing.

.....How much do you normally practise?....from Phil Smiths interview to CNN.http://archives.cnn.com/2001/CAREER/trends/02/22/nyphil.trumpet/

I have days like this except I feel like it's everyday. What should I do.

“Well, then it isn’t one to you, since nothing is really good or bad in itself—it’s all what a person thinks about it.”
  —Shakespeare, Hamlet

“Half of the game is 90% mental.” —Yogi Berra


It’s not what happens to us that is “good” or “bad.” It’s how we react (unthinkingly) that makes something “good” or “bad” in our minds.

When we are mindful and simply accept what happens without judgment, especially of ourselves, it is easier to notice these technical mistakes like, “I chipped that note.” If we do not judge ourselves and choose our response, then we can analyze later what happened and have a better mindset to “fix” or change things for the future: “When I start playing the note before my embouchure is fully formed, I tend to chip notes. What can I do to remind myself to have the embouchure fully formed before I start to sound the note?”

If we approach practice sessions, lessons, performances, etc., with a mindset like, “This has to be perfect,” or “I chipped that same note again—I’m so stupid, and I even worked for an hour on that same note last week!,” then we have already defeated ourselves.

Sometimes a small break away from the horn to defuse yourself and let go of the frustration can help, maybe 15-20 minutes. Then—and this is important—go back to the horn with a fresh mindset, one that is more open to accepting mistakes (“I do not need to be perfect. I am allowed to make mistakes”) and gentler to yourself. Think of it like a time-out for yourself. DO return to the horn, but work on something other than what led to the frustration.

This is especially important when trying to expand certain skills beyond your comfort level, like the upper register, fast tonguing and multiple tonguing, slide technique, etc.

Be gentle with yourself. No one else has to.

It's like talking to ghosts!

Thread resurrected after 13-year pause, is this a record?

Quote from: Paul Martin on Oct 04, 2017, 12:18PMIt's like talking to ghosts!

Thread resurrected after 13-year pause, is this a record?

And my sympathy for a 10th grader who couldn't play a...


Quote from: thayervalve on Oct 22, 2004, 10:18AM3 octaves above    

 ...is pretty limited.

Probably doesn't even play the horn anymore.

Quote from: thayervalve on Oct 22, 2004, 10:18AMI know everybody has bad days when they just can't hit the high notes.

Take this morning for example-
My range on a normal day is 2 octaves below flat    to
3 octaves above      but this morning I could barely get to 8va flat   and I was also having trouble with 8va     .

My question is what do you practice when you have a day like this?

I warm up every day with long tones for almost 15 minutes, so insufficient warmups are not the problem (I don't think so anyway).

Help??    

Well I haven't had the problems you are talking about for ages, but I do remember the feeling  Years of practice have moved the limits. Today I have the same feeling you are talking about when it comes to this note b . The F# is there, the G is there too, but maybe not always as a very reliable note. The Ab, A and Bb? Yes, some days, but No, not reliable at all.

What to do?

Rest!!!!

No point in struggling with unreachable notes. It will tear you down. Back away from the horn and try to do them with less effort. It is the notes just below your limit you need to work with. Make them your everyday notes. No point in reaching into your stratosphere register before you reliably know how to navigate below that limit. My highest notes are just squeaks so I don't use them in music. I only use them for practice. I think this is what you have to do. Move your limits. Notes that hurt should not be practiced much, as it will tear you down. Rest, and do it differently tomorrow. Try them, but don't struggle with them.

/Tom

Quote from: thayervalve on Oct 22, 2004, 10:18AMI know everybody has bad days when they just can't hit the high notes.

Take this morning for example-
My range on a normal day is 2 octaves below flat    to
3 octaves above      but this morning I could barely get to 8va flat   and I was also having trouble with 8va     .

My question is what do you practice when you have a day like this?

I warm up every day with long tones for almost 15 minutes, so insufficient warmups are not the problem (I don't think so anyway).

Help??    

Well I haven't had the problems you are talking about for ages, but I do remember the feeling  Years of practice have moved the limits. Today I have the same feeling you are talking about when it comes to this note b . The F# is there, the G is there too, but maybe not always as a very reliable note. The Ab, A and Bb? Yes, some days, but No, not reliable at all.

What to do?

Rest!!!!

No point in struggling with unreachable notes. It will tear you down. Back away from the horn and try to do them with less effort. It is the notes just below your limit you need to work with. Make them your everyday notes. No point in reaching into your stratosphere register before you reliably know how to navigate below that limit. My highest notes are just squeaks so I don't use them in music. I only use them for practice. I think this is what you have to do. Move your limits. Notes that hurt should not be practiced much, as it will tear you down. Rest, and do it differently tomorrow. Try them, but don't struggle with them.

/Tom