Can We Afford To Take Time Off From Our Horn and Still Feel Good About Ourselves?

Here we are at the Springfield, Missouri airport two hours early as instructed and now we are waiting for our flight which is three hours behind schedule.

Am I happy? Definitely for I and my wife are on vacation for the first time in two years. I can’t think of anyone I would like better to spend the time with.

I have prepared for our stay in Fort Meyers Beach and have with me my laptop, mouthpiece, walking shoes, swim suit and all of my passwords for my sites.

This seems like a good time to write about something I have wanted to do for a long time.

Can we afford to take time off from our horn and still feel good about ourselves?

If you are planning to set the old horn aside, check you calendar first to see if you have any playing commitments because for most of us; it will take time to restore the chops you have decided to neglect. My next gig is in two weeks and it usually takes me two to three days to get back the embouchure enough to play three hour dance job with a one horn combo. After this trip, we will be leaving again for a one week cruse and I will have to start all over again. Isn’t it interesting that when a plumber goes on vacation, he/she never thinks about his/her ability to remove a clog in a drain when he/she gets back.

I can usually let one or two days go by before I start itching to get back to the valves again and this habit has not changed throughout my life, or at least to this point in my life. In order to pacify this urge; I have included a mouthpiece to buzz on when the urge hits me. I will also purchase a length of tubing to replace the resistance factor when buzzing as I posted in the previous article.

Practice material is not needed for most of us can play the Clarke’s Technical Studies from memory as well as most of the major trumpet concerti.

That takes care of the material needed to survive without my instrument. Now we need to address the mental adjustment necessary to keep ones sanity.

The required mindset for not practicing.

Problems caused from not practicing-

1. You lose some abilities as well as gain others.

Building strength in an embouchure most often interferes with lip flexibility if your regular practice routine does not include this side of your development. If you do flexibility exercises in your daily practice schedule, you will see only a little difference when you return to practicing. On the other hand, you may notice a big difference when you return to practicing and it usually shows up as an increase in range and flexibility, tone improvement and a loss in endurance.

2. Guilt may set in when you have played consistently for extended periods of time.
We are all creature of habit and if one of our repeated rituals is practicing, to interrupt this routine may mess with your mind. This is particularly true to the newer musician on their way up. From a more experienced view, it’s not a big issue as I continue my progress on my way down. As long as I can perform to my own standards, I know that my ability is well above the standards of those hiring me. When I feel that I no longer have it, I will turn in my library card and start to grow old. But until then, I will continue as planned.

If being away from your instrument for an extended amount of time is an issue, I have a few thoughts you might find interesting.

• If you play badly on a job because you are out of shape, it’s your fault and you should ask yourself “Can I live with that”? If you can, you might not be a committed musician. On the other hand if you have planned your sabbatical wisely, you should not have to face a bad gig. If you are offered a job and you are out of shape and want to keep you condition a secret, don’t take the job. The best way to get out of a situation like that is to tell the Booker that you already have a job that night. Yes, that would be a lie, but after sharing that small fib with a person who is only interested in his/her own welfare, the Booker now thinks that you are very busy and on everyone’s first call list. This is good. This is much better than playing a job in poor shape and being moved to the bottom of every Bookers list.

• The importance of playing every job within a ten mile radius is really not that important and especially true as you get older. Playing the trumpet is a very competitive life style and not to be called for an important job used to crumble the walls around me. Now I can live with it. This used to be important to me also but I think I have grown in confidence which was not present as I climbed the ladder to where ever. If you cannot accept a bad performance because of pride or …..pride, it would be better for you to stay home from your travels and slave away in your practice room waiting for that big break to show up. To be honest, the players at the top can’t afford to leave the area for when they are out of town; their competition is trying to replace them. I’m sure that this is again not a problem for plumbers.

So, we have been in the airport waiting area now for about an hour and I’m about to the end of my prattling. I hope some of my ideas may be of benefit to some for that is why I’m here. To summarize this post, I would say that taking time off to enjoy life can not hurt but being a slave to your instrument could. Did I have the same outlook when I was young, definitely not. For those on their way to fame and fortune, the best of luck but don’t forget to stop and smell the valve oil on your way up.