Comments have arrived which can be answered in one fell swoop.
Have you noticed that when you do an unusual amount of sight reading or performing under stress, you suffer from irritated eyes?
If you have noticed this condition, you and most of the trumpet world suffer with you.
Stressful playing conditions such as recitals and sight-reading changes the way you look at things; literally.
Under stress your natural and involuntary instinct to blink and lubricate your eyes is hampered and as you continue playing under pressure, your natural function of blinking is overridden and although you need the lubrication for your eyes, they will gradually dry out and become irritated.
To illustrate this, watch below as I perform one of my original trumpet trios. As you will see, I am not in a relaxed condition while trying to keep up with the many notes on the page. As you watch the trumpet player in the center position, count the number of times he (I) blink.
Did you count 11 times? That’s what I counted. On average, most people blink around 15 to 20 times each minute.
So, if you have strained or dry eyes after practicing of performing, be sure to force yourself to blink more often. That is, if you can blink more often.
