Rest As Much As You Play

Photo credit: Mr Jaded on Flickr

My response to the discussion posted on TPIN

There seems to be a flurry of excitement on the TPIN site about the comfort of your lip or the “rest as much as you play” discussion, and for that reason, I would like to add to the discussion.

Everyone would like their embouchure (chops) to feel good all the time but unfortunately this is not always possible. Sometimes we have unrealistic deadlines (the 3:00 call to sub for a friend at the local club that night) or (the gig you thought was next week) or (the dance band you agreed to play with just called and said the lead player has a cold and you have to play lead instead of the fourth book) or as in my own case many years ago (you just finished two weeks with the Ringling Brothers Circus playing the third cornet part which hovers around low F and your chops feel like you just had an injection of Botox and you get your first call to play a jingle the next morning- true story. Sometimes we can’t do what we want and we end up abusing our lips. It happens but this is not what this blog is about. My intent is to share some ideas which have been beneficial to me through the years.

I began using the “rest as much as you play” concept more than thirty-five years ago after visiting with Merle Evans, conductor and solo cornet player with the Ringling, Barnum and Bailey Circus. During one short and infrequent break in a show I asked him why they alternated parts between two first part players. His response was something like, “It’s always nice to have your musicians live to play another day”. This was before tracks and the custom was for each player to alternate eight or sixteen measures with his partner. This concept interested me and I began to utilize this practice in my studio. At that time, our university was well stocked with talented trumpet students and each of the two trumpet studios serviced between sixteen to eighteen trumpet players. After playing along with my students each day I was taxed and the process of alternating with my students sounded appealing and thus the rest as much as you play worked its way into my daily routine.

At that time I was a strong advocate for a ridged practice routine which included long tones, chromatic range exercises, finger technique from the Clarke Technical Study book. Then we progressed into etude studies and finished with solo material. Each lesson was the same as any of my former students would attest. I wanted to fill every minute with productive exercises and information. The problem I had in my own playing was that after a full day, I realized that I had gone through the same routine sometimes four to five times. This schedule was tearing my chops down. That’s when I decided to experiment with the “rest as much as you play” routine. At that point I began to alternate exercises with my student. Quickly I found that my embouchure was gaining flexibility and strength. My own practice routine was altered to conform to this routine also. First I began to play an exercise and rest an equal amount of time. Quickly I got tired of the deafening silences and searched for something more enjoyable. I began to record myself with a constant click track. I would record all of my material, playing X amount and then resting X amount. That tape would be used the following week for my practice routine. This had several advantages over the play and sit during the silence attempt-

1. There was constant music which seemed more fulfilling.
2. It limited the amount of time I was actually playing which helped build my embouchure rather than wearing it out.
3. While I listed to myself on the recording, I was able to analyze my own playing.

This routine was used for some time but the practice of playing extended etudes, solos and even repeated Clarke exercises did not seem to be the best process and I began to record my material in a different way. Instead of recording a complete page of material and resting an equal amount, I began to record myself playing one line and resting the next. The practice of playing and resting in shorter intervals turned out to be much more productive and I continued this practice for some time.

After months of this play a line, rest a line practice, I noticed that I seemed to have reached a plateau and started to rethink my routine. I had reached a certain level and was not progressing. My embouchure always felt great but my endurance was not progressing. Back to the drawing boards. My first thought was to change to a play two lines , rest one line pattern.  I tried that for a couple months but I could not see any change in my endurance. I added another line of playing and rested one line. That’s when I realized that my embouchure began to stiffen. It was time again to rethink my routine.

Eventually I realized that the “rest as much as you play” concept worked for comfort but in order to continue to strengthen the embouchure, I needed to increase the difficulty of the practice material. The timing was perfect for I would be playing the circus again in another month which would give me enough time to test this hypothesis. It happened to be at the end of the spring semester and I would have a perfect opportunity to test this theory.

I prepared tapes for my everyday routine which consisted of long tones, chromatic range studies, finger exercises and finally etudes. My first etudes were from the Getchell — Practical Studies for Cornet and Trumpet Book 1. Every day I would play a line and rest during the second line played by the recorder and I would continue until I had played through the complete book. After I had finished the first book, I recorded alternating lines through the Getchell — Practical Studies for Cornet and Trumpet Book 2 and added the playing of both books to my daily routine. Next, I recorded and added the Practical Studies for the Trumpet by Edwin Franko Goldman. At this point in my practice, I was spending about three hours straight of “play and rest” time.

At my next level I began with the Goldman and continues with recorded lines of more difficult material. I wanted to increase my upper register and decided to make the switch to clarinet etude books. I recorded and added a great book call 32 Etudes and 40 Studies for Clarinet (Dover Chamber Music Scores). These did the trick and I enjoyed the different melodic writing style for the clarinet. The increased difficulty of intervals was also beneficial.

My routine was set and eventually I was able to enter my office at eight in the morning and play, rest for four hours straight and then leave for lunch at noon. When the circus came to town that summer, I had no problem with any issues (endurance, range, flexibility or tone) including the usual pain involved with playing the circus.

You would think that after a conclusive test such as this, a trumpet player would continue with the practice. You would think that but as we all know, we many times stop doing what is best for us. I still practice the “play, rest” routine each day, but to sit in a room by myself and play clarinet exercises for four hours straight has no appeal to me any more. A guy has to have some time set aside for fishing.