Back from vac, getting back into shape

[Bach5G]

3 weeks in Europe, back with a nasty cold. Now it’s time to get back into shape.

It’s tougher than I expected. A few of the long tone exercises from Schlossberg, maybe fire up one of the Markey videos. Spread it out over the day.

Any particular suggestions?

[BGuttman]

Initially practice 10 minutes and rest 20. Do it several times a day. Over a few weeks transition to playing 20 and resting 10. Eventually you can return to your old routines.

Don't be hard on yourself. If you can't do what you used to, just do what you can. Forcing things will be a big negative.

Include some fun stuff with your practice. Only exercises are really boring, if necessary.

[LeTromboniste]

There's different approaches for that, you have to learn to know what you need in that circumstance. Personally, I've found through experience that the first days of getting back into shape are moments where I'm at risk of adopting bad habits without immediately realizing, because I hear myself not sounding how I want and that can lead me to start doing weird things to sound better right away. I also find it's useless for me to try to work on anything at that stage, because it's typically worse after I've worked on it while too out of shape than if I hadn't worked on it at all.

So the routine I've adopted for getting back into shape quickly after some time off the horn where I lost my shape, is I just put in the practice mute so that I don't really hear myself, and I do long tones softly while reading or watching something or listening to a podcast. I actively try not to be thinking about the sound and just letting the familiar sensations of playing come back instead. I can play the same note for half an hour. I usually change what note I'm playing every once in a while and go in different parts of the range. Then once I feel my chops are starting to feel pretty good (usually after an hour the first day, sometimes only on day 2 if it's been a longer time off the horn), I'll do some more long tones but while also doing fast light articulations on tere tere and doodle tonguing, to get the tongue working too. I do that for another 30-60 minutes at least. Then I'll do easy comfy flexibilities, and at the end of the process, one or two 30-minute sessions of lip trills. Overall I spend about 4 hours spread over two days, and usually after those two days I feel in shape enough that I could do anything but the highest profile gig the next day without stressing about my shape, so I'm for sure ready to resume my normal practice or gigging, and I've skipped the frustrating (and, for me, somewhat dangerous) stage where I hear myself sounding bad. For me that's a more productive use of those two days than forcing a direct return to normalcy. Plus it's an opportunity to work more than I usually get to on my lip trills and on pushing the enveloppe of how soft I can play while in control and how light and subtle my tonguing can be.

[Bach5G]

Very interesting approach Max!

[KWL]

3 weeks in Europe, back with a nasty cold. Now it’s time to get back into shape.

You are not alone. I’m returning home from a 30-day west coast road trip tomorrow. I don’t have a nasty cold but did break 4 ribs with a collapsed lung 8 weeks ago. With a band rehearsal in one week I just may try Max’s suggestion.

[Doug Elliott]

3 weeks in Europe...
Any particular suggestions?

Test for Covid.

[Bach5G]

3 weeks in Europe...
Any particular suggestions?

Test for Covid.

Tested negative. Just a cold made a little worse by jet lag.

[Nomsis]

Disclaimer: I'm not a professional and thus probably not entitled to give advice.

I got a pretty fast and effective way to get back in shape, it works at least very reliable for me. I needed this more often than I would have liked. So I thought I'd just share it with you.

The biggest problem for me after a long break usually is getting notes started cleanly, especially at louder dynamics. So I just practice starting notes at extreme loud dynamics, in the mid to low register. It might be some random etude, some scales in eights or just repeating some notes, for example low F. I usually wear some ear protection for that. It really sounds terrible and feels terrible as well but at that moment I don't care about that. It will probably tickle my lips but it won't hurt them because i don't use pressure or force and I don't play high stuff. So I do this for about 30, sometimes 45 minutes. Depending on my time and how terrible my chops are I might repeat that procedure after some break or the next day. Key to get back in shape fast for me is definitely playing loud, it improves my control at softer dynamics as well.

After that I need to wait one, better two days with no playing. I think in sports that's called super compensation. So I need to start this procedure at least two, better three days before the next gig. Than I feel safe to go on the next gig. Of course it's not the greatest shape ever but good enough for most stuff. Usually nobody will recognise anything.

[JLivi]

I just put in the practice mute so that I don't really hear myself, and I do long tones softly while reading or watching something or listening to a podcast. I actively try not to be thinking about the sound and just letting the familiar sensations of playing come back instead. I can play the same note for half an hour. I usually change what note I'm playing every once in a while and go in different parts of the range. Then once I feel my chops are starting to feel pretty good (usually after an hour the first day, sometimes only on day 2 if it's been a longer time off the horn), I'll do some more long tones but while also doing fast light articulations on tere tere and doodle tonguing, to get the tongue working too.

This is something very similar to what I do as well. I haven't put near as much thought into it, but usually I just put the practice mute in so I don't annoy my wife and kids. And it gets me to be able to play for extended periods of time without bothering anyone.

OP, I have had to do this 4 times in my career; recover from a 2-4 week Euro vacation. The first one was brutal. I was a lot younger, just get married and had 4 gigs on 5 days with very little time to get back into shape. For the following 3 trips I made sure that we came back home in time for me to get in shape for my next gig.

The best thing you can do is be patient and try to play as much as you can....safely.

For me flexibility comes back pretty quickly, endurance is next, and then my tongue eventually catches up. But it is a process for sure. I usually aim to have a goal to feel as close to 100% as I can in a month's time. It almost always takes me 3-4 weeks to get back. But usually I'm busy with teaching and other work where I can't truly focus on putting the necessary time in to get back in shape.

[chouston3]

Assuming I am only out for like a week, I usually do exercises out of Ken Ebo's book Comeback Chops. It generally takes me three days to come back.

I start with the low stuff. Once that stops being airy, I move on to legato and then articulated passages.

Once I can play an articulated passage without my tone becoming fuzzy, I know I am back.

The better shape I am in before a break, the easier it is to come back.

[AndrewMeronek]

After a long break, for me it's usually not the physical part of playing the bone that is tough, it's the mental part: playing in time with good pitch.

So, on to the basics: practicing basics with a metronone and a tuner (or drones), just to make sure I'm re-engaging the brain the right way.

[Savio]

In summer holyday I dont play much. When Im back the lips feels like rubber. The only thing I think about is to take it carefully with lot of breaks. Sound is often OK but I dont have control, so I do simple exercises. Lip slurs mostly, not so much long notes. Simple tongue exercises. Mostly in the middle register.
After three days its hopefully back to normal.

Leif

[Bach5G]

A month in and still trying to find my chops. Alternating between 3 horns and cycling through my mpc collection maybe isn’t helping.

But I thought about what I was working on when I was playing well and dug out my copy of Urbie Green’s One Hour A Day.

The work progresses.