shooter

Also, I'm pretty sure it's not nerves because I seem to do fine at the Wednesday night services. Thanks for the suggestion though.

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jlentini

Something that might also help, is a warm down. As Wayne Bergeron said if your chops feel bad when you put the horn away, they will feel bad when you play again. I wouldn't let the recovery time thing get in your head to much, I will sometimes play until 11:00 at night and get up at 5:30 warm up and every thing is fine. I have a family as well, have you tried using a harmon mute to practice in the morning? It isn't as stuffy as a practice mute can be but quiet enough that it doesn't disturb the family. good luck!

Jim Kot

There a lot of good suggestions here. For morning gigs I tryto do a little light warm up, drink water and even take a bottle of water with you and take sips and swish some around in your mouth. Also, I find that you must watch your salt intake, don't eat salty foods (burger,fries, souips, etc.) I start thinking about this a few days befor a morning gig. Good luck and remember, the first 100 years are the hardest, after that don't worry about it.