| Back in my days as an Army bandsman, there were times where we were required to do quite a lot of playing - it wasn't unusual to have several jobs in one day and I remember one blistering summer day where we had a ceremony in the morning, another one in the afternoon, and then we played a concert band concert in York, PA. As anyone familiar with military bands knows, ceremonies usually consist of A LOT of marches and if memory serves correctly, the second ceremony started late, which required us to play extra marches for pre-music. After a long day of playing and sweating, my chops just gave out about a tune or two before the end of the concert that night. I just had nothing left.
Getting back to the original question, what did I do to help my chops? Fortunately we had the next day off and I took it - I did absolutely no playing that whole next day and most likely I took most of the next day off too. It's really a matter of just getting rest. What does a marathon runner do the day after a race? They probably don't go out and run another marathon, that's for sure!
I don't mean this harshly, but it always surprises me when this kind of question pops up. There have been several times in the past where someone comes on here having gotten themselves into a bit of a jam because there chops are experiencing extreme fatigue due to overuse, and they want to know what to do so that they can continue to abuse them and get through their (too many) playing obligations. Proper warm ups and warm downs after playing will help, but once the chops are stressed and fatigued, it is my belief that the best thing you can do is simply take some time off of the horn - one or two days - and let your chops recover.
That's what I would do.
__________________ Patrick Gleason
email me at: trickg1@hotmail.com
"What we do in life echoes in eternity"
"At my signal, unleash hell."
- Maximus Decimus Meridius |