| Hi Max,
I've had two, which qualifies me to answer your first question but, obviously, not the second.
Trumpet players get hernias from blowing hard through a small tube that is too small at the opening to drop a pencil through. 'nuff said.
The abdominal pressure of playing Romantic symphonies (insert big-blow here) with 109 others takes its toll on some trumpeters (something, in addition to being Juilliard classmates, that I have in common with Phil Smith). Not isometric tension, mind you . . . I'm speaking of simple back pressure. Ideally our sound would be so resonant that we could carry the ball without blowing ourselves to bits, but. . .
Solutions? General fitness is probably a factor. Another would be choosing your parents carefully or, as Gerry Schwarz decided, conduct. Now there's a gig!
Happy new year,
EC |