shooter

Ok, here's the deal. I always practice in the evenings; between when I get off work and when I put my kids to bed. My lips and chops almost always feel good, and it takes little effort to play. The problem is Sunday morning at church. I feel like I go back several years in my proficiency. My chops play out too soon and my lips just don't want to cooperate. It really takes a lot of work just to keep my tone. What's up with me? Is it psychological or physical? I've even tried brushing my lips when I brush my teeth in case there is some kind of film from sleeping. HELP!!!

Aspiring Trumpeter

I have a similar problem, except mine is centered more around getting my air going. When I wake up in the morning my stomach and abs are already pretty tight for some reason and then you add nervous tension from the performance on to that... Yikes.
I'll be interested to here what suggestions people have on the subject.

Matt

Pedal C

My chops are always really puffy when I wake up. The only thing I know to do is just get up really early when I have those morning gig. It sucks...I'd like to know what to do about that too...

cornetguy

starting point, don't think about the fact that it is 8:00 am on sunday after being up till God knows when the night before. second one is from Michael Sachs... Same Music, same horn, same dude. nothing changed if you can do it in the practice room you can do it in public.

Johntpt

Shooter-

My advice would be to try playing in the morning regularly. Instead of practicing after the kids go to bed, for one week try going to bed an hour earlier, getting up an hour earlier and doing your practicing then. I'll bet after that week Sunday morning in church will be a breeze.

JU

tromj

One thiing yoou cann do upon waking up is make sure to have some water. I find it gets the sleep pufffiness out of my lips faster.
Of course, practicing even a little bit in the AM will help this immensely.

Jordan

jlentini

Your body responds better in the morning as well, as the day progresses you body gets tired, all due to our bodys natural cycle. I warm up early, then rest I actually play better through out the day and my chops will respond quicker than if I wait later in the day. Try this when you wake up lightly flap the chops to shake all the lactic acid from your muscles, then take a hot shower and put the water right on your face, as hot as you can stand this will rush fresh blood to the chops. Do a gradual warm up and listen to your body! hope this helps, and good luck!

Tootsall

I'll just echo some of the others with the "try to practice a bit in the mornings" line. I don't play in church but when we have a major concert it generally involves an early (9 or 10 am) "sound check" and program run through. I used to hate these because I just wasn't "ready". Slowly I've become used to them and now I look forward to a relaxed "OK, let's prove we can do this" attitude.

Even if you only get up Saturday morning (provided you have the time available with your lifestyle) and run some scales and stuff to reassure yourself that "it's still there", that's better than nothing.

mbtpter227

In school I have 0 period jazz band (starts at 7, yikes!), and what really helps me is to get up a full hour before I have to be at school. During that hour I keep in mind to breathe deeply, and an occasional buzz of the lips helps to wake me up. I second the bit about 'getting your air working.' That and a really slow, soft warmup helps to get me where I need to be.

I strongly dislike playing early in the morning. But eh, I'll do what needs to be done. Good luck!

:edit:
I also try to leave at least 12 hours between playing the horn at night and playing in the morning, if at all possible. It makes my chops stiff.

shooter

Hey thanks everyone for the suggestions. As far as practicing in the morning, I don't think my family would go for that, however; I'm thinking of getting a key to the church, then I could go there and practice before work (6:30). Also, Mbtpter227 made an interesting point about not playing 12 hours before. Our weekly music practice is Saturday night from 6:30 to 8:00. That may be the suspect. I maybe wearing myself out the night before. I just assumed that I had enough recover time 'till the next morning (10:00).