David_N

Hey

A couple of weeks back i had to get my trumpet fixed cos the water key came lose. But just before i got it back i was playin rugby with my friends and sort of copped a knee into my top lip. So my lip was split and there was a bit of blood but i had to go to the dentist cos i think the teeth might ave moved a bit. Good news was that there no major damage to my teeth but i needed a couple of stiches to my lip. Its been bout 2 weeks since that and im gettin the stiches out soon but told to lay off the trumpet, but its been almost 3 weeks since i've practise which has felt like a lifetime and i got an audition comin up in like a month which i onli got the excerpts for a few days ago.

trickg

Good luck with it. Sometimes life has a way of throwing roadblocks and obstacles in your way, but it seems that you are doing a pretty good job of getting through them anyway.

Just do what you can to let that lip heal before you stress it too much.

Alex Yates

Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow! I am so sorry about your lip! Yeah, Patrick is right....let that heal completely. I know it is driving you crazy not to play during the healing process, but you will have much bigger headaches if you play prematurely. Put lots of pure vitamin E oil on it to help speed up the healing and minimize scar tissue. You can learn all of your excerpts away from the horn. Study them and sing them in your mind until you are truly able to play without risk of injury. Take care David.

David_N

I got the stiches off yesterday, the doctor said that it healing really well, there should be minimal scar tissue and I can play in about 5 days, but just in case, my mum has taken my trumpet and has hidden it somewhere. So I couldn't practice even if I wanted to. My mum did this to me once before when I didn't clean my room for a while. Oh well.

mrfabulous963

Hid Your Trumpet!!! I can't believe that, let it heal all the way, and if she doesn't give your horn back, I'll lend you my Older Bach Student Model Horn for awhile!

Tootsall

You've got one smart mother. Do what she says. Got a piano or keyboard in the house? Use that while you heal.

Jimi Michiel

I second that. There's a lot you can do without the horn. Do you do solfege? There are a lot of different things that go into preparing a piece of music, and only some of them have to do with physically playing the trumpet. Try working on the rhythm (clapping, saying the rhythm, etc), the intonation (sing through the pieces you're working on), etc... Or take the time to listed to recordings. Take the time you would normally practice the trumpet and spend it bettering yourself as a musician.

-Jimi

Alex Yates

Yeah! What they ^^ said.

Toots knows - he's a dad.

Jimi's advice is exactly what you should do. Dig into the music. Learn those excerpts inside and out - in your mind and fingers.

You'll be fine David.

brian moon

Were you wearing a mouthguard? I doubt it.

I know that young athletes like to think that they are tough but if you are going to play rugby, basketball, karate and the like you'd better wear a mouthguard. Your chops and teeth aren't tough enough to take those kind of blows. Even with one your chops are in danger. Without one you are playing with fire.

The only time that I got hit in the mouth in 4½ years I was wearing a mouthguard but it still swelled up to a point that when I auditioned for Leonard Smith's Detrot Concert Band I was busting notes all over the place.

Leonard: "You play very well but you crack too many notes"

Me: "My lip doesn't feel too good today."

Leonard : "How do you know that it will feel good next Thursday?" (date of first gig of the summer)

Me: "I am pretty sure that it will be OK."

I never did tell him what my problem that day was. He probably would have correctly assumed that I was nuts. I did play the next Thursday and all his other gigs too. The first rehearsal he had me play the 3rd cornet pp solo in Zampa Overture several times to check me out.

eisprl

I say take a look at this site. There is some interesting things here. Pay particular attention to the air exercizes. This way you can be doing something without actually playing.

http://fbq.essentialtalk.org/tch-skilldev.html

really interesting. I love this site. I learned about it when they came to give a clinic at my school. A big thing they showed us was the use of "air patterns". This is where you simply blow air through your lips (don't buzz but shape your mouth like you were blowing though a straw - or you could even use a straw like Karen Donally suggests) and just tongue how you would play any particular phrase.

Reading this site always makes me want to practice. So once you are ready, you'll be very motivated.

Hope this helps
Eric