I didn’t get to practice Saturday because I got sick. I think I smoked too many cigars while playing golf – not exactly sure what happened there but I wasn’t very happy about it. Weekends are prime days to put in work.

Sundays are probably my most productive practice days. I start practicing at 12PM and continue until after 8PM. It allows me to get lots of small but focused sessions in – usually while watching football (GO CHARGERS!). I will usually practice different things for 20 minutes and rest for 30 or 45 minutes. It’s wonderful.

Today I did something I normally do not do – I forced myself to play etudes and exercises that were on the tip of my range (G on top of the staff). I will admit to avoiding this area because I sound so bad when I do it. I realize that the only way I’m going to get comfortable with it is to tackle it head on. Because my chops (and ears) are not familiar with that region of the horn I need to work that more. Granted, I have to rest more in between but it felt good to at least make the effort. Near the end of the session – notes that were a bit shakey (4th line D and 4th space E) were much clearer.

What was really funny was how much the head gets in the way when playing. When I would play an exercise with a 4th space E in it – I would barely get it out. I then play an exercise with an F in it – I would nail the E and fluff F. Crazy!

I usually start my practice sessions with some mouthpiece buzzing. It helps me get the blood flowing to my chops. Tonight I tried something different at the suggestion of another player. I removed my tuning slide and buzzed down the lead pipe. It is a different sensation from buzzing the mouthpiece and quite helpful to me. I felt as if my air was doing most of the work and I forgot about my chops for lack of a better description. After doing that for about 5 minutes, I replaced the tuning slide and began my normal routine. I liked the results. Whenever I thought my tone was starting to deteriorate I removed the tuning slide and repeated the process again. I think I will continue to work with this and see where it takes me.

I?ve come to the conclusion that I get a better sound when I record directly to my mini disc player. Recordings to my computer tend to sound darker and not as crisp. When I record myself on the mini disc I think I sound better. I recorded most of my practice session on the mini and listened after dinner. I?m not as bad as I thought. 🙂

One thing I haven’t described is my practice routine…

During the week I only get to practice on Wednesday & Friday. I’m pretty bummed about that because I used to practice every day. I do however come home and work on long tones and lips slurs using the Yamaha Silent Brass system before going to bed. On Tuesday I have community band practice. Every 3rd Thursday in the month I have jazz band practice (I wish it more regular).

My practice always starts the same Long tones starting on 2nd line G and ?spidering? up to G on top of the staff and down to F#. After long tones I perform lip slurs through all fingerings. On the open fingering, I usually only slur up to 3rd space C but recently I have started slurring up to 4th space E (though it is not smooth yet). I sometimes slur using the Irons exercises. After slurs I move to Clark #2 for articulation. I will slur an exercise the first time, tongue it the 2nd and then use alternate articulations – it’s kind of hard to explain. I usually rest a minimum of 10 minutes between each of the above exercises. After the above – my practice routine varies. I will either work from an etude book, practice music from the community band, work some improvisation, transcribe a solo or write one for one of my many play-a-alongs

Today I actually extended my warm up because I wanted to focus on good tone and clean articulation. Perhaps I’m over critical but my tone is dreadful. I don’t sound like a trumpet. I sound either like a flugelhorn or a trombone. While I do want to have a warm ‘Miles Davis’ or ‘Ingrid Jensen’ type sound – my sound is muddy. I sometimes wonder if my lips are rolled in too much? This is something I plan to research today

Now that I have this site – the pressure is on and I can feel it…

All day today I have been trying to record some Bb Blues that I have been working on. I have solid grasp of the C, F & G Blues scales and can improv over them in my sleep. As soon as I cut on the recording machines I freak out. My tone gets muddy, I fluff notes and have a hard time getting my thoughts through my instrument. If I turn the recorder off – I flow like water down a hill.

I will continue to try and record something but I’m not going to kill myself. I’m hoping I can get a relaxed track down and posted before the end of the day.

I had a break through performance today. To think I was considering missing this concert too! This was one of the first times that I felt as if I really helped my section. We only had four trumpets. Two players played 1st while another player and I played 2nd and 3rd respectively. Have you ever had one of those days where you seemed to be able to focus better than others? I was on top of my game and my chops were right there with me (it’s rare that I have both going at the same time). I think it was because I had a section by myself. That forced me to count the rests, match the volume of my band mates and really follow the music.

And what beautiful music we made! In particular I think we did really well on the Sinatra and Duke Ellington Medleys ? pieces we have struggled with in the past. We were playing at the Calvert Marine Museum on Solomon?s Island in Southern Maryland.

My only complaint was my chops totally died on the last song two songs and they both featured the trumpet section. I just did the best that I could to hang in there with the rest of the section (who was fatigued as well). This was my second performance with my B2 Monette mouthpiece. I had been playing on a B6 before. So far ? I love it. I think the fatigued came from playing louder than usual as I was the only person on the 3rd part.

I seriously considered missing both of my weekend concerts. I live in the Washington D.C. area and the past few weeks we have been under the scope of a serial sniper. I have been more than on edge about it and since these concerts were scheduled to be performed outdoors I was thinking about hiding inside the house like most of the people in the area. I decided that I would not make a final decision until it was time to leave.

As the day grew closer I started to get more defiant. I did not want to let someone steal the joy that I get from playing music. More than that – during dark times I feel music is even MORE important. After getting a few encouraging words from friends and family members I decided to go.

To think I almost missed this concert! It was a benefit dinner in Southern Maryland under a tent with the Potomac River in full view. It was beautiful. Free food and open bar for the band was a definite plus as well. It gave me a chance to really get to know the members of the band and they are all great people. We were short two of our regular trumpet players (1st & 2nd chair) but we had two great players from another community band fill in. As a group I think we did great. Since the jazz band only practices once a month I had several songs in front of me that I had never seen before. I just did the best that I could. I fumbled through many of the faster pieces but made sure to play strong and match my section on some of the more important chords. I was so focused, the sniper never entered my head once.

Considering I have only been playing a year, we only rehearse once a month AND we don’t get to take the music home I’d give myself a C minus. I look forward to the day when I can rip along on each song and maybe even do some improvisation. Regardless – I am very glad that I came out for this one. Southern Maryland is beautiful. I would seriously consider moving down here