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The Comeback
Author: TriSec
Date: 11/05/2022 12:11:22
Good Morning.
We've got to go back a ways for this one. Some of us are players in this group - I know of at least two guitar players, and maybe a singer or two here and there.
I used to play high brass pretty routinely. But it's been a long time since I was truly serious about it. I still bugle here and there for ScoutsBSA, and I usually dust off the horn to play some Christmas tunes at this time of year. But I haven't been involved with anything since long before Covid - we've got to go back to the Great Recession for that dividing line. For a brief period back in 2007, I played second chair trumpet in the Johnny Frazee Big Band. We even had a gig at the since defunct Ryles Jazz Club in Cambridge. But shortly before the aforementioned recession, our drummer was seriously hurt in a car wreck; we couldn't get a replacement, and then that recession destroyed any path to recovery. I haven't played seriously since then.
Over this past year, I've been the designated driver for the Boston Pops Esplanade Brass Quintet. Every fall and spring they do a series of pop-up concerts throughout the city, at public schools, hospitals, nursing homes, etc. It's been great fun.
The group leader has heard of my father, and knows somebody at the Providence Symphony that used to play with him, so that's pretty cool.
In turn - I've been inspired to dust off my axe and see if I can still produce a tone. I am pleased to report that I can, but with some difficulty. Playing a wind instrument isn't easy, especially if you have laid off for a while. So much so, that there's a number of resources out there for "The Comeback Trumpet Player".
I've already experienced a couple of things noted in this website.
The other thing that I've been 'fighting the horn' over is tonality. My dear, departed mother used to tell me that I had perfect pitch. (Not sure how she knew, but I still believe her.) But in playing again the last few days, the fingering has been feeling un-natural; I'm playing what muscle memory is telling me, but the horn doesn't seem to be making the correct sounds. Also part of the comeback process.
I have no idea where I'm going to go with this. I'd like to get some range and stamina back - that's the one thing not noted in the Comeback Player's guide. The first night I picked it back up, I was playing some long tones from the "Arbans" manual; nearly freakin' passed out. I had to sit down for a few minutes.
One of my friends in town is a clarinet player with the nationally-known Waltham American Legion Band. I have a standing invite from her to come and sit in. Which I may well do over this winter.
While Covid cast a long shadow over this house for the last two years - it seems that many more shadows still hang over us from time to time. Music has always been one of the anchors of my life. I am pleased to be motivated to play again.
We've got to go back a ways for this one. Some of us are players in this group - I know of at least two guitar players, and maybe a singer or two here and there.
I used to play high brass pretty routinely. But it's been a long time since I was truly serious about it. I still bugle here and there for ScoutsBSA, and I usually dust off the horn to play some Christmas tunes at this time of year. But I haven't been involved with anything since long before Covid - we've got to go back to the Great Recession for that dividing line. For a brief period back in 2007, I played second chair trumpet in the Johnny Frazee Big Band. We even had a gig at the since defunct Ryles Jazz Club in Cambridge. But shortly before the aforementioned recession, our drummer was seriously hurt in a car wreck; we couldn't get a replacement, and then that recession destroyed any path to recovery. I haven't played seriously since then.
Over this past year, I've been the designated driver for the Boston Pops Esplanade Brass Quintet. Every fall and spring they do a series of pop-up concerts throughout the city, at public schools, hospitals, nursing homes, etc. It's been great fun.
The group leader has heard of my father, and knows somebody at the Providence Symphony that used to play with him, so that's pretty cool.
In turn - I've been inspired to dust off my axe and see if I can still produce a tone. I am pleased to report that I can, but with some difficulty. Playing a wind instrument isn't easy, especially if you have laid off for a while. So much so, that there's a number of resources out there for "The Comeback Trumpet Player".
I've already experienced a couple of things noted in this website.
Playing the trumpet is a very unnatural thing when you think about it. As you are sitting there, try to form your muscles they way they need to be formed in order to play the trumpet. By doing this we quickly realize that it is a very unnatural position for our face muscles to be in. This brings me to the next point…
The embouchure muscles are not used in everyday life. The muscles we use to form an embouchure are always there, of course, but when we’re not playing, they are never tightened and formed the way they are when we play. This means that the muscles needed to form the embouchure, NEVER gets a workout unless we are playing the trumpet, buzzing, or doing a trumpet isometric exercises.
The other thing that I've been 'fighting the horn' over is tonality. My dear, departed mother used to tell me that I had perfect pitch. (Not sure how she knew, but I still believe her.) But in playing again the last few days, the fingering has been feeling un-natural; I'm playing what muscle memory is telling me, but the horn doesn't seem to be making the correct sounds. Also part of the comeback process.
Because you used to play the trumpet, your brain remembers what you to sounded like and what you were able to play, five years ago (or whenever your last time happen to be)…
I have no idea where I'm going to go with this. I'd like to get some range and stamina back - that's the one thing not noted in the Comeback Player's guide. The first night I picked it back up, I was playing some long tones from the "Arbans" manual; nearly freakin' passed out. I had to sit down for a few minutes.
One of my friends in town is a clarinet player with the nationally-known Waltham American Legion Band. I have a standing invite from her to come and sit in. Which I may well do over this winter.
While Covid cast a long shadow over this house for the last two years - it seems that many more shadows still hang over us from time to time. Music has always been one of the anchors of my life. I am pleased to be motivated to play again.
