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So, what if the fix might cause other problems down the road?

It’s kinda like an alcoholic “fixing” their woes with a drink…  The immediate pain goes away, but later on the overall pain increases.  Why do I bring this up?

Every now and then during my recovery process, I have run into a temporary inability to initially play a pitch or get a good tone.  Then I’d fiddle with my embouchure for awhile, and eventually I would subconsciously find the sweet spot.  At first, this didn’t bother me, as I figured it was all part of the learning process.  As you know, I’ve been making visual directions on how to hold my trumpet by drawing on the bell of my trumpet.  These directions have been key in discovering and sustaining my new embouchure, and I have continued to add directions as I learn new things about my playing.  However, I recently added one more direction…

In my opinion, this new “direction” is what actually allows me to play with such an unusual embouchure…  The “secret” to my success.

So what’s the problem?  I have discovered the secret to a new lip position, it’s working for me and I’m improving every day.  Well, here it is:

The secret is to slightly lower and move my jaw to the right.  As it turns out, I have been noticing a curious sensation in my upper right jaw area…  A tightness.  A very slight achiness.  I didn’t know what was causing it, but I then put two and two together.

There is a possibility that the fix for my playing may be the cause for more problems down the road!

…And now comes the dilemma.  I have been talking a lot about proper playing techniques and using common sense.  It is clear the “proper” playing technique is no longer an option for me.  So, is the alternative worth it?  Well, that is the question, isn’t it?  It remains to be seen whether this a growing-pain or the beginning of a persistent problem.  Here’s what I plan to do about it:

If you haven’t figured it out by now, I plan to document the various stages of my attempt to recover my playing ability.   I believe this has several benefits:

1.  People with similar injuries can learn from my successes and my mistakes.

2.  If successful, my story may serve as inspiration for those who are suffering, bereft of hope.

3.  It allows me to closely observe, document, scrutinize and analyze my progress, both in performance and physical & mental conditioning.

I’m sure, at some point, I will produce an excel spreadsheet on the subject because that’s the kind of thing I like to do.  I find visual representations of progress most helpful.  It is usually very revealing as well, because it helps one to interpret information from a different perspective.

My hope is that this close attention to detail will help me not to further injure myself.  I am uber-conscious of my body position and playing stance.  I am consciously thinking about my embouchure, the pressure on my lips, and breath support.  My next plan is to develop a very specific warm-up and warm-down routine that pays special attention to the jaw.  I will gently stretch it, much like we used to do in choir.  I will also be paying very close attention to any tension that develops in that area and takes frequent and adequate breaks as necessary.  Ultimately, my plan will include better sleep schedules and a physical exercise routine that concentrates on abs and cardio (support and breath control).  I figure this way, if nothing else, I’ll be in better physical condition and probably fit into a lot more of my clothes.

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One of the most entertaining places we visited on our tour was Hellbrunn Castle, in Salzburg, Austria.  What made this destination so unique was the trick water garden designed by a Duke with an unusual sense of humor.  In some of these photos you’ll get to see Dr. Saker and Bill experiencing these tricks first hand.

I’m hoping you’ll be able to read the text on the scrapbook pages.  You should be able to click on them to enlarge the images.  This first picture is of the front of the castle.

Here’s a look at the guest area and garden.  It is quite beautiful…  It even has built-in sprinkler system!  …Though you might not find out about it until it is too late.

Finally, we a various shots of the castle’s water powered scenes and decorate pool.  It was like the historical version of modern animatronics.

If you are ever in Salzburg, do yourself a favor and visit Castle Hellbrunn.  It is well worth your time…  But you might want to bring a change of clothes

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Sounds weird…  Having surgery on your lip…  Well, it might not be as rare as you think.

Constantly pressing a piece of metal against your lips doesn’t really sound like a good or safe idea…  Yet, musicians do it every day.

The lips are a very sensitive and delicate membrane (you’ll have to search for a more technical definition).  Taking proper care of them is paramount.  From what I’ve read and experienced so far, I’d say these are the top three things you can do to protect your embouchure:

Use Proper Technique – The best way to get this is from someone who already has it, like an instructor.  I did not have lessons until I was a senior in high school.  By then, it was extremely difficult to unlearn any bad habits I had adopted.

Don’t Over-Do-It – A classic rooky mistake:  Too much pressure, not enough rest.  “Higher, faster and louder” may be the trumpet mantra, but it is also a recipe for disaster without the proper playing technique AND rest.  When we’re young, we think we’re invincible.  You have to learn to play relaxed!  High or low register…  It doesn’t matter!  Hopefully, you will gain wisdom from advice and instruction rather than personal experience with injury.  For me, a short stint in Drum Corp brought that lesson home for me.  Too much pressure, not enough rest and three days to learn an entire show were all that it took.

Warm-up & Cool-Down – Athletes do it and so should you.  Your lips are just like an athlete’s body.  They require preparation and attention.  It is clear that without such preparation, an athlete is at a much greater risk for injury.  One does not warm-up playing in the stratosphere, nor does one warm-down by simply ceasing to play.  Had I even thought about this issue when I was younger, I may have been able to prevent the injury that I sustained.  It doesn’t take that much time, but it can pay huge dividends in the future.  In that light, look at it like you are investing in a long term fund.  You may not see the results right away, but years from now you will reap the rewards of a prosperous portfolio.

Once you read this article from the Jazz Times, you will soon realize that lip injuries are common among professionals as well.  Sadly, it would seem that many of their injuries were caused by some of these same rooky mistakes.  While several of these accounts have happy endings, it should be taken to heart that many-a-career has also been ruined by similar injuries.

All the advice in the world won’t do you a bit of good unless you take it.

If you don’t heed the warnings early, it will only be a matter of time before you start experiencing problems.   Here are some important quotes from the article I mentioned, just in case you didn’t read it yet:

“It’s really something when you lose your chops like that,” Hubbard told me in a 2008 interview. “You feel like a motherless child.”

“With Freddie, I think it was just an abuse of the lip tissue,” says Faddis. “Back in the ’60s and ’70s, Freddie used to pick up the horn without warming up and he would just blow as long and as hard as he could. I used to do that too when I was young, like in my teens, but I wouldn’t even think about doing that now.”

“With Freddie, I think it was just an abuse of the lip tissue,” says Faddis. “Back in the ’60s and ’70s, Freddie used to pick up the horn without warming up and he would just blow as long and as hard as he could. I used to do that too when I was young, like in my teens, but I wouldn’t even think about doing that now.”

“And you can’t have tension coming into it when you play the trumpet,” Faddis continues. “Look at pictures of Miles when he played—he was very relaxed. Look at pictures of Dizzy in the late ’50s and early ’60s—he was playing very relaxed. So there has to be a certain amount of relaxation when one is playing, and you can’t force it. That’s the thing that I find most young trumpet players have a problem with. They force things and then nothing happens anymore. Their chops are exhausted. So with my students at Purchase, I try to give them exercises right from the first lesson that will prevent them from forcing in that way. But developing the chops takes time. You can’t abuse them—you have to rest, you have to treat them with kid gloves and it’ll be alright.”

“It’s important to be as prepared as possible,” he says. “Practice as diligently as possible to alleviate any problems. But you have to warm up prior to playing, and one thing that works really well is to warm down after the show by playing long tones, scales and lip slurs. Because when you’re playing, you’re putting a lot of pressure on the embouchure, and it may get inflamed. And the warm down helps you to regain that pliability. I don’t do it as much as I used to but warming down after the show is always a good thing.”

“I was pretty sure at that point that I would never play trumpet again, but I found Dr. McGrail, who not only does the surgery to correct Satchmo’s Syndrome but he has also invented a series of physical therapy exercises for the lip where you basically work your lip against your teeth. And in doing these exercises, I was able to rebuild my lip and go back to playing normal.”

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I quickly increased my range from G below the staff to G above without much effort. I began to play more relaxed, as I had less resistance to contend with. Consequently, my tone started to dramatically improve. Every time I picked up the trumpet, I was sure that I would just revert back to my previous state of terrible. But I didn’t. In fact, now my endurance was starting to dramatically improve as well, and no swelling! I had to have reality check. Was this for real?

So, I decided to take a little trip to the local music store. I knew I could find the top-of-the-line trumpets I had been drooling over for a while. Crappy mouthpiece in tow, I walked in and asked for the black leather treasure chest that contained my silver plated dream. It was a Yamaha, Xeno YTR-8335G to be exact. I had sold my Bach Stradivarius (I want to say a model 37) years before in favor of a Yamaha (YTR-6345) due to its tonal precision.

…As an aside, the Bach’s have an awesome, darker tone, but they have never touched the precision or piston action that Yamaha’s offer…

Anyway, I was so nervous for some reason that I had trouble giving it a real go. I also made the mistake of using the stock mouthpiece and demoing the trumpet after I had already practiced for a while. Still, the tonal stability was awesome and I found myself having to keep up with the valves for a change. I’m lucky if the valves come up at all on the King 600. …Not to mention they have a wicked bounce. Look at some of the pics from previous posts of that thing again!

At home, my playing continued to improve. When I was using the injured part of my lip, the bored-out 1 ½ C was just too much. I had zero control. However, now that I had transitioned, I wondered if it wasn’t time to whip out the 1 ½ again. Surprised once more, for the first time in a LONG time, I experienced good tone… Out of the King 600! I had been convinced that most of the air was just leaking out somewhere. Probably the most telling event in this whole process to date was this example:

I’d been practicing with the 1 ½ C and was playing a melody from Dvorak’s New World Symphony when something wonderful happened…

My daughter stopped what she was doing and clapped!

I didn’t know how to take it. At first, I was confused. I thought she was clapping because I had stopped playing. Usually, I get a lot of complaints about how people can’t hear things or it’s giving them a headache or we have to clean the house, blah, blah, blah… But this time she was clapping because my playing had apparently moved her to do so. I asked to confirm. She hugged me and said she thought I “really played the trumpet nice”. …Kleenex, anyone? That was probably the first meaningful glimmer of hope. That was better than any ovation I have ever received.

I admit, the upper range (above A) takes a lot more support to produce, but now I was able to hit the occasional high C. The first one was like the sweet sound of herald trumpets from heaven.

I was pulling off nice clear D’s for a couple minutes at a time on the old embouchure (example here–The D’s are around 1:55 seconds–cake for most you, but a cherished event for me),

but a C on the new one? That’s where I am now. …Working on the support and getting used to another mouthpiece change. Still, I want to make sure I am very careful to protect my new embouchure. When I was trying out trumpets at the music store a guy approached me to ask advice on improving his upper register (I guess he wasn’t listening). My advice to him was this:

Whatever you do, don’t hurt yourself. It just isn’t worth it.

I still expect something to go wrong again in the back of my mind, but I am enjoying the progress I have made so far. So, I guess the next big question is, is it time to start seriously looking for a new trumpet?

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I’ve mentioned this a couple times before, so it seemed like the right time to break out some pages from the old scrapbook. 1996 to be exact. That’s the year that the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) Wind Ensemble, under the direction of Dr. James R. Saker, went on a tour to Austria, Germany and the Czech Republic. That experience holds a lot of great memories for me and my wife, Laura, so I thought posting some of our pictures and stories might help bring back some good memories for other people too.

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Eventually, I was able to train my brain to automatically place the trumpet on my new embouchure. I refused to use the old. I knew it was starting to work when it became subconscious, and it was actually becoming MORE difficult to play on the original side! Here’s a pic that demonstrates just how dramatic of a change my embouchure experienced (try not to be distracted by that amazing jaw line):

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Originally, it was Mr. Reimer, the Bellevue West High School choir director and theory instructor that got me interested in composition. I remember writing a brass quintet that I tried to perform with some of my fellow band nerds… It became obvious that I had not fully grasped the concept of instrumental transposition. I don’t know what key I had put the horn in, but it was not the correct one. Suffice it to say, it was not my best reading. That original work eventually became a much better rendition known as Entre Nous for Strings. That version has enjoyed several performances around the country.

http://dmgardnermusic.bandcamp.com/track/entre-nous-chamber-strings-live-2

**This is a recording of a few students from UNO and several members of the Omaha Area Youth Orchestra (OAYO).

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Ever heard a fifth grader pick up their first trumpet?

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College was awesome, and based on the number of years it finally took me to decide to graduate, I’d say I tried my best to make a career of it. That really didn’t work though, because I didn’t get a paycheck from going to class.

…But it felt like I was getting paid millions. :-$ …Performing, learning and socializing with a bunch of great musicians every day.

Anyone who has been there knows college is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, filled with performances, travels and social experiences that really don’t exist in regular life. …For most of us, anyway. Read more »

Note: The Methods of Recovery posts are subsets of the overall series and will be numbered independently.

I’ve given a lot of background information on my trumpet and musical experiences in general, but I have been saving some of the practical path-to-recovery information until now.  Partly, this is because I think it is important to realize just how difficult it can be to deal with a life changing injury/bad-decision, whatever…  I’ll give you one more small anecdotal example (a short story, if you will) of this sort of mental impact before I get to the “how to’s.” Read more »