Trumpet Endurance!
Endurance on the trumpet is a personal journey influenced by the music and setting. The first step to building endurance is to consider the context in which we want to gain endurance. This challenge can be addressed once we have identified our areas for improvement. If playing from the beginning of an etude to the end is challenging, then long-setting exercises and seeking ease and relaxation during sustained durations are essential. Any exercise or piece of music can be played as a long-setting drill. Breathe through your nose, and do not remove the trumpet from your embouchure. Seek relaxation and mind your mouthpiece pressure when doing exercises or music like this. Excess pressure to the lips will zap any chances of building efficiency and endurance. When selecting exercises or music to play in this way, think about the etudes you struggle to play from top to bottom and the elements of music involved in said etudes. Aim for the exercises and music you are training on to target the weakness that the harder etude exposes. For example, if the “hard” etude has lots of large intervals and slurred passages, practice your flexibility exercises to mimic the etude and practice easier etudes that can help you build up your endurance for the harder one. Breaking up etudes into smaller manageable chunks can be a helpful approach to mastering a specific piece of music. In my personal journey on the trumpet, I found that taking a step back and honestly assessing what is holding me back from playing the “hard” etude is the best path forward. I tend to prefer to focus on the process over being able to play a singular piece of music. This being said, sometimes mastery of a musical work can push us forward in our journey as trumpet players, so I recommend considering both sides of the argument and choosing what fits your path best.
Step two is considering the dynamics and acoustics of the environment in which you are performing. If you play louder, it requires more energy, so you need to practice accordingly in most cases. This applies if you are not playing loudly in a musical group weekly. If you are, then a yin-yang approach is desirable. Practice at the dynamic level, the opposite of what you do in your musical groups, to ensure balance in your playing. If you are preparing to play in a loud setting and don’t do so frequently throughout your playing week, then it is advisable to do so. Particular acoustic environments can be more taxing to perform in; whenever electrified instruments are involved or loud percussion, dead spaces, or outdoors, we, as trumpet players, must prepare accordingly. I aim to practice in a setting that mimics where I will be performing to acclimate myself to these challenges. My practice studio is a dead space, and I often practice with headphones on, playing along with recordings of the music I will perform; this mimics the feel of playing with a loud band in a dead space. I also practice in my living room, which has lots of wood and natural acoustics, when I prepare to perform in a hall or live space.
Step three is considering how extended range or techniques contribute to endurance issues. As a teacher, I often see this with double and triple-tongued passages in concertos, shakes, and other stylistic elements of commercial lead trumpet playing. Seeking control and efficiency over these techniques will often solve endurance issues. When working on a particular technique, avoid being able to perform the method at tempo and in musical contexts, but think about how easy this technique is for me. Could I do this at the end of my current endurance level? Use repetitions with lots of rest to allow your body to find the most efficient way to perform the technique, be mindful of how much effort is being used, and find the easiest way to execute the method.
The last note on this is to document your progress in writing and with recordings so that you can see the fruits of your labor.
