Tuning Slide #5.18- Keeping Chops

Weekly Reflections on Life and Music

Miss one day of practice, I notice;
miss two, the critics notice;
miss three, the audience notices.
— Credited to many from Franz Liszt through Louis Armstrong to Doc Severinsen and beyond.

I have not played my trumpet since last Sunday. I had some minor surgery and was told not to play. The pressure needed to play my horn could cause some problems and the last thing I wanted was to find myself with an even longer period of recuperation. I have obeyed. But I have missed it! When something has become a daily habit of years duration, there is an empty spot. I am not particularly worried about its impact on my chops. My last gig of the year is tonight (Monday) and I have plenty of weeks ahead to get things back in shape.

Sidenote: In the 1940s (though it was probably used for some years before it was recorded) chops began meaning one's ability, skill or competence, and was a jazz musician's figurative reference to one's embouchure, that is the use of one’s mouth and lips (i.e. chops) in playing a wind instrument. The better one was, the better chops one had. (Quora)

In any case that age-old statement quoted above did come to mind. If I had an audience just listening to me play tonight, they might even be able to notice that my chops weren’t where they could be.

Of course, that is a problem that many of us can often face since most of us are not full-time musicians. Sure, when I am healthy and in the midst of a series of different gigs, I may actually play as much as 20 hours/week, which, let’s be honest, is less than three hours/day. Doc warms up for that long before a gig! It can be difficult to have consistent chops with so (relatively) little playing. I may think I am doing an amazing job, but that is only in comparison to where I have been in the past. It obviously takes some special, deliberate action to keep the chops in some sort of shape when we are not full-time.

I came across a post at Rod Herbert Big Sound Music which addresses that. He titled it Getting Some “Chops” and Keeping Them! - Brass and Woodwind Skill Development Ideas For Busy Part-Time Community Band Musicians. He lists and describes a number of techniques he recommends to help. Surprise, there is no great big secret in them. What they are is, in essence, musical calisthenics that can be used in short segments at different times of the day. They can give a form and direction to some of the things that can go wrong. Just, for example, he says that breath control is one of the first things he loses. (He’s a bass trombonist!) He uses what he calls a Caruso-style calisthenics for sound, endurance, register development, and breath capacity. Go to the link to see what he does.

But most importantly, in reality, is to make sure that you play something every day. One of my teachers told me that when I got going on this version of my journey about ten years ago. As usual, he was right. Play. Get the horn on the face every day. Rod Herbert has these ideas [link]:

· Leave your instrument out of its case! Just make sure the kids don’t trips over it or use it for a football! Every time you walk past pick it up and play SOMETHING!

· Get a good practice mute or spend some money on a Yamaha Silent Brass System. Essential for both families and nosey neighbors. [That has given me the freedom to practice when I am traveling and staying in hotels/motels.]

· Lock yourself away for twenty minutes and get some chops! The ultimate “me time”. [Do that in a few random times added to regular practice time can make a huge difference.]

He also mentioned something called “Breathing Gym.” What in the world might that be? Well, “Breathing Gym” is a book and exercise routine for musicians developed by tuba players Sam Pilafian and Patrick Sheridan. From a PDF here is the introduction.

•Breathing Gym is designed to give control and efficiency of breath by developing proper breathing habits. It improves tone, stamina, and all-around performance

•Breathing Gym can be used as part of a warm-up routine or a mid-rehearsal change of pace while addressing specific issues such as dynamics, articulation, and phrasing

•Breathing Gym consists of five types of exercises:
⁃ Stretches
⁃ Flow Studies
⁃ Therapies
⁃ Strength and Flexibility
⁃ Breathing for the Brain

Here is a link to the PDF that gives the background and some general directions.

Will these work? Perhaps, especially if breath control is a concern of yours. Breathing exercises of course don’t need to be that intense. They can be meditation and mindfulness breathing. That can help with tension release, deeper inhalation, and increased awareness of how your body feels when breathing smoothly and with intention. It sets the brain/mind and body/muscle connections into greater sync. That will allow the breathing techniques needed for your instrument can become more intuitive.

Okay, so none of this is earth-shattering. What it does, though, is to bring some of these things closer to consciousness. We can pay more attention to our need for better chops if we pay attention to doing what we need to do for better chops. It can be known as deliberate practice, planned exercises, touching the instrument daily, mindful awareness of what makes me a better musician. It takes me away from being content with what I’m doing and moves me to the next level.

I have found over these years that this is most essential in a couple of specific situations.

✓ When I have reached a plateau of my playing. It can get discouraging to feel that things aren’t progressing. Yet, that is exactly when I need to take the effort. I have learned that my chops are not leaving me. They are ready to move on. Back then to the deliberate practice.

✓ When I do not have any specific gigs coming soon to practice for. When I know that I have to be at my best form for that upcoming concert or performance, I will find the time to practice. I will work on my chops and the music and the basics. When there’s nothing coming soon, well, I can get around to it tomorrow. Maybe that is why this came to me a this time. After tonight, my next concert will be at the beginning of February. That’s a long time from now. But I know I won’t be ready to get ready for that concert in January if I lose my focus today.

It doesn’t matter where any of us happens to be in the improvement and maintenance of our chops. The word itself brought to mind an old statement about finding enlightenment. The original was:

Before enlightenment; chop wood, carry water.
After enlightenment; chop wood, carry water.
— Zen Kōan

For our purposes:

Before you develop your chops, work on them.
After you have developed your chops, work on them.

Keep going, I tell myself. You’re getting closer.

As Rod Herbert said at the end of his post about chops:

DO try this at home!