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Singers have it different from instrumentalists. It's very easy to destroy your voice and sizzle out in your 30s if you don't take care of your voice.

An analogy may help...

Singers are like Plasma TVs. They have only a certain amount of time before their voice won't perform as well. If you take care of it (i.e. turning the TV off when you're not watching it), you'll get a longer life. If not, you can blow that expensive piece of equiptment before you know it.


Instrumentalists are more like cathode ray tube TVs. They'll all burn out differently depending on the build and how you treat them, but the well built ones last forever (We still have our first color TV, 18 years old, and it's our main set going strong)

I hope that confuses you

If anyone's heard Clark Terry's album from last year, you'd have to agree that age isn't necessarily a factor in brass playing. At 80+ years old, he's still got his chops.

The number of "retired" ladies and gentlemen who play with the local university community band is nothing short of amazing. They literally play until they drop dead in practice (it happened this season - end of rehearsal - bone player stood up - fell down - to hospital - died 3 days later never coming out of it). Another gentleman I know told me at his recent physical his doctor told him he had the lungs of a person 20 years younger. Play a horn - live longer - enjoy life more to the end!

I'm almost 65. I believe soloing in many different keys keeps me sharp.
Music has done more for me than I have done for it. Tuba does sound great played in a laid back style. I am fortunate to be allowed to write and play all my own lines so I play what I do best.
I sang lead for 25 years and I agree that full-out singing four-five hours a night, six nights a week will take away your vocal instrument, eventually ,but I still-at my age-can sing 20-30 tunes a night with relatively little damage-just a tad hoarse the next morning.
Now that I'm old, tuba playing rips the epidermis off my lips if I play too hard or too long. I swell the first day and break out with 2-5 zits by the second. I find myself looking for more vocals to do to ease up wear and tear on the chops. I'll let you guys know how that works out.
" Put de Lime in de Coconut" "Stray Cat Strut"
Dennis Gray
tubatooter1940
www.johnreno.com/

or how about the legendary guitarist Les Paul still going strong at 91 and performing every week.