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Well...Just out of curiousity...who gets lightheaded from playing louder longer notes? I'm writing this as I'm recovering from it...my eyes at one point almost couldn't see straight... So, out of those who get lightheaded, who enjoys it? In a way I do , but in a way I don't ... So, just thought I'd leave this to the freak jury, aka, peanut gallery...Just did that for fun...

Also...I had to try for italics on the poll...sorry about the stuff...
Tuba(preview doesn't work with polls) guy

I generally only get the lightheaded feeling from breathing exercises. now there have been plenty of times where I've finished playing not seeing straight (4 seasons of corps leads you to many an endorphine (sp?) rush!)

Air is the reason brass players don't need drugs, and its free!!

Never the intent, but don't mind the result...as long as I can safely sit my horn down.

playing the fountains excerpt repetitively at high volume can produce irrational sensations of joy and attatchment to my instrument.

actually, it's not uncommon (especially after moving to a bigger horn) for me to be a bit light headed, or maybe foggy is a better word. It has helped me pace myself and find my limits or at least keep track of them as my body gets used to it. After a lot of intense practice in the low and louds getting a walkabout and drink of water helps quite a lot. I will always remember being the only tuba in our wind ensemble playing Alfred Reed's Russian Christmas music (all cues) and being both light headed with my left arm tingling at the end of most runthroughs. as in all things tuba, i've discovered just how important it is to listen to your body. it's made me a better player and helped me find and develop weaker areas.

has anyone ever passed out in a concert? (names not necessary) i could totally see that happening in contra lines.

thedeep42 wrote: has anyone ever passed out in a concert? (names not necessary) i could totally see that happening in contra lines.

in 2005 The Spartans were rehearsing in Tennessee somewhere, it was well over 100 degrees on the day, and we had been rehearsing for like 8 hours or so. Most of the contra line had gone through our gallon water jugs about an hour before the end of practice, so we all took a gamble and hoped to survive the day...

At Spartans we did this thing called a 'warm-clothes run-through' which is, as the name implies a run-through of the show in sweatshirts and sweat pants and wearing our black helmets. As soon as the last note was played, and the horns went down, s did four of the six contra players! (myself included!) no one was seriously hurt, just a little light-headed and dehydrated, we were all good a bit later after food, and all marched the show fine. (this was the last warm-clothes run of the season, but in 2006 they started doing multiple runs across a practice day!)

I take 4mg warfarin daily for a genetic anti-clotting disorder. I walk on a treadmill daily, and really watch what I eat. Even then, sometimes I get light headed anyway, sometimes I just run out of breath for no apparent reason, and one time we were playing something needing a lot of air, and I almost blacked out from hyperventilating right there in my community band chair. Not fun. Ten minutes later, I was fine.

zoro wrote:In all seriousness, if you're feeling lightheaded from playing, you should have a thorough physical.

No.

Feeling lightheaded is natural. If you have NEVER felt lightheaded from playing I would suggest you take some private lessons from a teacher that does a lot of breathing excersizes with you and makes you play lots of low lip slurs. That'll do the trick.

I like feeling lightheaded.... It makes me feel like I am doing something I should be. (exposing a weakness and working on it)

Plus its just plain fun.

During my first tour in Iraq, dizziness while playing was a huge problem. We spent the better part of July and August(130+ Degrees F) with 40 ounces of water per day. This was for personal hygiene as well drinking, eating and heating MRE's. Malnutrition + dehydration + excessively high temperatures + 1st tuba parts in a tuba-euphonium quartet on a beat up Mirafone 186 = dizziness/passing out. Ah, good times.

It wasn't someone limiting supply. We just didn't have the water. It only lasted a few weeks, but man did it suck. I have a newfound appreciation for water. I still hate the taste, but I drink it at every opportunity. The worst thing was that when we moved to a new hooch in the middle of July, two of our Staff Sergeants had multiple cases of water under their cots. They had been stealing bottles and hording them to wash their hair and soak their feet. We were quite angry. I will not discuss their retribution as I like my job. To make things even MORE fun, I broke my back in August. I was taking copious amounts of percocet and flexerill, both of which severly dehydrated me.

zoro wrote:

DP wrote:

zoro wrote:In all seriousness, if you're feeling lightheaded from playing, you should have a thorough physical.

In all seriousness, if you are feeling lightheaded from playing, you're probably breathing properly AND breathing properly is something you usually don't do!

Maybe I'm missing something, but I've never expierienced lightheadedness from playing the tuba(or from running or swimming for that matter).
Hyperventilating can cause lightheadedness. Is it possible to hyperventilate and play tuba at the same time? Is this a good thing?
There are some physiological problems that can cause lightheadedness or worse during physical exertion.
Whats with the bold print, are you yelling at me?

It's not hyperventilating that causes it on tuba...I think the reason it happens with tuba, is that we use so much air, along with us pushing it out in the right intervals, that we don't get enough oxygen to our heads. Therefore, we get lightheaded!
(sounds so simple, doesn't it?)
(in this post, he's getting lightheaded!)

Actually it is neither too little nor too much oxygen in the bloodstream/brain, it is a thing called 'hypocapnia' and it is brought on by the presence of too little CO2 in the bloodstream/brain. Here is the wikipedia link (I know, it is not the best resource but in this case it was correct and fairly well put) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypocapnia

Sou