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if off days weren't a part of playing music, then i don't think any of us would come close to being human. sometimes the world around us makes it more difficult to play our instruments than any physical or musically technical aspect you come across. when times like that hit, definately take a break. this past christmas break was a very good time for me to do that. i took a whole week off, and though i probably didn't need all of that, and it took a little bit to get back up to par, in the long run, my mind thanked me.


let us know if you catch any big ones.

Well, two thoughts:

First, no problem with the time off; we all need it occasionally.

Second: it might be advantageous to tell your teacher at the next lesson how you felt at the end of this last one, and see the reaction. If the reaction is not supportive then this might not be the teacher for you. The teacher-student relationship is more than just information exchange; there has to be a good personality match too, the result being that the student really wants to practice and improve. If the student feels beaten down, it might be time for a change.

MA

I was kicked out of a lesson once. That's all it took to realize that I should probably get down to the practice rooms and do some serious wood sheddin'. It was my freshman year in college and just running through the music wasn't going to cut it. I had some bad lessons after that but 99% was me not being prepared for it.

I would recommend 18 hole of golf over fishing. It will take your mind off of the lesson, and you get to hit something! Then, get back to practice, FWIW.

You know, you can have a bad lesson for three reasons:

1. You're having a bad day.
2. Your teacher is having a bad day.
3. You're both having a bad day.

It's (3) that really makes for, uh, "memorable" lessons. Treat it as you would a clam; it's gone and done with, and resolve to do better in the future. You and your teacher are both human, I'd hope.

Ask your teacher if (s)he will allow you to record your lessons for your own private playback. The suggestions that your teacher offers may make a lot more sense after you've listened to your own playing objectively and absorbed repeated listenings to the teacher's pointers. You may even hear that the lesson wasn't as bad as you thought it was!

Of course, some teachers may not be comfortable taping a lesson because some of their comments are meant to be confidential for you only.

I had some bad lessons back in college, and some bad performances when I didn't feel like playing for a few days. Soon afterward, I would realize how much I loved playing and I would dive right back into it. It's OK to take a break when you don't have anything pending that you have to prepare to play. Take the break, and then if you truly love playing your horn, you'll get into it again!

I took about three years off from the tuba once. I wouldn't recommend taking that long, but short breaks might not hurt. Playing the tuba is way too much fun to stop for any real extended period of time. I was really missing something those three years.

-Tabor

jbrady wrote:I think I will take a few days off and go fishing. Do any of you ever do this?

Good idea. When crushed by monkey chatter, I'm often on the verge of a quantum leap. However sometimes not--it's only fatigue from working too hard.

In the silence of "not doing" we begin to know what we feel. Anonymous

ai698 wrote: I would recommend 18 hole of golf over fishing. It will take your mind off of the lesson, and you get to hit something! Then, get back to practice, FWIW.

Now THAT I agree with. That's one of the reasons I enjoy playing golf. Unfortunately, golf is a lot like playing tuba--one has to practice it regularly in order to do it well. On the bright side, though, you don't have to play well to use up some of that negative energy. Now if playing poorly bothers you, that causes yet another problem.

TubaRay wrote:Now THAT I agree with. That's one of the reasons I enjoy playing golf. Unfortunately, golf is a lot like playing tuba--one has to practice it regularly in order to do it well. On the bright side, though, you don't have to play well to use up some of that negative energy. Now if playing poorly bothers you, that causes yet another problem.

When playing golf, my negative energy would often increase...

...Especially when playing in a twosome with you.

Rick "noting that Ray plays with a single-digit handicap while mine is...higher" Denney

I always had bad lessons. I never practiced and was way too busy with chicks and rock and roll to work on what I was supposed to for an upcoming lesson. I was blessed with the ability to learn a piece after playing it one time, so most times my teachers never knew.

Tommy Johnson knew though. He was like me and had never been too into practicing, so he had my number from the very start. We often talked about things that were not at all tuba related.

Learn what your teacher is into. When I was taking lessons with Tommy, we talked about the Lakers and Dodgers just as much as we ever talked about tuba. If you come in unprepared or are just having a bad day, shoot the kaka for an hour and try to gain some non-musical wisdom as well.

I took three years off after going into burn out due to having to play too much top 40 music.I looked at the tune list and realized I hated everything on it.A new job enabled me to put the guitar and horns down and listen to nothing but traffic and nature sounds for a while.However I began to hear some great tunes that I thought some of my more rowdy friends might enjoy and began a notebook collection of tunes that I liked and played just for fun.The notebook grew to 150 serious songs and 80 silly ones.My last year as a postal employee I memorized words to 80 new tunes in preparation for returning to the bars as a guitar single.As fortune would have it,I hooked up with a trio as a tuba player and now I don't have to sing at all.It doesn't matter,time away from music is good at first but later that burning need to communicate musically increases and
we miss that good feeling.Just got to try to keep it fun.
tubatooter1940

It's not just the students who have bad days.
My father used to take a 1.5-hour train ride (each way) every week to get a lesson with Bill Bell. There were times (maybe just once or twice) when Bell was feeling down after a tough rehearsal with a demanding conductor, and suggested that they go out for a beer instead of having a lesson. My old man felt honored to be drinking with Bell, but not too happy about missing a lesson when he could have been home with the family.

jbrady wrote:Have any of you just had a bad lesson and didn't feel like playing for a while? I have been playing for about 20 years and just didn't do anything right yesterday, or so it seemed. There must have been something I did correctly or acceptable in my lesson but it sure wasn't mentioned. Oh well. Back on the horse later but for now I am back in the stable.

Find a new teacher.

Lessons all depend on the situation.

Like, if you're a music major, its your teachers JOB to wear you down and knock you down, etc. They're just trying to push you from being great to AWESOME.

But if you're paying someone to just sit there and tell you how much you suck, I agree with the person who said above, it's time to find a new teacher.

I personally never took lessons in high school (could never afford them) and when I got to college, it was kind of a shock to go get hammered every week. I think if I had stuck with music as a major and kept taking lessons, it would have wrecked any fun I get out of music in the first place.

No malice towards the teacher though. As I said before, it's college teachers jobs to sort through folks and pick out the best of the best. In a way, he did me a favor. My grades in history are a lot higher than they ever were in music... And now playing tuba is fun again, not a chore or part of a grade, etc.