Hitting a Wall?

The bulk of the musical talk
vespa50sp
bugler
bugler
Posts: 230
Joined: Tue Jan 10, 2012 9:39 pm

Re: Hitting a Wall?

Post by vespa50sp »

Take a break, try playing with a different group, learn a new horn in a new key.

I was getting tired and picked up a little Eb Helicon. Took me a while to learn the fingerings and master it good enough for tuba christmas, but it got me engaged again.

Good luck
Tubameister
bugler
bugler
Posts: 76
Joined: Sun Jul 15, 2018 6:53 pm

Re: Hitting a Wall?

Post by Tubameister »

Hi,

I recently came back to being a tuba performance major after a break of 2 years. I’d like to give some of my thoughts on this.

1. Someone said record yourself and I ABSOLUTELY believe you should do this. And at the end of the day after playing what you’re required to at your music camp, if you are able, take a break from practicing and listen to yourself. I am a big supporter of being your own worst critic but when you get like this only concentrate on the things you do well. In my daily practice I record myself and critique myself harshly. But I think that taking a step back and just enjoying music that Me, Myself and I created can do wonders. This is actually what brought me back to the tuba.

2. If there are other tuba players at the camp, make friends with them and try and learn some pop song melodies and bass lines by ear. I think this is just a super fun thing to do and will improve your ear which I believe is invaluable.

3. If you cannot do any of that and you need to keep going, remember what made you fall in love with the instrument to begin with.

4. These are just my 2 cents. Everything that has been said before is phenomenal advice as well.
Post Reply