Taking a break on tuba...what suffers with your chops?

[BopEuph]

In college I was a euphonium performance major. After I graduated and took long hiatuses off the instrument, I found I could still come back to the horn and play the entire range of the horn with a great sound, but my articulation and some of the faster technique was what suffered.

Now that I play the occasional high profile tuba gig, I find if I take a break from the horn, most of the notes lower than the low B-flat don't speak very well. Is this common for tuba players, or maybe because I started playing tuba so late in the game? I need lots of long tones and Arban's work to get my chops back up, where I could essentially play a euphonium job with little work to get my chops back up.

[Pat S]

I'm a rank amateur, but find that the tuba is unforgiving of extended breaks. If I go a week without playing my articulation and note starts REALLY suffer. It's much easier for me to take a break from the euphonium.

[Michael Bush]

I'm a rank amateur, but find that the tuba is unforgiving of extended breaks.

I think that's pretty much how it is with us amateurs. Some of the pros here talk about never practicing and taking off months at a time. They've just reached a place (that the rest of us reach in our professions also) where they can take a vacation and pick it back up without a hitch, maybe be even better. If I don't play for a couple of weeks, it's going to take a few days before my air and ears are back up to speed.

[largobone]

Recently, I took a long break (2 weeks in the back-country carrying everything from camp to camp, aka no horns or mouthpieces whatsoever, followed by wisdom teeth surgery and unable to play for about a week) and found that:
1) My tuba playing was horrendous-range, tone, centering, the whole shebang
2) My trombone playing actually improved in most respects, especially articulation and 'technique' (ie. double tonguing, trills, etc.). My range, however, suffered immensely (from F5 to G4 being my highest comfortable note)

I'm certainly not a professional, but I would also say I'm no longer considered an amateur trombonist/euphist/tubist. It is true that the tuba is unforgiving of extended breaks more than any other instruments.


"Some of the pros here talk about never practicing and taking off months at a time."

What pros are you talking to? Every one I've met practices 2-5 hours a day (sometimes less on weekends) with lessons, rehearsals, and performances most days.

[tubeast]

I may add the impression, that the described effect seems to be reversible:
The Tuba may be unforgiving towards lack of practise, maybe more so than other instruments.
On the other Hand it also seems to be most grateful for any amount of serious practise, rewarding You with the opposite effects: Increased range, better sound, more clarity, in sum: better wind & song.
During phases of practise, I seem to only experience stagnation if I practise with an absent / distracted mind, which DOES occur, unfortunately not as seldom as I´d wish.

[gwwilk]

Full Disclosure: I'm an amateur.

For the past 11 years I've used Michael Davis' and Gene Pokorny's 20 MINUTE WARM-UP ROUTINE FOR TUBA (just one source of many when Googled) for tuba before every playing session.

I underwent total replacement of my L knee on June 27 which left me unable to play for six weeks during my convalescence. I warmed up only on the 5th of August and the 8th of August and before attending a brass group rehearsal on August 9th for the first time since June 21st. The warmup on the 9th provided enough of a refresher so that while my high range wasn't up to snuff I had good possession of the remainder of my range down to the fundamental BBb so that I was able to rehearse without excessive effort or fatigue.

My playing isn't as accomplished as I thought it was when I was motivated to practice or play almost daily, but I can get by just playing occasionally on most band and brass literature. I give much of the credit for this to the 20 Minute Warm-Up Routine for Tuba. Granted, others get similar results with other warm-up routines, but as an amateur I'm a firm adherent of this one.

[BopEuph]

Thanks for the responses, guys.

I asked a few of my colleagues, and was a bit surprised to find that everyone experiences something different. I figured that since euphonium was so easy to keep chops on (as in, I have probably played euph less than two hours' worth in the last five years, but I'm positive I could play Pantomime if given a week to prepare), then tuba would be even easier. While I can pick it up and play most of the stuff, it is just a little surprising that my low range has suffered. The rub is that I only have a few hours a day to practice, and have three times the material that I need to keep memorized.

The upside is that I know with some low, long tones and some low range walking exercises, it'll improve; and the kind of gigs I'm doing, I can avoid notes that I'm not feeling 100% on that day.

[Biggs]

Lung capacity/breath control.
Low range articulation and intonation, which may be a product of the loss of the above.

[southtubist]

Nothing really suffers for me except high register stamina. I went from playing 5-8 hours a day as a music major to not playing at all pretty much overnight. Didn't play for several months at all. Three years later I can still play 99% of what I used to play, but my stamina isn't as good. I think the stamina would come back pretty quickly.

I think most people practice way too much. My sound improves the less I practice. I think that is because I am forced to play more efficiently when I do pick up the horn. Also, I listen to a wider variety of music now.

[groovlow]

Lazy half@$$ breathing
Takes me awhile to get fast, frequent and full
Joe

[Matt Good]

Roughly 15 years ago, I met up with Ron Bishop after a July Blossom concert. Ron asked me what the Dallas Symphony doing and I told him that I didn't have a service until the end of August. Ron replied "Are you serious? Since I have been in Cleveland, I have never had more than three weeks off at a time! If I were you, I wouldn't touch the tuba till a week before you had to go back to work."

I took Mr. Bishop's advice and since then, I usually take off 4-5 weks each summer. By the beginning of July each year, I have had a non-stop stretch from January and suffer from burn-out. After our concerts in Vail, CO, I look forward to spending time on a real vacation, doing projects around the house and mowing my lawn.

It usually takes me a week to get back into shape. I spend some time on long tones, low register slurs and I work on the simpler eighth note an syncopated studies in the Arban book. It's not pleasant at first but I manage to get my act back together. I also try to eliminate some bad habits to get a fresh start on the new season. I find that I'm a better musician because of this.

-Matt

[MaryAnn]

I don't play any more but have had experience with taking breaks. On horn, the only consequence is a small loss of stamina.
On tuba, my air supply just went to hell and I had to learn it all over again, more than once. I'd be blowing "at" the tuba instead of the thick air flow need to actually play the tuba. I assumed that eventually I'd retain how to blow, but I stopped playing altogether before that occurred.