Valsalva Maneuver

[adsteve]

Last year I was preparing for DMA auditions after taking a year off after my Master's degree to work, teach, and play any gigs I could get my hands on. I worked my butt off and got accepted into several programs with a fellowship. After the audition process, I took about a month break from serious playing. I continued to play in lessons, but definitely was not attempting the substantial literature.

I decided to schedule a recital for the summer to motivate myself and not become too complacent in my preparation from school. I started playing seriously again and began experiencing an articulation hiccup in my middle low register between about an F four ledger lines below the staff and am E flat right below the staff. I had no idea what was going and the more I tried to fix it, the worse it became.

Fast forward to now. I have now identified the problem as the valsalva maneuver and have taken lessons from everyone of our brass faculty and read dozens of articles on the issue. I have found some things that help the situation, but at this point, it always ends up coming back each day and I feel like I make the same progress every day.

I was just curious if anyone here has had any experience with this or could point me in the right direction.

Thank you guys!

[bwtuba]

Dave Fedderly. Go see him. I had a similar problem many years ago after a 6 year layoff. He knows exactly what to do. Seriously, just schedule a lesson.

[mceuph]

I wrote my dissertation on this subject, which I call "musical stuttering." Though the valsalva maneuver is usually the physical manifestation of the issue, it's probably not the entire story. To make a very long story very short, this is often the physical result of an unhealthy mental and/or emotional approach to playing, and is essentially identical to the behaviors found in speech stuttering. Putting a lot of pressure on yourself in audition preparation, especially after a long layoff may have triggered the behavior. You may be expecting too much of yourself too quickly. There are teachers who can examine and address your physical tension and may provide some relief, but in my opinion this issue is rarely just a physical one.

[adsteve]

Thanks for the replies! I am actually going to be in the area this summer, so I will contact David for a lesson.

I am currently reading through you dissertation, though it's hard to concentrate on some of it when I see the 'methods and results' section in the TOC

[mceuph]

Cool, let me know if you have questions. You may find something in there that resonates with you, but keep in mind that the purpose of the dissertation was to compare the behaviors and causes of "musical stuttering" with speech stuttering in an effort to find a link between the two. Though there are some suggestions, I don't really offer a "cure" for the behavior (nor do I believe that it should be approached in that way). One great advantage that you have now is quick access to information. When I first experienced this in the early 90's (pre-internet), I was the only person I knew of who had dealt with it, and my teacher had never heard if it. It wasn't until almost 10 years later that I first heard of someone else with the same problem, which was a huge relief. I would like to hear about any progress you make.