I have been very discouraged recently about blowing out my lip. It seems the more rest I take the worse my trumpet playing becomes. To give my lips enough rest I have decided to go to the extreme and not play my instrument for the entire 2 months of summer vacation. Do you think this will help at all? And if it does do you think I will be able to march long distance anytime soon?

I wouldn`t take a full 2 months off.This may do more harm than good.Just take a week off and when you do get back to playing practice lip slurs,pedal tones,and long tones.Don`t try to play extreme octaves.

Blowing out your lip is a very serious issue, especially when you are a serious trumpet player. Take it this way, if you are serious about becoming a strong trumpet player in the future, then what you have to focus on is the long-term over the short-term. It sounds like whatever playing you do now is will further damage your embouchure and, therefore, will not help you whatsoever.

I recommend to take the summer months off. forget about the trumpet for a while and enjoy life (go camping, boating, biking or something). As hard as it is to not practice, you must always think about the long-term benefits. When you get back into playing after two months, you will be a little rough and rusty, but be patient because by this time at least your embouchure should be completely healed.

- good luck, have faith, your chops will be better than ever

go with about 2 weeks, you dont want to lose the strength you`ve built up...

I am a very serious trumpet player. The longest time I have gone without playing my instrument is 6 days and that was hard enough. After that rest I went back to playing my instrument and I played terribly for a gig I had. It feels like the longer I do not play my instrument the worst I get!

It`s not about losing the stregth in playing: you will get back to peak stregth after a long rest, but it will take some time. You will lose %20 of your strength at the most after a long rest.

My concern is if you tore an embouchure muscle. If so, then you must let it completely heal or you will never gain that srength again because you will constantly re-injure yourself. Usually when people say they blow their lip, it means that it is a muscle tear and that requires time off the horn to heal.

If you tore your hamstring, a week off is not sufficient time to completely heal your injury. It takes months of rehabilitation to get back to normal.

Trust me
You MUST let it heal completely
You WILL regain your strength
Just be patient and think in long-terms

Is their any sign to know if you tore an embouchure muscle?

You know when you tore a muscle if you experience a sharp pain whenever you play. In this case, playing the trumpet may re-injure the muscle. If there`s any pain involved whether or not it`s a muscle, then ease off on the practicing until it heals up.

If there is no pain involved, then you might want to go back and practice the basics of trumpet playing. A few months ago I was involved in a musical that involved a lot of high register playing and it got me really tired after every show. After the show was over, my technique had gone out the window. So, I took a day off and then started practicing my attack studies, long-tones, and lip slurs. I had to remind myself of the basics of trumpet playing.

How many years have you been playing?

I have only been playing for 10 months and I can hit a C above the staff but I practice very hard.

My mistake. I responding as if you were playing for over five years. Listen, it`s gonna take a lot of patience and practice to get a consistently good sound. My suggestion is to find a good private teacher to show you proper playing technique (if you haven`t already). When I was at your stage, I always took the summer off.

Just take it day by day. Soon enough, days turn to months, months turn to years, and then you`ll be a pro before you know it. Oh yeah, a teacher once told me, "there is more to life than trumpet." He was right.

- Later

Tara-
I was wondering what you did and do in your practice sessions to hit the high C after only 10 months of playing. How are you able to play it everyday, no sweat?

I once asked these trumpet players at Disney World how they were able to play so high in the register and they said, "we just kept playing and playing." I agree with what they said, but I think that if you keep playing and playing CORRECTLY then you can reach those high notes. There`s no trick or special excercise, a good teacher can probably show you the way to the high register.

High notes aside, I would like you to consider more important aspects of trumpet playing such as intonation, musicality, and quality of sound. I would rather hear a player that has a good sound in ten months rather than one who can only play high notes. Remember that the trumpet is a musical instrument not a javelin or a discus. I mean, playing the trumpet is an art not an athletic event.

- ttyl

I practiced two hours everday. One hour with my teacher and the other by myself. On weekens and holidays I play for three hours(taking frequent breaks). I have very good sound on my instrument. I sound better than someone that has been on the band for 3 years. Also because maybe some people are just born to play certain instruments. Since I have injured my embouchure(because of overwork) it reminded me that I am human not the imortal that I taught I was.LOL. So now I am back to taking baby steps to break inthe new embouchure.

I recommend a good teacher.

I simply cannot imagine how you would injure your lip if you are practicing and playing correctly.

A good teacher would be able to give you some guidance on that.

I have a great teacher. He is a professional trumpet player. I injured my lip because I played too hard on a march. I mean I really forced myself to finish.