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I played ALOT yesterday and noticed that my face still felt “warmed up” when I woke up this morning. Certainly has me thinking that maybe I should have a lighter day or take the day off.

I’m curious how all of you decide to take a day off or have a lighter day from playing?

(being absolutely honest and not attempting to be flippant)

most important excuse/reason: skin is sore
second most important reason/excuse: exhaustion (from doing whatever...ok: or not feeling well)
third most important reason/excuse: simply not inspired (which might be tied in with exhaustion or not feeling well)

...but bloke, if you can overcome #3, that encourages/builds discipline.

At my age, I'm about as disciplined as I can manage...Hey: I haven't punched anyone in the nose - now - for more than a half century.

Many years ago (like 50), I was practicing 4-5 hours a day, 7 days per week. At some point, my lips/ears/brain refused to play the third line D. All other notes were fine, but the D wouldn't go. In talking to the trombone teacher on a Friday, he suggested I take the weekend off from practicing. I took 2 days off the horn, and the D came back. To this day, I still follow that advice.

I wouldn’t say I’ve ever taken a day off because I still felt warmed up the next day. In fact, usually those are my favorite practice days as things usually “feel” good. I do take time off if my lips feel stiff and like they can’t function. Usually the next day that issue is fixed. I also try to take a day off at least once a month. This gives me a day to just enjoy my family and myself which is great for mental health. I also find that by doing that I come back the next day feeling a little better and some things I’ve struggled with usually seem much easier. I think there is some study about short breaks after vigorous work giving the brain time to connect pathways together. Don’t quote me as an expert on that though.

Don't overthink it, just take the dang day off!

bort2.0 wrote: ↑Thu Sep 05, 2024 9:53 pm Don't overthink it, just take the dang day off!

Sometimes, it's as simple as this. If my chops feel worked out after playing a bunch (and it happened recently) I don't touch any of my horns (bass trombone is my "1B" vs tuba being "1A") for as long as I can until the next rehearsal/performance.

Just take a day or two if you need it!

Lots of (young) people get talked into wringing their hands over their regiment. There’s a couple of different things that cause this worry, none of which I’m going to address. What I will say is that practice and improvement are really about averages. You will maintain your skill set and continue to improve if most days you expend time and effort practicing the things you need to improve upon. A day off, in the grand scheme of things, makes absolutely no negative difference and will often provide a reset, as mentioned, for continued improvement.

I was scrolling past a bunch of Instagram reels looking for anything that might be funny or useful before bedtime, and I came across one where a couple of young (obviously post conservatory) musicians - probably freelance - managed to take a vacation, he kept taking it she was talking about practicing, and she claimed that she was saying something else about the vacation. I don't know if it's particularly nice to make fun of neurotic people.

bloke wrote: ↑Fri Sep 06, 2024 8:05 am I was scrolling past a bunch of Instagram reels looking for anything that might be funny or useful before bedtime, and I came across one where a couple of young (obviously post conservatory) musicians - probably freelance - managed to take a vacation, he kept taking it she was talking about practicing, and she claimed that she was saying something else about the vacation. I don't know if it's particularly nice to make fun of neurotic people.

I never allow nice to interfere with my comedy!

Meanwhile, I’m still finding excuses why it is 1:20pm and the back yard still isn’t cut.

I usually reward myself after.