John
Thorough - potentially life changing
I retired about 8 months ago and decided to get serious with my trumpet playing. I had been mediocre for many years. I had many different teachers over the years who told me to just practice more. It didn't help much. One teacher told me I had not only made every mistake she had ever seen a trumpet student make, but I had shown her new ways to play trumpet wrong that she had never seen before! I attended weekly community band rehearsals, and sometimes church orchestra but I seldom practiced. I never got any better. Upon retirement I started taking lessons and practiced every day. I took more private lessons for a few months and improved a little. I doubled down on my practice time, but then my lips started swelling so much that I could no longer play! I tried ice packs on my face that helped a little -- but that is no way to live. When I joined 1% Trumpet I learned that the lead instructor had once had some bad experiences very much like mine, (possibly worse!!) so I felt comfortable telling my story. It also gave me hope that he'd have some insight into my issues! He did!! The first point was "rest before it's too late" and not simply "rest as much as you play". That is the foundation, but there is so much more. As I got stronger with appropriate rest, I was given some embouchure exercises. I could hardly do them at all! My embouchure was wrong! The reason was I had let the red of my lower lip creep into the mouthpiece! I didn't realize it. My resulting embouchure was so weak, I gave out so quickly I couldn't meaningfully do the embouchure exercises. Not at all! Working to do the exercises correctly resulted in fixing my embouchure! I confirmed the previous improper embouchure with a visualizer and have made constant progress ever since! As my embouchure strength improved, I started sounding better and had way more stamina, practice became consistent resulting in better muscle memory with correct playing! I had several music teachers over the years who pointed out that I had a problem, but none had a solution other than "keep practicing"! Jesse immediately told me to stop it because practicing when you are hurting just reinforces bad muscle memory. The 2:1 method used in the 1% Program requires that you have a ratio of at least 2:1 of good vs bad in a practice session. This makes certain that your muscle memory is trained with rested, correct technique. It makes so much sense! If you practice with tired chops, you learn all sorts of incorrect techniques! Breathing exercises are also encouraged. Not only for physical trumpet playing, but for the mental aspect of controlling stress. I suspiciously started doing the breathing exercises just following instructions and doing what I was told, not expecting much. Now I look forward to them each morning. Whenever I feel performance anxiety creeping in or some other stress, I turn to the breathing exercises for relief. It works! Just recently I used the technique in band rehearsals, right before an audition for a community theater acting part, and when I had to be stuffed into a tight tube for a medical MRI! The breathing exercises always drain stress and allow for better mental control! I think I'm also a little more confident at choir practice. I think it also helps me smile and tolerate the big egos of others in the trumpet section! I'm not timid at rehearsals, not fretting with new music and being afraid of cracked notes and incorrect counting. I just don't stress over that anymore -- that's important! In summary, I look forward to two band rehearsals each week. I no longer stress on whether I will hit notes, because I'm always rested and have practiced rested with a correct embouchure. I am confident the note I can hear in my head will be the one I will play. It is a wonderful experience compared to in the past sometimes showing up to rehearsal not knowing if anything at all will come out! I still need more significant improvement, but it is a great feeling to have great confidence that it will happen! The 1% Program encourages slow, consistent improvement. Since I'm close to the beginning, I can't brag about how high I can play and all that. I can say that I have gained confidence where I had none and look forward to rehearsals that I once stressed about. I have had zero instances of swollen chops due to over practice since I started! I am a very happy trumpet player. Given I had been unable to play at all for 2 weeks before I started due to swollen lips, I truly believe this program saved me from quitting. I would not have been able to sustain the roller coaster of over practice/recovery for very long. Retirement and having the extra time brought this to a head. 1% Trumpet saved me!