I've had a few requests for this blog post and I've just been on holiday myself, so now is the perfect time to write down my thoughts, tips and ideas in relation to holiday practice. This is mostly relevant to brass players but could be useful for any musician.
Some of this has to be approached with common sense and rational thinking. Most people have a holiday to get away from the normal routine. A holiday is time to relax, unwind and do something different, hopefully something that makes you happy. It might be the time to catch up with friends and family or just a chance to be lazy and let the world pass you by.
If this is the case, then my advice is to forget about doing anything related to practice. I like to just tell myself, "my musical abilities are on hold and will not get any worse if I do nothing for a week or two". If I have no events for a few weeks after my holidays then this is always my approach. Just enjoy the holiday!
If you play a musical instrument as a hobby and do not really practice often at home, then just forget holiday practice and make the most of your break. You probably won't notice any difference.
If you play a musical instrument to make a living or play regularly at a high level, including daily practice, then you probably want to put some measures in place to assist you while you are away.
For small instruments, maybe you can just take your instrument with you? There might be a plastic or contemporary version of your instrument that you can take to use while on holiday. For example, the jHorn which I reviewed HERE, would be ideal for trumpet or horn players because you can put your own mouthpiece in the instrument. If you play a larger instrument, taking it on holiday probably isn't an option, especially if you are taking a flight.
If you fly as a family with a child, use the child's suitcase allowance to carry your instrument. Just make space in your suitcase for their clothes and travel items. Airlines like Jet2 in the UK allow each passenger 22kgs check in luggage, that would cover almost any musical instrument. When I lived in Singapore, I took my euphonium on every holiday by checking it in as my child's case.
Plan your holiday dates carefully as well, avoid booking your holiday at a time that means you have a performance or any important event close to your return date.
So, let's presume taking your instrument is out of the question, here are some things I do while on holiday to attempt to keep my abilities fresh.
Holiday Practice - 7 Tips
1. Have some solo pieces learnt from memory and run them through in your head. Visualise performing the piece, use your fingers or body to pretend you are playing. This can be done discreetly at any point but I like to do this while lying by the pool or when I am going to sleep.
2. Breathing. I always take my ultra breathe device and use it daily. Read HERE for info.
3. I like to swim laps of the pool under water for breath control.
4. Mouthpiece. I am not a fan of free buzzing with the lips or buzzing on the mouthpiece. I wrote a blog on this topic, read HERE.
There are benefits for sure and for some players it is an essential part of their practice. For me, I've experimented and find it doesn't do anything to support my playing. But on holiday, I have no choice, so I like to take my mouthpiece and use it daily for ten or fifteen minutes.
I usually try and focus on tongue speed and just playing through music either with a recording or with a tuner. I also try and focus on the middle register only because for me, and the way I play, it is pointless trying to buzz the mouthpiece in the extremes of my range. I find that slight embouchure shifts happen naturally while playing the euphonium but do not happen when I buzz the mouthpiece. This video by brilliant euphonium player Daniel Thomas explains this clearly. I just want to use the mouthpiece in a natural way and not do anything that could negatively impact my euphonium playing.
I use a K&G mouthpiece, read HERE for more on them.
Oh and bonus tip here. When flying, I take my mouthpiece in my hand luggage. If you do this, always remove it from your bag when going through security because it almost always gets flagged up. Having it out ready and separate speeds the process up. I also keep a photo on my phone clearly showing me playing my instrument where the mouthpiece is visible just in case the security guard is suspicious. It is often mistaken as a smoking device, especially in Middle Eastern airports.
5. Notation. I always take a selection of music on holiday with me to study. I might sing through parts, use the mouthpiece or just visualise. This year I have been studying the test piece for the British Open Championships in September.
6. Conducting. I like to take some scores to study while I am on holiday. I don't do a huge amount of conducting but it is always good to keep in practice.
7. Reading. Holidays are a great time for reading and I like to find a book that is inspirational or motivational. I like reading biographies because they often tell the story of struggles someone has had and how they overcame it. This is really positive stuff for musicians. This holiday, I read snooker player, Ronnie O'Sullivan's biography.
I was in Lanzarote for 8 days and by about day 4, I was definitely missing my euphonium. I am the sort of player that needs to keep in practice. I have lots I want to achieve and missing practice time sets me back a lot.
I also find that I enjoy the first few days back with my instrument because I am forced to keep things extra basic. So those first few practice days after the holiday will be quite therapeutic. I probably won't play any pieces of music and will just go through every aspect of my technique slowly and carefully, building back speed and analysing how things feel. After a few days, I'll be back into my usual routine.
Analysis of practice after my holiday.
I wrote the text above while on holiday, but thought it would be interesting to share my findings after returning and getting back into practice.
Having a daily practice routine means that I know straight away which area of my playing is weaker. For me, after my holiday, it was my fingers. They did not want to work! It surprised me a bit because I have not noticed this before but then it makes a lot of sense because I didn't really do anything to help with finger technique while on holiday.
Then, through working on some H.L Clarke studies to get my fingers back up to speed, I started feeling that my stamina was also a little weaker. I felt embouchure tension that would never normally be there. For this, I will use my stamina exercise over the next few days. Building stamina on a brass instrument is about relaxation and learning or re-learning the most relaxed way of playing to achieve the right balance between support, air and lips.
I can't wait to get back into proper practice, pushing the boundaries of my abilities again but for now, it's back to basics!
I hope this is useful and I wish everyone happy and safe travels over the summer! ☀
Thanks for reading ❤
Mark Glover
26/07/24
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