Most of you already
know how important it is to rest. We make that pretty clear in the lessons
on a consistent basis. What you may not know yet is how to rest during a
band rehearsal in a way which gives you more endurance but doesn't
compromise rehearsal ethics. It's not right to just put your instrument
down in the middle of a rehearsal, but you won't feel a need to do that if
you know how to rest.
A lot of you have a habit of plastering your mouthpiece
to your lips and leaving it there for long periods of time. Even if you
have four measures of rest, you keep the mouthpiece planted.....cutting
off the circulation to the lips. This is not ideal. There is a better way.
It's good to stay ready in band. That's what you should
have been taught - to leave your instrument up so you don't miss an
entrance. But that does NOT mean you have to keep pressure on the lips. It
doesn't mean the mouthpiece should still be touching.
Here's a rule all of you should follow:
Take the instrument off your lips for all rests
longer than one beat.
It's as simple as that. If you follow this simple rule,
you will gain an increase in your endurance and you will hardly ever feel
like the rehearsal was "hard" or that you couldn't get through
it. You can rehearse practically all day this way without getting
tired.
The trick is to learn how to take the instrument off of
the lips without making it look like you are resting. This is especially
true for marching season when you MUST keep the horn up at appropriate
times.
When you are required to keep your instrument up, simply
pull the mouthpiece half an inch from your lips while keeping the
instrument at the same angle. This works. It gives you the rest and
resulting endurance without doing anything that you could get in trouble
for in band.
