Posted by JeffO on March 07, 2003 at 16:54:53:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Practicing tips posted by Sean Chisham on March 07, 2003 at 15:52:29:
The reason I made my comment is I'm rebuilding my embouchure after a layoff and I have more ambition than chops right now. A few times I've had such sore muscles in my cheeks I had to take one or even two days off to let them recover. If I were to just force it and play through the soreness and never let them recover, I would actually get worse and probably break down my chops pretty good. I believe some people overtrain, just like with lifting weight or running and would actually improve faster, from a physical sense (chops) anyway if they backed off and didn't try to play 6 hours a day with a lot of loud playing, working on the upper register etc. etc.
Believe me if I could practice 8 hours a day (and didn't need to work) I would. And if somebody can practice 6 hours a day, and do enough loud playing, working on upper register adequately etc. I think that's fantastic. As long as your chops can handle it and there is steady improvement (which shows they aren't overtraining) I don't see why it would be a danger in the long term. For some 6 hours a day might be pushing over the edge and for others it may be healthy. I don't think there's any magic in the numbers.
Jeff