In these sad times there are no bands to play concerts with, no bands to hear, no friends to practice with.
What to do?
I have practiced my trombone every day at home since 17/3 but I think I now have lost motivation. In the summer I played about one our a day devided into three sets of 20 minutes. I feel the joy to play the trombone has abandoned me, something I thought never would happen to me. I need to do something else for a while.
I've recently heard that I will work from home the whole autumn and that rehearsals and gigs will be cancelled the rest of the year too. Somewhere in January-February there might be a vaccine ready. How to survive musically until then is the question. I know we all have this problem. We are in this together.
Even though I have all my trombones on my 16 stands and rotate them regularly to stay alert it is not enough.
I need to meet with friends and have a deeper meaning with my music to make the playing fun. It is not enough to just practice. I thought it was, but it isn't anymore. The problem is I can't because of corona so what to do instead to find the pleasure with music again.
Not even my Superbone is fun at the moment.
![Don't Know :idk:](./images/smilies/dontknow.gif)
This was me when I tried that in April. I put it up here in June in case you missed it and have few minutes to listen
https://trombonechat.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=15303
If I'm looking back I have learned that putting me outside my comfort zone is what has help me the most on the trombone in the past. I noticed this when I started to switch between different sizes of trombones and different models and mouthpieces. To jump between alto, tenor and bass frequently has been very fruitful for my playing on any of those instruments. To switch carrer from music to be a system developer also had positive effect on my trombone playing. All that reading and studying and then starting the new carrer. I don't know exactly why this improved me as a player but it did. My belief is it is the changes that does it. Somehow new neurons and thinking new helps everything else too, not just what I'm studying.
I now found this used french horn in a shop here in Stockholm and decided to have a go. It is a Conn 8D, a pro horn even if not from the best period. It is an Abilene from 1978, a horn that is out of fashion by players over here. For what I've heard purists choose not to play it because of certain flaws. I can not find any problems with the horn and I think it could be a good horn to learn from. It made a difference and I now find joy to practice several hours a day again.
I also have my Kanstul 150 soprano trombone ready and switch between those two. For my soprano I use a Wycliffe Gordon crossover mouthpiece. It works.
I start the day with 20 minutes on a trombone before I turn to the soprano or the french horn. I might finish the day on another set on the tenor or a bass trombone.
Well see what happens. I might be a french horn doubler when corona is over. If not, then I have at least tried and it might have done wonders to my trombone playing or other things I do not expect and can not foresee
![Good :good:](./images/smilies/good.gif)
If I have some progress to show I might do a video or an audio clip to put up here with my playing. It would be on how to play French horn or soprano trombone from experience as a trombone player - my experience that is.
/Tom