The trumpet is a jealous mistress. The past six weeks have been hell on my trumpet playing. I took a week long class in the bay area, then got married and went to Hawaii for a week. Recently I’ve started trying playing long tones, scales, arpeggios, and simple melodies in order to get my chops back in shape. It’s much like any other muscle conditioning. If you do your cardio, weightlifting, and stretching every day, you’re going to be in great shape. The trumpet is no different. I can be away from the piano for a week and not lose a lot of whatever technique I have. The trumpet, no way. This guy made the workout book for every trumpet player. I don’t play out of it as much as I used to. In college, Allen Vizzutti pointed me towards his technique books. They feel more applicable to modern day music, rather than the Arban, which is a 19th century French cornet technique book.

But really, the trumpet just requires attention. It gets jealous otherwise.