tbdana wrote: ↑Mon Mar 18, 2024 1:25 pm
What do you think is the reason you didn't get back all your technical ability? Is it something physical, or age-related, or just not willing to put in the effort, or what?
Combination of factors. I had an accident where I fell out of a canoe in February, got 2 lungs full of pond water, and almost didn't make it out. That burned my lungs and hurt my deep breathing. Also in my time off, I went full-on obsessive on a book I wrote, and gained some weight. That didn't help. Then to top it off, when I came back, I didn't have the motivation to practice all the little exercises that kept me super flexible, I just wanted to play real book melodies. I was only playing about 45 minutes a day instead of a couple of hours. Plus, I wasn't competing against really high level people in my new situation. And then I've by necessity been bouncing back and forth between tenor and bass, unable to focus on tenor and unwilling to focus on bass. I hadn't played bass at all before. So I was splitting my time, and not really getting anywhere on either. (Fortunately, I've just sold my tuba, so that distraction is gone now.)
By now, I've kind of resigned to the fact that I'm not going to get my super high chops or lung capacity back, but ironically I'm kind of the first call bass bone player in the area. Given, it's a bit of a brass backwater, but still... Now if I played banjo, my phone would be ringing off the hook...
Don't wait.