Several day ago I posted about how my endurance (see Endurance) has improved. I did an experiment where I added a third practice session in one day which added half an hour to my usual two hours a day. I was hoping that the next day would be good and not show any ill effects from the extra practice the day before.
I can say that this was a success. I did not have any issues on the next day that I could blame on too much practice the day before. In fact, my chops were a lot less stiff than they usually are at the beginning of the day. I haven’t played for more than two hours each day since then but that’s because I’ve been busy, not because I thought I couldn’t do it. It’s quite a relief not to have to worry so much about playing in the morning when something else – duets, band rehearsal, lessons, whatever – is going to happen later in the day.
Newhornist's Blog 
Hi,
You just sent an e-mail to me , to “John” on Long Island, who I am not. I am Larry in Oceanside Ca. But, more importantly, I want to caution you to not overdo the exuberance of hours of practice per day as one starting back on horn. I have seen two of my horn colleagues come down with dystonia, a paralysis of the embouchure muscles. Both of these starting up musicians jumped in practicing 2 – 3 hours per day. But comparison, I played 30 minutes per day when I started up, for the first few years, and have worked up to 90 minutes per day after nine years (I’m 61). I may be wrong, and I hope that I am, but it has been sad seeing my dedicated horn player friends succumb to a serious malady that was related to sudden intensive horn playing. Be careful and don’t push yourself. Slowly work up the endurance, and I think this could take several years to safely get up to the 3 hours per day level.
Larry
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Hi Larry,
I’m sorry about the mix-up. The hosting site must have messed up because my reply is indented under the comment from John on the Welcome page. You made the first comment on that page so maybe that’s how it went wrong.
I really appreciate your message about not overdoing it. It is something that I think about all the time. I went to a lecture on Dystonia a few months ago and that is one scary thing to have happen. I agree that three hours is too much. I just wanted to see how it would go. I think I need to get in at least an hour and a half just to make sure I can get through band rehearsals.
Fortunately I have two teachers that I talk to about this often. I think they would say something if they noticed any problems cropping up. I will be very careful and I’m glad you mentioned the Dystonia issue because I had forgotten about it.
Sincerely,
Tina
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