Low Eh!

I managed to pick up the yearly back to school cold last week – my youngest daughter came home with it on the Friday, and by Tuesday evening, I knew that I had it. I took the Wednesday day off of teaching, taught online on Thursday, and on Friday, I had a saxophone quartet rehearsal and a lesson at Carleton University, as well as a gig in the evening with my quartet.

I figured that this might be a good topic for a post – how I get through being sick, and maintaining my chops for any upcoming work.

1. Rest. I try to get as much sleep as possible. From September to June, I am on running between school, my students, gigs, and family stuff. When I’m sick, I make sure that I cancel as much as I can, and stay in bed so I can recover quickly.
2. Clean my my mouthpieces. I clean my mouthpieces regularly (which hasn’t always been the case. Gross…), but I make sure that I clean my mouthpieces thoroughly. I use a mixture of water and vinegar, as per Sebastian Knox’s instructions.
3. Teach online lessons. I understand that it isn’t everyone’s favourite method for lessons, but it works when we need it. When I’m on the mend, I will usually teach online on my “first day back”. I lose my voice whenever I get sick, and sound pretty rough, so it puts everybody at ease (because I still sound sick), and it also allows me to be close to everything that I need at home.
4. Compose and arrange. I can’t always be on the horn when I’m not feeling great, but it does give me a chance to compose and/or arrange some music. This time around, I wrote an arrangement for saxophone quartet, and started a new big band chart.
5. Play my horns anyway. Sometimes I can’t help myself! But when I do practice, I make sure that I’m having short sessions – I stay in the comfortable parts of the horn, and play lots of things that I like to maintain my face. For me, it’s also important to stay aware of how I’m feeling. The ultimate goal is recovery!

These are just a few ways that I get through the days where I’m sick, and am not at my best. If I keep these ideas in mind, I feel like I recover, haven’t lost a step, and don’t get too bored when I can’t perform the way I want.