My Crappy Trumpet Practice

As I read the first part of the book about Louis Armstrong, I thought about why I could not get above the staff last night. First, from all the walking on election day, and some more yesterday, my midsection was a bit sore/tired. Then, before practice I'd a bag of the spicy fried fava beans I like, and some celery, and both are things that give a bloated feeling. The result was I noticed I could not, or sure didn't want, to use my midsection to support the kind of air needed for high notes.

I  thought about this quite a bit, how Miles Davis did boxing training, and Doc. Severinson works out at the gym all the time, and even Anita O'Day used to train with a medicine ball to improve her singing ability. Louis Armstrong used to eat well, but hours before he went on stage, and one thing that probably helped him a lot was his years hauling coal. In the short film "Rhapsody In Black And Blue" his well-developed midsection can be seen.

So exercising consistently should help me to be able to play consistently.