The Role of Mentality or Focus in Rehabilitation

This is what I practice the most in rehabilitation. You must be mindful of your body and the signals that are being sent. Use your senses and simply observe.

Being present and observing what your embouchure is trying to tell you helps navigate throughout the complex symptoms so you can find and reduce areas of tension in order to start working on reprogramming your motor skills and regain sensory feedback.

Being aware of your body in a mindful way is not a negative thing! Your mind can't be focused on negative thinking (i.e. the way things "should" feel, the way things "should" sound, the way things "should" look), and equally it also can't be focused on musicality or just playing "through" things.

When your symptoms are severe, especially during the height of embouchure dystonia, you're not at a stage to even start doing that. If you do, you risk getting a secondary injury on top of your disorder. You can't force things, so it makes sense why a musician with a disorder or injury can't be focused on normal playing methods or tactics (i.e. focusing on phrasing, tone color, breathing, mechanics, technique, singing through or playing through things).

You must be aware and in the moment. Be fully present of what is happening and not panicking. Observing (I like to use the word "exploring") where you actually have functional brain signals being sent and helping those areas bleed over into the unstable areas of your dystonia (sounds easy but believe me it's not!)...this is where you find leverage and begin regaining your playing abilities and a sense of dignity.

This is what I mean when I talk about changing your mindset so that you can start focusing on what is really important - the neurological/physical symptoms in your playing.

If you are lost in the realm of emotions, musical-esque notions, expression, or advice of others who don't have the disorder, it's going to be impossible to see any major progress (unless you are 98% recovered already and can focus on that type of stuff).

If you struggle with focus, one way to engage mindful observation is to just breath and empty your head by listening to the white noise in the room, listen to the clock ticking on the wall, feel the sensation of your feet touch the carpet. Then try to visualize blowing on hot cocoa and start playing (or mouthpiece buzzing or freebuzzing). Remember you are simply observing and exploring what your dysfunctional embouchure is telling you....really get to know its tendencies and reflexes, even if sometimes you can't get a seal or sound out at all. Keep noting your observations. This will help you later with adjustments and modifications as you go along.

If you can learn to love the act of doing this and accept your sound and state of disability in a hopeful-survivor and explorative type of way, that's going to take you far in recovery.

Embouchure Dystonia: Beginning Physical Rehabilitation Strategies for Brass Players I

April: Important Embouchure Dystonia Research Articles, Information, and Videos

MRI Horn and Brass Repository Project (MBRP)
Dr. Peter Iltis is currently directing this research project in collaboration with the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry (Gottingen, Germany) and the Institute for Music Physiology and Musician's Medicine (Hannover, Germany). The goal of the project is to research and find ways to restore function in musician's with Embouchure Dystonia, and also find ways to prevent FTSED in general. If you are interested in more information, please click on the link and scroll to the bottom of the page for Dr. Iltis information. Also if you would like to donate to this important research, there is a link on his webpage as well. Currently the International Horn Society executive committee encourages fellow musicians and horn players to support this research if can!

Here is a video of Dr. Iltis speaking in a new video posted on facebook about the research project. And here are further informative videos over his current research below:

American Academy of Neurology Podcast: Sensorimotor Overactivity as a Pathophysiological Trait of Embouchure Dystonia
An interview with Dr. Bernhard Haslinger about his paper published on sensorimotor overactivity in embouchure dystonia.

Activity and Topographic changes in the Somatosensory System in Embouchure Dystonia
I believe I've posted this before! But here is a more condensed overview of this research publication by Tobias Mantel MD, Christian Dresel MD, Eckart Altenmuller MD, Claus Zimmer MD, Jonas Noe MD, Bernhard Haslinger MD ( <-- Who was speaking in the previous podcast link above).

Allegro: Foundation is Created to Assist Musicians with Dystonia
This is an article from the year 2000 when Glen Estrin and Dr. Frucht founded the Musician's With Dystonia Foundation. It has Dr. Frucht's contact information, and talks about how they assist musicians with information on how to get health care coverage, and where to go when they need a diagnosis. "Dr. Steven Frucht of the Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center Movement Disorders Clinic may be reached at (212) 305-5277...for further information regarding Musicians with Dystonia Foundation, send e-mails to musiciandystonia@aol.com."

Clinical and Epidemiological Correlates of Task-Specific Dystonia in a Large Cohort of Brazilian Musicians
This is a general study on focal task-specific dystonia in musicians around Brazil. The study was conducted by Rita C. Moura, Patrcia Maria de Carvalho Aguiar, Graziela Bortz, and Henrique Ballalai Ferraz. 49 individuals were diagnosed with FD (mean age 26.4 years; 92% male). The instruments most associated with FD were acoustic guitar (36.7%) and brass instruments (30.6%). They concluded that Brazilian FD music players were mainly male, classical music professionals, around 30 years of age, with arms, hands, or oromandibular muscles affected. They end their study by stating that Musicians Focal Dystonia should receive more attention from musicians, teachers, and health professionals.

Worlds First Focal Hand Dystonia Patient in Japan Treated with Focused Ultra-Sound (FUS) Enabling Musician to Play Again
I was quite interested in this and contacted Nadia Scantlebury at SunnyBrook about a current focused ultra-sound study that was going on in Canada. Unfortunately they are only letting Canadian citizens participate. However, she did mention that there is a focused ultra-sound research study or trial going on at University of Virginia. Here is a list of all their current trials going on with focused ultra-sound! If interested, you can contact them directly.

From Embouchure Problems to Embouchure Dystonia? A Survey of Self-reported Embouchure Disorders in 585 Professional Orchestra Brass Players
This research was conducted by Anke Steinmetz, Andreas Stang, Malte Kornhuber, Marc Rollinghoff, Karl-Stefan Delank, and Eckart Altenmuller. "The final publication is available at link.springer.com.

Music and Medicine: A Research Model
These are slide presentations by professor Karendra Devroop of the School of Music and Conservatory at North-West University that cover a variety of music performance-related injuries, disorders, research, knowledge, and statistics. I highly recommend reading it, as it covers a wide variety of very important information we can all benefit from as musicians. Raise awareness!

Review: Music, Motor Control, and the Brain. By Eckart Altenmuller, Mario Wiesendanger, and Jurg Kesselring. 
You have to have a Jstor account in order to read this! Easy to sign up, and easy to access this article, as it is a free read. I highly recommend a Jstor account anyways!...so many articles and quality information.

Carmine Caruso Method Adapted and Taught by Julie Landsman
Last, but definitely not least!!! These are some of my favorite videos to watch. I actually started using the freebuzzing/mouthpiece buzzing exercise video in rehabilitation, as it helps me a ton!!!

The Recovery

Freebuzzing and Mouthpiece Buzzing

The Six Notes

The Harmonic Series

Carmine Caruso Method: Introduction with Julie Landsman

Note Tasting

Noodles

Spider

Intervals

Dynamic Studies

Low Register

Snakes

(Video) Focal Embouchure Dystonia and Playing Other Instruments

When you have musician's dystonia, a lot of friends and colleagues try to encourage you to find another instrument. Let me tell you, that isn't easy, and for a number of reasons. First being...nothing can come close to the love you have for your primary instrument. For me, horn is the best, and everything else doesn't come close. Not that I haven't given other instruments a shot. I grew up learning multiple instruments. Guitar is my second love, and it also doesn't come close to horn.

I enjoy practicing on other instruments, and I have to because I'm a teacher! However, my embouchure dystonia still effects me on other instruments to a certain degree. Some instruments are easier to play (i.e. trumpet, flute), and other instruments harder (i.e. tuba, trombone, euphonium). But just because some of the instruments are easier to play, doesn't mean I have the chops to master the instrument even if I wanted to. 

I want to show you what my embouchure looks like when I play other instruments. I don't talk much in the videos; except on the trumpet and trombone one. I think it is good to show how my focal dystonia still effects my playing from instrument to instrument. I can still  play to a certain degree on each instrument, but only if I focus on less tension....which means a more relaxed embouchure formation, and not stabilized at all. I show this really well on the trumpet video and explain it in detail. 

Let me know what you think of my new blog layout (should I go back to the previous design?), and if these videos give any insight. I'm not sure if these videos can show much...but I still think it's important to post them and analyze them, as not many people post recordings of themselves playing other related-instruments while having focal embouchure dystonia! :-) 

(Clarinet)

(oboe)

(Trumpet)

 (Trombone)

More Alternative Medicine/Therapies (Part 3): Body Movement Awareness Methods (Somatics), Modifications, and Musical Exercises for Focal Embouchure Dystonia

(PART 3) External Modifications to Playing

A couple of external modifications have helped me with my dystonia. As I progressed the modifications changed over time. Here are some examples...

• Playing with the bell on the leg or off the leg...
  As a horn player (pre-embouchure dystonia) I had always played off my leg. But with embouchure dystonia, it was the complete opposite. I started rehabilitating on my mouthpiece only, and later on in the processes moved onto my horn and found that playing on my leg made things significantly easier. It was as if I had more control and my embouchure didn't have to adjust to any slight external movement that I would have had to deal with if I played off the leg. As I improved over time and regained more abilities, I found that switching back and forth between playing on the leg and off the leg was both helpful, but it just depended on the way my embouchure was feeling that day. With embouchure dystonia, you're highly sensitive to what helps you and what doesn't (even if it is just the slightest tiniest modification).
  
  When I started playing on the leg, it formed a type of  crutch for me. That's what all these external modifications are...everything is a crutch (i.e. something you rely on or lean on for support) in the beginning of rehabilitation. As I regained more control of my embouchure, I didn't need the crutch as often, so I started switching back and forth between playing on the leg and off the leg depending on how my embouchure felt. Some days it felt easier to play off the leg, and other days I couldn't play at all unless I balanced my horn on my leg.
• Using a mouthpiece with a good amount of back-pressure...
  When I first started rehabilitating, I didn't even play my horn. I focused on mouthpiece buzzing ONLY for several months, maybe even a year? and NO tonguing, and NO breath control. In one of my previous posts I wrote about how I basically had to deprogram that feeling of automatic "playing-mode" because once my body was aware that I was physically playing, it completely tensed up or locked up. Therefore, I had to forget about everything and just focus on breathing out normally (without thinking about it and without preparing my lungs through breathing exercises...just let it all go!), and also focusing on just buzzing through very loose lips, even if it meant frowning or scrunching the chin...just playing with the flabbiest most loose lips possible. But sometimes my muscles needed to stretch and squeeze...so I started doing stretches, because sometimes I had to give into the tension I felt and just squeeze my facial muscles into contorted expressions just to relieve the tension...kind of like trying to get rid of a huge muscle cramp. So later on I realized how important it was to do facial muscle stretches first, and then focus on flabby lips in buzzing.
  
  About needing a mouthpiece with back-pressure. It was necessary for me to play on a mouthpiece that provided a little more resistance than normal, because again, it provided a crutch for me. It was much easier for me to buzz and get a sound out. I had less spasms and more control. It may have not been that much more control given, but it was significantly noticeably more efficient than playing on a free-blowing mouthpiece.
  
  Lucinda Lewis does something very similar called blocked-buzzing. This is the best analogy I can think of to describe why the resistance or back-pressure is necessary in rehabilitation. She said that one day when blowing into a soda bottle and looking into a mirror, she realized that because the air wasn't being allowed out of the bottle, it resulted in air resistance against the lips. This air resistance made her embouchure muscles form into a natural embouchure because there was no room for the muscles to relax, they had to fight the air resistance.
  
  It's like jumping on a trampoline. If you are jumping on flat ground, your leg muscles have to carry a lot of your weight, and it takes a great deal more muscle strength to jump on flat ground and it's a lot harder on your joints. But if you are on a trampoline, you are still using your leg muscles to bounce in the air, but it is significantly easier because the trampoline-springs provide that extra back-pressure or support. You push your legs against the trampoline mat and it pushes back, and it's the trampoline's resistance that shoots you off into the air. It's the same with mouthpiece back-pressure! You push up against the resistance and it helps by pushing back, and it's as if your embouchure muscles don't have to try that hard to function.
  
  This only works in the case of embouchure dystonia, because of course if you don't have embouchure dystonia then more back-pressure or resistance just gets in the way. You feel the opposite; like you're trudging through mud and having to work harder to play higher and louder because there is no flexibility. But with embouchure dystonia, we are just focused on trying to hold onto a note without our muscles giving out, spasming, or fighting back. So the back-pressure of the mouthpiece helps us hold on to the note(s) for a split second.
  
  Later on when I didn't need my heavy back-pressured mouthpiece as much, I kept switching back and forth between one that was less resistant and the one that was more resistant. It's like learning how to walk again. Sometimes you get to a point where you don't always need a crutch to walk, but sometimes you do! Some days you feel great, and other days you fall back on your crutches because you're exhausted or the stamina just isn't there from working so hard.
  
  Eventually I reached a point where I felt my muscles actually start to work or that feeling of "kicking in". If that makes sense? I started to see my muscles try to form a stable embouchure without me even trying. It was never forced. But when it did happen, it grabbed my attention.
• Using your right hand to hold your mouthpiece and closer to your mouth when buzzing...
  As a horn player I'm so use to holding my left hand up when I play, that actually buzzing with the mouthpiece in my right hand helped me lessen that "automatic horn-playing mode" that I was working so hard to get out of my body. In a way it is kind of like a sensory trick (neurologist use sensory tricks to help trick the brain into thinking that it is doing something different). It may not seem like it makes a huge difference at first, but over time I found that buzzing out of my right hand helped lessen my spasms.
  
  Also holding the mouthpiece around the cup or closer to the rim with my fingers/hand allowed me to have more control. Usually we are taught by our teachers to hold the mouthpiece with only two fingers near the end of the shank so that way we use more of our embouchure muscles and air to control the buzz, rather than relying on pressure. But with dystonia, the opposite is necessary....we need to help our embouchure out by holding the mouthpiece in a secure way. If we try to buzz while the mouthpiece is loosely set upon our lips, it's a million times harder/worse and brings out the spasms and dystonia symptoms even more. At least this was the case for me! So I absolutely had to do whatever was most comfortable for me and allowed me to work with my dystonia symptoms....none of the traditional methods of playing or pedagogy could help me...I really had to completely ignore or unlearn every so called "good" habit ingrained, and instead had to trust my body and allow it to tell me what to do. I had to be highly in tune with my dystonia symptoms and how they functioned.
  
  Again, as I improved, the less I needed the sensory tricks and crutches to help me play. But these steps were absolutely necessary for my recovery when my dystonia symptoms were at their worst.
  ....same goes for when transferring over to your horn. Try playing your horn with the right hand, and no use of tongue! 
• Playing Stop-Muted
  Playing with a straight mute or practice mute in the bell made my symptoms worse. But stop-muting the bell with my hand actually helped. I don't know why the sensation of the stop-muting helped, but I believe it helped physically and also with my sound. I always sounded much better stop-muted, so I practiced this way about half-way through the second year of retraining.
• Playing With or Without a Mirror
  Before I was diagnosed, I was constantly looking in the mirror at my embouchure when I practiced because it looked as if all of my muscles were melting or becoming distorted. I became too obsessed with trying to correct my dysfunctional embouchure at first; by trying to flatten my chin and straighten my corners, but nothing was working.
  So throughout the first part of retraining after diagnosis, I had to focus more on feeling things, rather than looking at my embouchure in the mirror. However, I eventually did need the mirror, because it did help me become more aware of what my symptoms were; I could see where every little twitch/spasm occurred and on which note. I could see when the left side of my lower lip started to droop, etc.
  It was important to use a mirror, but in moderation, and only when I became less analytical about trying to "fix" my embouchure. It wasn't until I started to focus more on "feel" that I could start using the mirror more often to observe my symptoms.
• Playing other instruments
  At first this didn't help me. Actually it didn't help for quite a few years. But after regaining some abilities. playing other instruments started to help. They helped condition my muscles in a different area or way, and this allowed me to transfer those adapted muscles and use to my horn playing.
• Changing Mouthpiece Angle
  Constantly changing my mouthpiece angle to find a more comfortable position helped greatly. Even though the angle and position of my mouthpiece changed almost every 2 minutes or every day, it still helped to experiment and seek out a spot on my lips and angle that helped me regain more of a grasp on my notes.
• Sensory Work
  This should actually be logged under body-movement methods, because it deals more with retraining your sensation  - sensory tricks or body mapping.
  
  Practicing using non-focused air is key! If you can get either a small windmill to blow on, or a feather, this will help. Practice blowing with loose, wide, and unfocused air coming out of your lips. Think of the type of air you huff and puff when angry....if your lips and your cheek/facial muscles are truly loose, then you should feel the air fill up both cheeks a little, or the air will fill up and puff out near the corners of your lips, or even lower near your chin.
  
  Practice putting things up to your lips; like a spoon touching the surface of your lips, or practice blowing through a really wide straw (like the ones that they give you for bubble tea). It sounds silly, but it's a way of desensitizing your body and brain from constant "mouthpiece/automatic horn playing mode." When your brain realizes that not everything you put up to your lips is a horn, it helps. Because that's basically what it is doing. I had so many problems with drinking from a water bottle or even a coffee cup with a cap on it, just because my spasms would kick in as if I were playing the horn.
  
  Holding bubbles of air in my cheeks and mouth helped a lot to (just don't fill them up too much because it can actually open or damage a gland in your cheek, so be careful). 

There weren't too many external modifications, but the ones that I listed helped me. The exercises that I will write about next are what helped me tame my dystonia symptoms the most.

May Video Blog

This video was done on a whim, but I think I covered a couple improvements in the short amount of time filmed. Next time I'll use a tripod. haha! Will try get on here when can. :)

Laughter Is Everything!

I originally posted this on 12/29/2012, but the video never worked. So I decide to re-post it. Hopefully works now! I wanted to share something from the past! While on orchestra tour in Chicago in 2009, we were eating at Giordano's, and I was goofing around buzzing through a paper wrapper. The string players around me were trying to figure out how I produced a buzz, so I was teaching them, and we ended up buzzing some excerpts...but they thought I should do a solo excerpt and they'd sing along to Beethoven 5 (we had just finished watching the Chicago Symphony perform Beethoven 5 that night). As you can tell, my horn colleague to the right of me is looking at me like I'm crazy!

Busy Bee

It feels like it's been ages since I've found time to log in and write a blog! I promise a video soon. I've been super busy, but life is good!!!

I've been focused on a huge list of things that need to be completed at CU, and also with new employment too. I wanted to make sure that my work was also music-related, and luckily I've been provided that! I help students test/pick out instruments, upgrade to intermediate or professional models, and help finance them! It's provided a great learning opportunity since I get to deal with the "music business" aspect of the field, and better understand instrumental rental and finance contracts. I also enjoy meeting all the teachers, and students/musicians.

This last week I ordered a new mouthpiece to try. I've been playing on my gold plated Farkas DC throughout rehabilitation, but you know how much I love experimenting to see if a size difference helps even the slightest bit. So far, my G17 helps with my mid-to-low range where my symptoms primarily effect me, but it lacks comfort and even harder to pivot from range to range...so my larger interval jumps are even more difficult to execute.

I decided to give the latest Dennis Wick-Paxman a try, so went ahead and ordered a DWPAX-6. It looks like the size of a trombone mouthpiece, but I want to see if this peculiar shaped mouthpiece will "feel" different enough to help me re-sensitize and also help with the size of my lips. I have to say I'm quite excited. It's larger, and it may help with my lower lip that can't seem to fit into my other mouthpieces which is causes me a ton of difficulties. I wanted to try something much bigger than what I typically play on. I am excited and will upload a video once it arrives and I try it out for a bit!

As far as my playing, I've definitely been building up my high chops. Well...I mean...high chops for me now classify as my treble clef range (space C up to line F on the top of the staff)...haha! Not like before where I didn't classify anything as high playing unless it was well above the staff....baroque stratosphere.

I'm really happy! I've now started playing excerpts!!! My large interval movement/jumps have been getting better. It's hard to describe how, but here's a go at it.....I've found air attacks help me land on lower pitches after jumping off a higher one, causes me to not have as many spasms. Therefore, there is a TON of large movements in my face, yet the feeling of "lack of control" and chances of spasms/involuntary contractions has lessened significantly. Because it is hard for the viewer (visually) to tell the difference between what movements are dystonic and which are intentional/a result of my air attacks, it's hard to see the improvement.

I'm able to tell there's a difference in improvement, because I "feel" it...but I think for the viewer, the best evidence is in the way I sound, despite all the large movement. It "sounds" more comfortable to me and like it's "easier" to play, despite all the movement. For me, a dystonic movement is one that doesn't enable me...one that is out of my own control.

Anywhoo! There's a lot to catch up on, and hopefully I'll be able to keep up on the blog, at least once a month at the least. That's all I have to write for now! Thanks for reading, and for your support throughout my recovery.....I remain optimistic as always!

- Katie

Treble Clef Range and Adding in Tonguing Begins!!!

I've been so happy since the recording of my last video! That recording went amazing and captured a lot of the exciting improvements! But even more exciting, is the fact that there's been more progress made since then. I will record a video soon! Lately I've been able to go higher, and noticed my chin finally started to flex more in my treble clef range. It's working hard just like it did in my middle range before. My lower lip that was sticking out, is much more flexible now, and I feel I have a little more control over it. I can practice for about 2 hours before my endurance is shot.

The downside about improvement as I am able to finally venture higher into my range is I have to take an even longer break after practicing. I have to take 4-6 days off just to make sure my face feels refreshed and ready to go again. I'm being very careful.

In the past, I was very concerned about how long I ventured into my treble clef range because it often, if not all the time, caused tension to build back up quite fast. I spoke about how if I played in my treble clef range for a bit, and then tried to jump back down into my low range or mid-to-low range, it would be difficult for my embouchure to relax again and for the tension to go down. Playing in my treble clef range (i.e. from space F up to space C) was very taxing on my facial muscles before. It also effected me in the way that I could play a repetitive passage in my treble clef range for a couple seconds before the tension took over and my embouchure collapsed. It was a huge combination of the tension restricting me, and lack of endurance....so two separate things, yet, both effected me when I ventured higher. 

The tension from the dystonia is harder to tell how it effects me in my higher range, since you can't see any involuntary contractions, or twitches, but you can tell it limits my mobility as my face seems to have a hard time just relaxing in my higher register, and my chin, just like how it use to react to my middle register, couldn't make up it's mind on whether it wanted to flatten out or bunch...it fluctuates as I hold a note out. 

However! Recently these issues have been lessening since last month. Today during practice, I noticed my endurance was a million times better than usual. As well, even though I felt tense in my face and thought maybe I was going through another relapse, it didn't take long to iron out the tension. Then after the tension was relieved, I noticed how much more the control of that lower lip sticking out was improved and felt less limp, and the movements in my face as I tongued was a ton less than before, and the movements in my face when I jumped around were less of that "stuck in the mud" type of feeling, even on my open harmonics it's less noticeable movement and difficulty in my playing. My muscles don't seem to be freaking out as much as they usually do, nor does it take a long time to relax them after playing in a higher register. The air leaks in my treble clef range didn't kick in until about 2 hours into practice, and also didn't show up on my "space C", but on  my "line D"...so my range has expanded one more note! WOOHOO!!! :D I can usually play up to a high F, but my lack of endurance restricts me to only be able to reach the note 2 times if lucky. But, I can usually go through a practice with a range from "space C" all the way down to "pedal B" right below pedal F. 

A lot of people might think...you can practice for 2 hours? Then you must have good endurance. Not necessarily. With dystonia, practicing for 2 hours includes a lot of breaks and waiting...a lot of stretches! More stretches than practicing, and also taking the time to message my face inside and out, or even eating ice or putting some in the side of my cheek while I take a break, and playing in my pedal range to relax.

Majority of practice time is spent on relieving the tension, and the last quarter (sometimes it's half and half) of my practice, near the end, I test my larger interval motions, or melodic passages, or test to see how my tonguing, etc. is, and I'm always doing warm-down or lower pedal playing exercises between treble clef playing just to make sure I counteract the high playing with lower vibrations/playing ...I feel the pedal range vibrations around my embouchure help relax the tension. I feel this has been a huge part of my recovery too! Thank god for my pedal range. It is my life safer, along with buzzing, and stretches. 

Now that I feel it is safe to, and my muscles are adjusting to my treble clef range. With much carefulness, I am now beginning to focus on adding tonguing back into my playing, and holding notes out in my treble clef range....and of course...this requires the emphasis of good breath control to support it all; which thank god, I'm also able to do now. 

I can't wait to record my next video!!!! However, it may be in a week or 1.5 weeks, since I need time to rest. So far things are going great!!!! I will be reconnecting my blogger account with my google+ profile since I quit facebook. I need to focus more on myself, and getting things done. Be back soon! 

- Katie! :) 

July 31st Working with Relapse Symptoms - Vlog Practice

 Yay! Finally got a video up. Haven't been able to find a place to record since moving to Denver. Luckily University of Denver music building was open yesterday evening...first time I heard myself play out loud/outside a mute in a longgggg time. 

Yesterday's session was pretty rough due to the relapse symptoms. But good that I captured it on camera...approx. 1 hour and 20 minutes of playing. [Also, I'm going to upload a video of what my playing is like after the relapse has passed; Link will be highlighted -->here ...as soon as it's posted.] 

You can see the areas where I struggle the most with the symptoms, but also how I work at ironing them out/reducing them. Tried to not talk a whole lot...but you know with me, I love talking/writing.

Anywhoo, here's the videos!! Lots of slow methodical practice. I was happy with the work done!!!







Part 1 - prep-work...and pedal range (working way upwards)

Part 2 ...more pedal range work and middle register, etc.

Part 3 - ...a bit of excerpts near the end. Thought I'd have a couple seconds of fun! :)

Part 4 ...arpeggios/open-harmonics, and octaves.

(Video) Working on Chin Muscle Group and Expanding Larger Interval Motion

I didn't have a mirror behind the camera. Good though that it's primarily focused on just my chin, as that's what I was working on. A bit embarrassed though, as it's not really a physical attribute I want to show off. Self-conscious. :-S

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

I recorded these videos while away from home. 

(Video) Rehabilitation Work: Very Important Elements On Recovering

This video was mainly suppose to show how I work on my most current symptoms, but I ended up also covering some key things that have helped me get to the place I am at now, having significantly reduced my embouchure dystonia symptoms. I decided on this title and used the word "recovering" because I am slowly but surely recovering. I've posted a lot of videos on my blog of me playing, and being able to look back and watch them compared to where I'm at...I see the small improvements gradually accumulate into big improvements.

Here is a link to the first video I made for my blog on December 29th, 2011.  Another video I did in June of 2012 I tried to show my full range of symptoms more accurately. You can see and hear how much more heavy they were in my playing. But as you can imagine, they weren't nearly as bad as the height of my symptoms in 2010 and early spring 201l when I struggled to get a sound out of my horn! That's how bad the contractions where...trying to blow air out and nothing happened but spasms!

I think this is one of my more well-planned out videos covering my playing. It was a great session, but definitely took a lot of endurance...ended up being 5 videos long! Auf'da!!

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

There's some more comments I want to post right here, but will eventually update this post with them, as there are some things I left out that I forgot to mention too.

(Video) Practice Session Jan. 10th 2013

Well! It's been a while since a video recording. Not very well planned out, but did my best to cover all the bases. My camera kept dying, so it cut off quite a bit of my playing at the end of each video. I think I did a really good job of showing the alleviation of symptoms over the course of my practice session, and though it's hard to explain how it physically happens, the improvement is definitely visible and audible if you pay close attention to when I'm working on my Low Db, and Gb, and even the movements in my face on the larger interval stuff evens out near the end and has improved a bit. :-) 

First part: Buzzing, Stretches, Chromatic Runs (descending) - Ironing Out Small Intervals

Part 2: Chromatic Runs (ascending) - Ironing Out Small Intervals. Octave Jumps...

Part 3: Octaves and Larger Intervals/Melodies

Additional Buzzing Exercises

This is an additional video I made and posted under my buzzing routine. I forgot to add these in there, so here's a 3rd video.

(Video) Step 2: Buzzing, Stretching, Breathing, and Strengthening Portion of Routine

There is a list on the right side of this page called "Quick Links: Important blog posts," that highlight some important blogs I wrote over my rehabilitation. Here is a link to a blog I wrote over embouchure stretches and messaging lip tissue ---> Link.

I want to add a note of caution here: Rehabilitation is a layered process, so my routine (or parts of my routine that I show) as a whole is an example of what I've slowly come to focus on as my embouchure function develops/recovers. It is an ongoing process.