Stamina while playing

I got a question from subscriber Emily. She describes struggling with stamina. This is a common issue for oboists, and right now I can think of at least 3 of my 18 weekly lesson students who aren’t happy with their stamina. I think our (oboist’s) stamina comes down to multiple factors which can be hard to pick apart from each other because they’re all so fundamental to playing.

In this blog, I’ll endeavor to describe the factors I see at play in stamina issues, but I’d also really love to hear from you oboists if there was a particular trick, reed adjustment, mindset, etc. that you found helpful in increasing your stamina while playing. 

Physical Endurance 

We often think about stamina as simply a feat of physical endurance, and while this is only partly correct, it’s the easiest part of stamina to identify. It’s easy to notice when your lips aren’t able to hold the embouchure shape any more. It’s easy to notice that your reed is sliding around in your mouth or air is coming out of the corners of your mouth. There’s a physical sensation of feeling tired that we all experience at some point in our playing. 

To address physical endurance we have to train our facial muscles like other muscles in our bodies: slowly over time increasing resistance/effort and adding more time to the practice session. When you’re practicing, take a 5-10 minute break ½ to ⅔ of the way through your practice session. When you come back, your embouchure will likely have more strength than it did before. 

Additionally, hydrating well can also be a factor in embouchure stamina. One of my BFFs is a flutist, and he swears that his the days when his tone is “off” are often a result of being under-hydrated! I tend to be ultra-hydrated, so I don’t usually have this issue, but perhaps your hydration level can affect your stamina. 

Air Support

Another part of endurance that is often overlooked is air support. Under-supported notes are really taxing on the embouchure. I notice the habit of under-supporting with air all the time in lessons: when we’re working on tuning and dynamics, the student uses more air support than when they’re playing something from their repertoire. This is super common until you’ve automated how you breathe and how you utilize your air as you play. 

To explore this, notice the percentage of effort given from the air vs the embouchure. If it’s 50/50 split that’s just okay, and I want you to do less with your embouchure so your air can work harder for you! The easiest context to try this is in a slow paced scale. Try it your “normal” way, then try using 5% less embouchure muscles and 5% more air to fill the space you just made. 

Over time, aim for greater air effort and lower embouchure effort. Using more air will allow you to let go more with your embouchure and give you better endurance. 

Pitch of the Reed

Of course there’s a reed element at play here. In her email, Emily says “I don't remember if it was you or someone else that said an issue is using your embouchure to get the notes in tune, but I don't feel that I'm doing that except on a random high note here and there.” 

I can’t say if it was me that shared this with Emily, but I do notice that my students who play on reeds that are consistently flat are more likely to have endurance issues. (For what it’s worth, this was me for a long long long time!!) Even if your reed is a measly 5 cents flat, playing that reed in rehearsal where you’re putting more effort into tuning with those around you will make you really tired by the end because of the extra effort your embouchure has to do to bring the pitch up. If you can, always start by adjusting your reed for intonation! 

Intonation 

Remember that ensembles with wind players tend to get sharper over time. As much as we try to avoid it, professional orchestra’s intonation will often rise over time, so it’s not just hobbyists and students who experience this. Unfortunately it’s really stressful on the embouchure, and can make it hard to play all the way through a concert. In large ensemble context, all you can do to plan ahead is have some reeds that are either easier to bring the pitch up on (more flexible), or that are a teeny bit sharp. 

In Emily’s case, she was playing in a trio, but it’s entirely possible that the intonation was changing over the course of one rehearsal and she had to adapt with her embouchure to match. Unfortunately the pitch change over time can be so subtle that it’s hard to notice, and by the time your embouchure needs a break it’s almost too late to fix any intonation. 

To help develop a better sense of pitch center in a piece that you’re struggling to get through, my best advice is to practice with a drone on the tonic note of the piece to help maintain a more steady pitch center. Over time you’ll develop a sense of your tendencies, which will help you identify other’s pitch tendencies as well. In chamber rehearsal you’ll be more sensitive to the other players’ intonation changing over time because you’ve been working on your relative intonation in private. As needed you can kindly ask the ensemble to tune chords or moments when you feel like you’re adapting a lot to the other’s intonation and bring more awareness of the pitch center change to the group without confrontation or calling anyone out about being out of tune. 

I’d love to hear from you: how do you address lack of stamina in your own playing? Have you tried anything I didn’t mention?

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