Going on a long vacation...

[jazztonight]

I've been making progress in the 5 or 6 months I've been learning trombone (adult beginner, but I'm competent on other non-brass instruments).

But DW and I are going on a 3.5 month world cruise next year, and I'm worried about losing a lot of ground without being able to practice every day.

I can bring my mouthpiece, of course. Will working with the mouthpiece and/or free buzzing allow me to maintain my embouchure? Is there a specific recommended workout?

Or does anyone have other recommendations as to what I should do. I'm hesitant to bring the horn with me, even with my practice mute (which I use a lot since I live in an apartment).

What do players do when you find yourself in a situation where you can't practice for a few months due to injury, travel, or other extenuating circumstances?

[SaigonSlide]

If it's going to be that long I would definitely try to bring some sort of horn...maybe a P-bone and practice mute. If you've been working hard for 6mo now, if you don't play the horn for that long you will lose a lot.

[CharlieB]

Not to worry. You won't lose the progress you've earned so far.
Your muscle memory will remember everything it has been taught about how to play the trombone.
Just like riding a bicycle; the muscle memory doesn't forget what to do.
Your embouchure will be out of shape when you return, but a week or two of playing will restore it.
Enjoy your world cruise now, and your trombone when you get back.

[GBP]

I wonder if you can reach out to the cruise line and speak to the music director to see what their musicians do for practice. I have known people who have played on cruise ships and say there nooks and crannies were they can do some shedding.

[Doug Elliott]

That's a long time to be out on a ship. I think you'd appreciate having a horn just to get away from the inevitable monotony of sea days. The ship musicians have places they can practice that aren't accessible to guests, but you can probably arrange to play in the movie theater when it's not being used or maybe some other places. You could also consider taking a few lessons with whoever the trombone player is on board.

[lauriet]

I've just come back from 5 weeks OS. I took a pbone and a shoosh mute. It must have been the worst pbone made. The slide was sooooo sticky and the combination sounded so dead that I rarely used it. It just became dead weight to carry around. When I got back the 3b felt like a dream.
I haven't tried the yamaha silent brass mute, but that may be an option ?
My 2 cents worth.....don't take a plastic instrument.

[hyperbolica]

I take a compact marching valve trombone when I travel, although I've never done it on a ship. The horn is small enough to fit in a suitcase.

Freebuzzing is ok for a little bit but for that long, it would cause problems.

Optionally you might look into a Jhorn.

[lauriet]

Just an update....

I took back the P-bone to the shop and tried 3 others. They were ALL better than the one I had, so obviously I had a dud. The shop agreed and swapped it over. I might change my mind about an OS beater horn.

[Bach5G]

I might take a horn and a practice mute. Surely you could find someplace outside on deck, where it isn’t too crowded, where you could point the horn out to sea and play:

[jazztonight]

Just an update....

I took back the P-bone to the shop and tried 3 others. They were ALL better than the one I had, so obviously I had a dud. The shop agreed and swapped it over. I might change my mind about an OS beater horn.

Good to hear, and I'm glad the new one worked out.

I'm getting a pbone to try, and also have a small practice mute. I'll know by next week if this system will work. I'll report back.

[Doubler]

Not the greatest thing to try, but bringing an appropriate length of clear plastic tubing to attach to your mouthpiece would enable you to at least play intervals. Add a plastic funnel, and you'll approximate the timbre of a trombone. Crude, but workable, and especially compact and damage-resistant. Use Herco Spitballs to keep nasty things from growing inside the tubing.

[BGuttman]

Not the greatest thing to try, but bringing an appropriate length of clear plastic tubing to attach to your mouthpiece would enable you to at least play intervals. Add a plastic funnel, and you'll approximate the timbre of a trombone. Crude, but workable, and especially compact and damage-resistant. Use Herco Spitballs to keep nasty things from growing inside the tubing.

https://hosaphone.com/