To play or to sleep? That is the question.

 Last week I had the privilege of being a part of the lab-band for the Messiah College Conducting Symposium for their Masters in Conducting program.  This entailed being at 3, 4 hour rehearsals Wednesday-Friday to work with 12(?) different student conductors on varying literature in addition to playing a concert of the repertoire on Friday night.  Between the rehearsals, working 8 hour shifts at my day job, running, private lessons, and marching band rehearsals, there was barely enough time left over to eat and squeeze in 5 hours of sleep each night.  Needless to say, I was exhausted by the end and my playing certainly suffered for it.

I think most performers realize that sacrifices must be made in order to pursue our craft.  We give up time with our families and friends in order to practice and perform, we won't see a new movie for months because we're saving for some small, yet exorbitantly priced, piece of equipment, we skip meals when we don't have time to eat between rehearsals, and we skimp on sleep when we overload our schedules.  Unfortunately, we tend to give up food and rest (the 2 things we need the most)  more often than anything else in the name of practicing or making it to another rehearsal.  Or at least I do.  I certainly cannot speak for everyone, but I know that I'm not alone in this.  There have been countless times when I chose to practice instead of taking a much needed nap.  Sleeping is what gives our bodies a chance to recover from the daily grind.  We can rest our minds with television or books, but our bodies only go into full-out recovery mode when we're asleep.  Playing an instrument requires strength and flexibility in the large muscle groups of our shoulders and backs, as well as the smaller muscles of the face, arms, and hands.  It is easy to forget that these muscles need to rest after playing just as much as a body builder must balance their workouts with rest.  Overuse of any muscle without rest leads only to fatigue of the muscle in question.  Proper rest as well as proper nutrition are key elements of building strength.

Playing for hours on end, day in and day out, wears out our muscles.  I am unaware of any instrument that requires only large muscle groups to perform (although I certainly may be unaware of one).  Strings require extensive use of the small muscles of the hand and wind players abuse the delicate muscles of the face.  Unfortunately for us, the smaller muscles are much more difficult to repair than the larger ones.  Every body builder will tell you that you have to eat and sleep well in addition to building low-impact workouts into your routine in order to effectively build strength and flexibility.  It is important to remember that musicians are small-muscle athletes.  These rules apply to us as well, whether we like it or not.  Next time you are presented with the choice of sleeping or playing, if you feel tired at all, try taking a nap.  Chances are good that it will benefit you more than continuing to abuse your body with more practice.