🎵 Why Skipping Practice Over the Summer Can Hurt Your Endurance

Summer brings a well-deserved break from school, rehearsals, and performances, but for musicians, it can also mean losing hard-earned progress. While rest is important, not practicing at all over the summer can seriously affect your endurance - the strength, control, and stamina that help you play with confidence and consistency.

What Is Musical Endurance?

Endurance helps you:

• Play longer without getting tired

• Keep a strong, steady tone

• Maintain finger control and breath support

• Power through difficult passages without losing focus

Whether you’re a brass player working your embouchure, a woodwind player managing breath control, or a string player building finger strength, musical endurance is muscle memory. And when you stop practicing, those “muscles” weaken.

What Happens When You Stop Practicing?

Just a few weeks without playing can lead to:

• Weaker embouchure and unstable tone

• Reduced breath control and phrasing issues

• Slower finger response and reduced accuracy

• Shorter attention span and lower stamina during practice

In short: you’ll need to rebuild instead of continuing when school or ensemble season starts back up.

The Good News: A Little Goes a Long Way

You don’t need to practice for hours. Just 15–20 minutes a few times a week can make a big difference. Here are a few low-pressure ideas to keep your skills sharp:

• Play your warm-ups every other day

• Practice your favorite songs or solos

• Make a summer playlist of “fun” pieces to explore

• Try playing along with a backing track or YouTube video

Even casual playing helps you stay connected with your instrument.

Bonus: Summer Is the Perfect Time for Maintenance

Less rehearsal pressure means more flexibility to give your instrument the care it needs. Now’s a great time to:

• Clean sticky pads or replace old strings

• Oil valves or grease tuning slides

• Bring it in for a professional tune-up or deep clean

At MusicWorks of Montrose, we can help you keep your instrument sounding its best, so you’re ready to go when the season picks back up.

🎶 Final Thought

Summer break doesn’t have to mean a musical backslide. Staying in touch with your instrument just a few times a week will keep your tone, control, and endurance strong—and your fall self will thank you!

🎷 Need a Summer Check-Up?

Contact us to schedule a cleaning or repair:

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