[Trombone-l] airy sound

[Dean Hubbard]

One thing occurs to me Julie.  I think you may be  over practicing.  You may not be resting enough between etudes, solos, scales etc.  Rafael Mendez, the great trumpet soloist use to say that you rest for as long as you've played.  There are exceptions to this of course.  When I was in high school I had the pleasure of touring with Mr. Mendez.  All the students would listen to him practice daily for hours.  He played everything extremely slow, no multiple tonguing at all and in what we perceived as perfect rhythms. .  Scales, etudes, slurs and solos would be so slow we couldn't believe it!  He would rest for the same amount of time he had played.  He would play his guitar during his trumpet rest period.  This method really worked for him and many others.
If you're practicing the instrument 4 hours a day, you should only be blowing on it for two hours.
This sounds like a waste of time but, for many it isn't.  
Many famous brass players such as Bud Herseth practice for 45 minutes playing everything at a good volume.  He rests from the trumpet for several hours and repeats the process.
Perhaps by breaking up your practice sessions over the day,  your lips would have more time to recover.
Muscles need recovery time.  
Make sure you have plenty of water in your system.
Don't give in to this.  As brass players we all have slumps from time to time.  We all come out stronger from working through these impediments.
Best of luck on your journey--keep us updated.

Truly,
Dean Hubbard.