When you have a cold, probably the last thing you will want to do is get your instrument out and start playing. However, sometimes you don’t have much choice. If you’ve got a concert to play in and you end up being ill on the day, you might have to play whether you like it or not. But how is playing through a cold likely to affect your playing?
It’s definitely possible to play a woodwind instrument with a cold, however, it will be much more difficult. Probably the most significant impact will be loss of breath control from congestion. The player’s ability to play sustained notes will be much worse with a cold.
If you find yourself in a situation where playing your instrument with a cold is unavoidable, you will almost certainly notice that your playing is affected. It’s unlikely that you will be able to play at your full capacity when you have a cold, unless it’s a very mild one. If it’s not possible to avoid playing with a cold, then there are some tips here that might help.
Which cold symptom is the worst for playing an instrument?
Probably the symptom that will have the biggest affect on your ability to play your instrument is congestion. If there is some obstruction in your airway, then you won’t be able to use your full breathing capacity. The amount of air needed to enter the instrument will be the same, but as your airway is obstructed, you’ll need a larger amount of support to get the same amount of air into the instrument in the same amount of time.
The most obvious effect of a restricted air flow is the player’s ability to play long notes. If your airway is restricted, there are two possible problems that could occur. The first is that you will play a note with the same sound quality and the amount of air entering the instrument will be the same as normal. However, the amount of air you need to push through your airway will be greater and therefore the note you will end up playing will be shorter than if your airway wasn’t obstructed.
The second possible problem could be that you end up playing a note that doesn’t have enough air going through it. The can lead to the note sounding less clear and possibly airy. The quality of the note will be affected in this case, but it’s not necessarily the case that the player’s ability to sustain a note will be affected, as they will be using the same amount of air as normal, rather than compensating by blowing more air through the instrument.
Can playing an instrument with a cold damage the instrument?
The player’s ability when they have a cold will be affected, but it’s also possible that there could be an adverse effect on the instrument too. When you have a cold, you will have an excess of mucus. If this gets into an instrument, it can affect the sound quality. Bacteria can also build up in the instrument and mould could accumulate. It’s very unlikely, however, that there will be any permanent damage to the instrument from playing with a cold.
You’ll want to clean your instrument thoroughly after playing, but even more thoroughly if you have a cold. If bacteria is left to build up in the instrument, it might cause the player illness in the future. There will be more germs entering the instrument if you have a cold, so the build up of bacteria will be quicker.
You should be especially careful playing reed instruments if you have a cold. There will be lots of opportunity for extra bacteria to build up on the reed, as it’s actually in the player’s mouth, rather than with a flute where the player blows over the hole. For a single reed instrument, this builds up between the reed and the mouthpiece, as well as just the reed itself, so the bacteria build up can’t be solved by simply changing the reed.
Can playing an instrument with a cold increase chances of passing it on?
If you have a cold and you play an instrument, we’ve established that you transfer bacteria onto the instrument. But does playing an instrument around other people increase their chances of catching it from you? An obvious way transmission could be increased is if someone else plays the same instrument as you after you’ve played it with a cold. Of course, in this case, it becomes more likely that the bacteria will be transferred.
However, it’s a bit less clear whether playing an instrument around people will increase the chances of transmission. This will also depend on which instrument you’re playing. If you’re playing a flute, only approximately 50% of the air you breath out goes into the instrument, while the rest goes straight ahead. Then, you can imagine that if someone is facing the person playing the flute, transmission is quite likely. Even being in the same room as someone playing the flute means transmission of a cold is not unlikely.
With other woodwind instruments, such as single reed instruments, the player has the whole of the mouthpiece inside their mouth. This means that almost all of the air the player blows goes directly into the instrument. This means that transmission is much less likely for other woodwind instruments than a flute. No air will leave the end of the instrument – this is just sound waves. The only air escaping is that lost out of the sides of the player’s mouth, a small amount, but there is still some possibility of transmission.
Summary
To sum up this post, if you play an instrument with a cold, you will most likely find that it’s more difficult than normal, particularly in terms of breath control. You will also need to be particularly careful about cleaning it afterwards. If you don’t clean it well enough, you risk a build up of bacteria inside the instrument, creating risk of further infection. You should also think which people you will be around when playing with a cold, as there will be a risk of transmission, particularly for flute players.