I'm not sure what's happening to my trombone playing.

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Sometimes I think I'm getting worse and not better in my trombone playing. Sometimes I can't even blow straight into my horn, and I keep trying to get a more open tone; and that isn't getting any better. I practice longtones, intervals, Schlossberg excercises, Arban excercises, and Rochut almost everyday, plus my literature. And today, when I played my solo/ensemble piece as a test play for my band teacher, some of the rythms were wrong (mainly the dotted 8th notes, but sometimes I can't see them because my right eye is nearsighted), I played like a synthesiser, I needed more emotion, and I needed more dynamics. But, I don't get it, I practice every single day, and yesterday I practiced for an hour and a half on this solo. I'm not sure if it was nervousness or if I was ill prepared; I'm not sure if I'm getting better or worse, or if I'm doing something wrong. It's just frustrating doing all this work and to sound good in practice, but in performance sound bad or ill prepared. I absolutely hate it when I do all this work and sometimes it's for nothing. I know that I have to keep practicing and not give up and to take rebuke; I'm just rather frustrated and kind of sad and I'm looking for ways to overcome nervousness and possibly any new techniques for my trombone playing. Playing music (and trombone) could sure have lots of obstacles to overcome it seems to me.

First, you should try relaxing exercises to clear your mind. Second, are you getting enough sleep? That could have a major impact as well.

Yeah; maybe you're right. I'll try that. I haven't been getting the right amount of sleep per night, so maybe that's affecting my thinking or focus skills when I play. Rochut etudes are actually pretty relaxing...I should be playing more of those.

You should be taking off days where you don't play trombone at all. Normally, you ought to take two days. This rests your embouchure and your mind. It's a bit like physical exercise - every rigirously trained athlete know they need to take a few days off to recuperate so they can remain at their best. I play clarinet and regularly take two or three day breaks. Whenever I return to practicing I always notice a difference - I breathe stronger, think more alertly, and my tone is better. Practicing everyday can lead to burn out, where you just plateau and possibly start playing beneath your ability. You are also a risk of developing bad habits that diminish your playing without noticing.

Try taking a couple days off - play synth on those days if you want - and when you pick up the trombone again, do just 15 minutes on simple longtones and focus on good technique and tone production before you do harder work. After that, work at least one off day a week into yoru practice schedule.

Also, be sure to get enough sleep, liek Sean suggested. And eat more veggies and fruits, and good variety of them - the vitamins, minerals and antioxidants will help with your nerves and vision.

Yeah, I've been trying taking days off. I've actually noticed a difference, and I've started doing some breathing techniques. I've gotten a little bit better, but now I must practice a little more than I am, since I've had lots of homework the last few days. But I have been trying to take days off and it seems to work for me, instead of practicing crazy amounts for days in a row.