rages urs
auup
Why do we warm-up?
ortant part of a brass players day is their warm-up. A
warmup consist of fundamental exercises. These exercises bulla
embouchure strength to help ina trombone players performance
throughout the day. A daly warm-up should include: mouthpiece |
buzzing, long tones, slurs and flexibility, scales and arpeggios, a
range building.
lish correct
Mouthpiece buzzing will help focus the sound and estal e
embouchure. The mouthpiece is our instrument. The trombone is an
amplifier to project the sound. Therefore, it only makes sense to
practice on the mouthpiece. I like to start out the day buzzing long
tones and then flexibility exercises. Long tones also establish a good
embouchure.
Long tones build strength in the embouchure. Playing long tones is
like lifting weights or running. They build muscles in the
embouchure and create muscle memory. Muscle memory is when
our muscles remember how to play that first note. Holding a note
for four counts or more will create a memory in the brain of how the
note felt on the embouchure. Hitting the Bb in Bolero will be easier.
slide technique and air flow. Slide technique can be worked on
ir with
@ metronome connecting from note to note. To connect notes,
Constant airflow will help. Another embouchure weight lifting’
technique are lip slurs and flexibility exercises.
: Practicing lip slurs and flexibility exercises wil
r will make int
srg Seem easier. One reason for that is because the work hen
already been done. A couple examples are Tubs Mirum from
Practicing scales familiar:
a :
Telative minors. Scales arc aca thith the twelve ai
exercises,Think about how we can say a phrase three different ways
ound,
Now that is a good sound. That is a good sound now. A eee Si
that is now. (This one is from Brian Bowman) How are
different? What makes one sound better than another?
Sound must have the following characteristics:
-Pitch
-Core
-Shape (round or angular?)
-Clarity
-Consistency
-Air Support
Practicing does not mean “rehearsing mistakes.” If you play the
same exercise over and over with mistakes 10 times, you have a 10:1
ratio that a mistake will be made. Practice methodically, slowly, and
with purpose with the goal to be error-free! Add velocity AFTER error-
free playing. Playing “almost in thythm is like a pilot almost hitting the
runway!” :
cause “flams,” or a two-part
Articulation. Use a mirror and note that the tongue should move
independently from the embouchré. An old adage says:
Don’t attack notes: deliver them!
Listening: THE key to all musicianship. You c: t
b ‘an never play better
than you can .héar. Work on fundamentals daily and really isten Use
atuner, a metronome, a recorder, a drone; anything at your disposal
to assist listening. Go to concerts,
i USe YouTube, |i
Performers whenever possible, aan ODs of alsuphonium