Back to Basics! The Handy Practice Booklet Katrina Marzella The more I develop as a brass player, the more I realise how important it is to practice the basics. Most world-class brass players (and musicians in general, for that matter) can do the basic things very well indeed, allowing them to play in a natural way. The different aspects of brass playing are like an artist s palette. Every colour is made up of combinations of the primary colours red, blue and yellow. With these three colours, you can make an entire spectrum of shades. In the same way, your basic skills such as breathing, production and articulation and so on, can combine to produce more advanced playing techniques. For instance, a good high register is usually a combination of good breathing and air support, accurate pitch and a strong embouchure. In your practice routine, these component parts of advanced technique should be broken down into the basic easy skills, with each aspect isolated and developed individually. However, as you may find out below, the easy things we talk about may turn out to be not so easy after all! Practice Preparation Relax the body. Do some neck and shoulder rolls and full length stretches. Trombone players may want to extend this preparation section slightly. Take a few deep breaths in a very relaxed and natural way to calm and yourself and relax the mind. Breathing exercises:- This is one of the most important parts of your daily routine in my opinion! Try a variety of exercises, from the yoga-esque to the vigorous and hard-to-do! Remember Air is the panacea for brass playing (it can cure practically all problems). o o Everyone has their own preferences here. I enjoy the following exercises by Howard Snell and David King respectively. NB. Try lying on the floor whilst doing these exercises!! It seems funny, but it will ensure there is no upper body rising, which is a big problem for most brass players. When you resume a standing position, maintain low shoulders and good posture. Format = in (through open throat) hold (support) out (with support) 4 4 4 6 6 6 8 8 8 2 4 2 2 8 2 2 8 16 2 8 32 1 / 4, 6, 8, 32 Propel the air in the faster, vigorous exercises and relax and focus the flow in the sustained ones.
With these next two exercises, gradually increase the time you can hold the breath there are no limits (although if you feel dizzy, stop!). Another alternative is to release the air slowly over a long period of time. Use the table to chart your progress. Length of hold Straw Open throat 30 40 50 60 70 80 Straw breath (imagine you have a straw in your mouth!) 15 secs. Hold start at 30 seconds. Support during this time. Release 5 seconds of propelled air Open throat (take a yawn to remind yourself of the open throat feeling! Think of opening your throat in your neck - where your voice box is) in for 5 seconds Hold start at 30 seconds. Support. Release with support 5 seconds Lip flapping: take a deep breath and flap the lips (but don t buzz!). Try and imitate a motorbike engine at low revs! Do this at various different pitches, from low to high and from high to low. Hold for 4 seconds, then 6, then 8. This is an excellent way to ensure looseness and blood flow in the embouchure. Buzzing: buzz with and without the mouthpiece to ensure correct muscle usage in your playing. Try doing this without using the tongue. Always support the air stream and strive for a fat sound in this exercise. Also try doing it along with a piano to ensure your pitch is accurate and true.
1. Morning yawns = 60 Basic Warm up use exercises 1 to 5 to begin a hard day s practice Take a large breath and play an 8 beat note starting on a bottom C. Make sure the sound is full, the airflow and support is strong, and the attack reasonably positive. Rest for 4, whilst taking a full breath in. Play another eight beat note with the same approach in sound, air flow etc. Keep everything open neck, throat, oral cavity, chest cavity. It will improve your low range sound. Then play a morning yawn meaning bend the note to produce a false note with open valves. Start doing this by aiming to bend down 4 semitones and increase the gliss down as you get better. (Some of the best players can bend down an entire octave without falling off!) Focus on air flow here and try to retain a good sound in the false notes. Continue down chromatically to a bottom F sharp, or beyond into the pedal register for additional loosening up. It s also good to try this exercise with NO tongue at all. This focusses the mind on how air flow and lip vibration produce a note - NOT the tongue!
2. Loosening up = very slow! In your own time Keep it all open!! Especially your throat and neck. Do this with no tongue for the first note then a soft tongue for the rest. Also do this exercise playing a false tone for the pedal note (like a morning yawn). Use the same fingerings (ie open for the bottom G, 2 for the F sharp etc). Do this for a week. Then go back and use the fourth valve. You ll be amazed how much your sound will have opened. 3. Get that tongue warm! = 92 This is a great little exercise from Allen Vizzutti s method books. It gets the tongue going, but at a correct pace and in a low range, so there should be no pressure to the face. Play at a decent mf or f dynamic. Make sure legato notes are fully sustained and the marcato ones still have substance and sound quality, whilst being detached. Continue down the chromatically to a bottom F sharp. Repeat down an octave on days when your lips and tongue feel a bit unresponsive.
4. Stretching in the lower range = 84 Hold last note for 8 beats. Rest for 4. Begin on middle C and continue right down the harmonic series for an octave. Continue in the pedal regions for further looseness! 5. Finger accuracy = 72 There are so many exercises to work finger strength and accuracy. It is important to include something in your warm up routine, so choose different ones throughout the year. I like this one at the start of the day due to the low range, ease on the lip and the frequent use of the back valves, as well as the fact you need to blow lots of air through the technique to make it sound convincing. It is not important that this exercise is played fast only that it is 100% accurate and well controlled. Start at a slower tempo and work up gradually. Even when you feel entirely comfortable, don t play it fast (at this point in your warm up anyway). Remember the goal of this exercise is precision and kinetic alertness to get a good hand and finger position.
Brain Gym The next few exercises are excellent! They work a number of facets of your playing at once (and are therefore efficient and save time) as well as being easy to remember and play without the need for a book. 5. Brain teaser! This little exercise is great for working the fingers, tongue and brain all at once. = varied. Try a steady tempo initially. Play it slow, play it quickly; play it in the middle range or play it in the extreme lows just play around with it! Make sure you sustain the air through all the notes and that the accents really jump out. Try changing where the accents lie every few weeks to keep you on your toes. Play in all major and minor keys as this is a great way of practising the basic scales, but with a slight twist. 6. Co-ordination and articulation = 120 This exercise by Howard Snell forces the player to develop excellent co-ordination between tongue and fingers, for clean and clear technique. This is the basic pattern so play this exercise between any two notes you wish is C and B, or use the back valve in A and A flat for a greater challenge. Try it different speeds, and play between any two consecutive notes you wish! The pattern can ascend or descend also. Try playing in the lower range often, as the articulation becomes harder basically you need greater articulation cleanliness and lots of air.
Simple Flexibility Exercises The flexibility selection is from the Remington method. I would champion this type of simple flexibility exercise as a basic. Slow and simple exercises should be used early in the day. I often intersperse more advanced and taxing exercises into my practice session as the day progresses. These are all little sit-ups for the face and help in increasing the strength of your chops. A major failure point of many players when completing these studies is to forget to breathe and support correctly. DON T BE THIS PLAYER! You will tend to resort to pressure to compensate for the lack of support elsewhere in the air stream. Try making up your own exercises too. I am a strong supporter of practising techniques without music as well as with once the player removes the music, the attention will fall on the actual playing and sound. NB These exercises are in Bass Clef!
A few other points:- 8. Melodic Exercise A nice way to begin a practice session later in the day it reminds you of the most important part of playing, namely your sound. When playing this exercise, let your motto be: To play with the most beautiful sound I can. Transpose into all keys. Imagine your air support, not only through the body of the note, but in the spaces between the notes too. Focus on supporting at the end of the note, and when you are changing pitch. Remember - AIR THROUGH TECHNIQUE! 9. Single Tonguing Exercise = 120. Continue at increasing tempi. Simple is best for working this part of your playing. (once you involve fingers, the attention is diminished and it becomes more of a co-ordination exercise). Remember to get the air flowing through this, so that the tongue is merely temporarily interrupting the airflow to produce the rhythm. Think of it like a tap turned on with water flowing out of it, and you slice your hand through the water flow. That hand is your tongue; that water from the tap is your airstream.
10. Back Tongue Exercise = 80. Increase tempo slowly! When striving to get a super-fast double or triple tongue, players neglect to break down the essential elements, by working the tongue muscle itself and by isolating the back tongue. This short exercise should be practised:- - Firstly without the instrument first (through verbalisation or on the mouthpiece) - On one note (middle G) - As written Start slowly and increase speed slowly and with patience. 11. Extreme Dynamics! Everyone practises playing loud and fast few take the time to practise playing as softly as they can. Similarly, few ever bother to work themselves really hard in a practice session to play with the fullest, most sonorous sound they can. If you choose to practice these exercises, you will increase your confidence and security for playing with dynamic extremes and taking risks in a performance situation. It s worth doing, just to see what your extreme abilities are.
Pianissimo! - Remember to support the air flow for a secure and comfortable quiet range. Hold each note as a pause: aim for 20 seconds with a 4 beat gap. Fortissimo! practice long, low tones with a practice mute (or normal mute with cleaning cloth if you don t have one). Don t go above a bottom C! Really work on air support and just play as loud as you can! (without undue strain or damage of course). Remove the mute and play with a full, fat sound. Your abdominal muscles will probably ache a bit if you do this exercise properly! This is a great sound building exercise used by many brass band players I know. 12. Security in the high register = 108-120 This exercise from the Remington Trombone Study Book is fantastic for practising your high register and increasing confidence without wasting too much lip (if done correctly!). Focus not on the highness of the note, but on using aural (pitch) skills and pitching it right in the centre of the note. The very brave players can continue further up into the stratosphere if they wish DO NOT STRAIN however and stop when you feel too tired! Use a timed, focused approach with the very best air support you can manage.
Setting up a practice routine Try and be organised with your practice. Howard Snell s book The Trumpet suggests the following approach for daily practice. He suggest four session for the serious player, so those will less time can adjust it to suit their needs, perhaps building up to something similar. Remember in your practice - balance routine with flexibility. Both are important! Listen to your body, lips, brain etc. You know deep down what needs to be done, so trust yourself.
Kat s general tips and advice for practice routines Practice must be balanced don t overcompensate and binge practice on the things that you struggle with. The best way to combat this is to insert very short slots into the routine. Five 10 minute slots will be more beneficial than one 50 minute slot. Set yourself a daily routine and stick to it. It will take time, but you will definitely see an improvement (especially if you chart/note your practice). It is the ONLY way to get better. In your warm up, place emphasis on your weaknesses (e.g. air support, breathing intake, production). Doing this regularly will help them improve and focus your routine on the things that need developing. The other side of this is do NOT practice the same technical exercises every day. Vary your exercises - this is crucial, even if it makes you sound bad in the practice room! If you play the same things, you will merely become an expert at a handful of exercises only, and you will not learn how to transfer your technical skills to playing a piece of music. THIS IS THE BIGGEST DOWNFALL OF MANY PERSONAL PRACTICE ROUTINES! Always think musically. Even in your Arban exercises, phrases and nuances can be made. And never forget to focus on your most important asset - your sound. Focus, listen and concentrate fully! This means taking short breaks in your practice to keep your mind fresh and alert, if you have the time. Otherwise, get a quiet place where you won t be disturbed and immerse yourself for short bursts of time. Everything you do must have a reason and benefit. Don t bash through stuff mindlessly. When you go into the practice room, be determined and positive! Your confidence will grow from this and your practice session will be a million times more fun and enjoyable. Use a metronome often, and do weekly checks with a tuner to keep on top of your instrument s basic tuning. Be patient and don t give up! It can be so frustrating when you are working hard and you don t feel like you are making progress, be it on a specific thing like sound, or on your playing as a whole. Firstly you must check that you are doing VARIED, BALANCED PRACTICE. Secondly, chart your progress with a book or on exercises themselves. Finally don t give up! You will be making progress it will become evident when you least expect it - trust me on that! And when it does, don t forget to give yourself a pat on the back! Enjoy yourself! Practice should not be a chore. It should be a motivating and challenging thing. Do whatever you can to ensure it works for you and your tastes!