A BASIC DAILY PRACTICE ROUTINE Mark Preece, MMus., BMus Principal Tuba, Regina Symphony Orchestra Every time we practice our instrument, we should have specific goals for what we want to accomplish. General goals for practice should include: Better tone (Long tones, Brass Gym) Better technique (Arban, Brass Gym) Become a more expressive musician (Bordogni) Improve our ability and knowledge of music (Listen to music!) During your practice time, you are working on one or more of these areas. To utilize practice time more effectively, you should designate specific amounts of time to each. type of area you are working on. ‘A typical I-hour of practice time should be organized to something like th L. Daily Routine Material - 15 minutes ‘A. Long Tones (with a tuner) ~ 5 minutes B. Lip Slurs ~ 5 minutes C. Scales and Arpeggios (with a metronome) ~ 5 to 10 minutes Il. Etudes and Studies - 20 minutes ‘A. Melodic Studies (Bordogni) - 8 minutes B. Technical Studies (Arban, Brass Gym, Rubank, ete.) - 12 minutes IIL Ensemble Music - 10 minutes IV. Solos - 15 minutes Be sure to regularly use a metronome and tuner, Don’t pretend, or assume itis good without them...be honest and make sure! These devices, when combined with regular practice and organization, will lead to great improvement on your instrument and help to ‘make all your band music seem so much easier, while also making you a better musician, Here are some great studies to get you started!Chromatics Chromatics Inspired by Herbert L. Clarke, these soft chromatic passages are an outstanding way to start a day of playing. Movement first thing in a workout promotes finesse and flexibility throughout the day, The indicated soft dynamic range is imperative in order to access the benefit this exercise offers. Tips and Suggestions «Smooth air movement — constant and even walls of musical air! «Airis always moving, Use the entire rest to inhale evenly in an “Oh” shape. Clean and smooth connections between each note + Confident fingers — in order to avoid rough slurs, use marcato fingers in legato music, Armando Ghitalla described it as “pounding the valves.” © Stay within the indicated dynamic range throughout the exercise. Imagine playing this exercise as smooth and connected as a fine pianist, then change your sound achievement by imagining this exercise performed on a fretless string instrument such as the cello or string bass. Perform this exercise softly to gain access to fluidity early in your workout! 12 The Brass Gym-~ A Comprehensive Daily Workout for Brass Players we eee eeSTTeESSTSSSSSTSSFSESFEFSEPFEFEFESCSSESESSSC*Seeeee@® CD TRACK 2 J-68-120 (ty) (ete) (3 beat breath) (3 beat breath) (3 beat breath) simile Tuba 13 SIUDULOLYY)Shwarmaaaaaa! Shwarmaaaaaa! The following flow exercise has multiple benefits for our ears and air. On brass instruments, the majority of our favorite notes (the “good” ones) are right next to the “bad” notes that are “difficult” to play, By moving through this exercise in half steps we learn to clone the sounds of our favorite notes. This will homogenize the sound you produce on your instrument. ‘The lips bends in the second bar allow younger players to gain more control in their embouchure. For more advanced players, the bend forces a scrambling of the tone and pitch which must be declared in the third and fourth bar. These lips bends are the building blocks of micro intonation. The lip bends will also open up your tone. This is the most important tone building exercise in this workout regimen. Tips and Suggestions Stay in constant motion in this exercise. Air is either moving in or out of your body. . This is a “4 in, 16 out” WIND PATTERN in sound. Practice your breathing form on this pattern to increase your achievement in tone. © Breathe before you NEED it to remain relaxed always. As the exercise proceeds lower, use the suggested breath as a means to break this long phrase in half. © Try wind patterning a line of this exercise occasionally throughout the routine to promote a higher volume of relaxed airflow. * Go as low as you are able in this exercise. Very low range practice promotes greater response and control throughout the entire range. © Try lip bends in both directions to increase micro intonation abilities Shwarmaaaaaa?? 24 The Brass Gym A Comprehensive Daily Workout for Brass Players SSOSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSsSSSsSSSsSsSSSsSsSseSseESVsSesesTETeseee?e@® CD TRACK 14 @ 2 FPACK 15 [Drone] J=70-80 mp -f Lipdendony) (2or 4 beat breath) (2.0r4 beat breath) (2074 beat breath) Tuba DooDDDULLDMYS iBeautiful Sounds Beautiful Sounds Inspired by our teacher, Arnold Jacobs, this Beautiful Sound exercise promotes the smoothest possible air movement while using your most beautiful tone. Use variable dynamics and tempos to access greater facility with a sustained and steady airflow at slower tempos and smooth movement through the phrase in all registers at faster tempos. This exercise is your model for achievement in sound. Tips and Suggestions «Before any line in this sequence, itis advisable to sing, buzz. on a mouthpiece, buzz on a rim, or WIND PATTERN this musical phrase. + Wind patterning each line prior to playing it promotes smooth, legato sound when the line is performed. + Ease is the key to beautiful sound — large volumes of air, small amount of body effort. © Imagine your favorite musical sound to make music more easily. © Try to improve on every line of the exercise. © This is a“4 in, 8 out with a quick breath and 8 out” wind pattern in sound. Practice your breathing form on this pattern to increase your achievement in tone. Quick breathing coordination will be necessary to access ease and beauty on this phrase. + Play this exercise much slower by doubling the length of the notes to quarter and double whole notes. This will provide a challenging environment for the study of sustain, Phrase mouthpiece arim Pattern phrase 30. The Brass Gym— A Comprehensive Daily Workout for Brass Players 1. Sing the 2. Buzz ona 3. Buzz on 4. Wind 5. Play the mAAAAAAADSAHARANARNRSSRSSSASSSESSERISSSTSSTSTSATTTTESAETEBeautiful Sounds ord beat breath) (20r4 beat breathy (201 4 beat breath) , ’ o Jez2-08 ® CD TRACK 17 [Drone] PS @® CD TRACK 16 aL TubaListen for beautiful tone throughout J=90 CC Tuba begin here 2 “EE ‘A beautiful ip slur involves moving smoothly between two notes with the same fingering, It requires strength and flexibility. Make certain that the corners of the embouchure are engaged, and the center of the lips are flexible. The tongue is not used in a lip slur