Ben's KL ecsaus Benvan DIK BASICS “He | Acknowledgements ggre This book would never have been created without the sensitive and big-hearted support of my family and friends Thanks for reading the manuscript and contributing valuable editorial commentary, Joseph Alessi New York Philharmonic “ey Diana Beekvelt Graphic designer v John Engelkes San Francisco Symphony ~, ‘ Heinz Fadle Professor Hochschule Detmold _ Inoue Jumpei ‘Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra Wouter Iseger Freelance bass trombone Netherlands Edward Kleinhammer Former bass trombone Chicago Symphony Orchestra Bart van Lier Metropole Orchestra Netherlands a Bill Reichenbach Studio/Jazz bass trombone “ Newell Sheridan Freelance bass trombone : Max & Heinrich Thein Creators of my beautiful instruments Jiggs Whigham Internationally acclaimed trombonist Douglas Yeo Boston Symphony Orchestra rer ae TO ee er ae a ‘The two persons who were of enormous help for this project are my sons Mark and Erik van Dijk. Without their efficiency and dedication this project would never have had a chance to succeed. ‘Thanks boys! I am grateful to Aalije, my dear wife, for her support, her critical ears, eyes and ever-lasting patience, co Ilike to dedicate this book, in love and deep respect to my mother Hetty van Dijk. Without her contribution this book would have never been there. Ben van Dijk Voorstondenstraat 17, 2548 SV Den Haag The Netherlands : Email: ben@basstrombone.nl Website: www.basstrombone.nl acer Ast Edition 2004. Copyright © BVD Music Productions 2004 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the permission of the publisher. So eT meCoA Say ACA ina wviwe Table of contents ‘ 2 Acknowledgements Table of contents Biography Author's note Pre- Warm up Exercises Breathing Explaining the Breathing Mechanics Two Methods of Breathing Exercises Exercise one Exercise two Exercise three Exercise four - “Five blows” Exercise five Daily Routines General practice hints Concept and Concentration Holding your instrument Pulse and Tempo markings Intonation How to use these exercises Long tones Snake exercise Coordination Mozart Mouthpiece exercise in first position Ha Da coordination Tonguing Relaxation and lip flexibility in the lower register Register building and lip flexibility Back to tonguing again. Slide Coordination Chord exercises Contrast Coordination in legato Using existing melodies as legato and vibrato exercises in your Daily Routines. More lip-flexibility exercises Playing Pedal-notes Cool DownWarm up Breathing exercises Long tones Snake exercise Legato and tonguing Mozart wl Tonguing exercises 2 Lip flexibility exercise in lower register d Connecting pedal notes with valve notes in lower register Tonguing, slide and scale exercise ~ — Octave slurs exercise d Lip flexibility exercise Cool Down. f “Tip of the Week” Breathing tips d Articulation tips Sound tips Practice tips Register tips Relaxation tips Orchestral related tips dj General tips i My equipment Discography Ben van Dijk Quotes Joseph Alessi John Engelkes Heinz Fadle, Inoue Jumpei Bart van Lier Bill Reichenbach Douglas Yeo Jiggs Whigham i 4 a i d A 65 65 66 66 67 67 68 69 69 69 71 72 72 74 75 76 80 82 86 90 ae i) 98 100 102 102 102 102 102 103 103 103 103Biography Born in 1955 in The Hague, Ben van Dijk received his first trombone lessons from his father, Piet van Dijk, who at the time was solo trombonist of The Hague Philharmonic Orchestra, Ben earned his Solo Diploma cum laude in 1980 at the Royal Conservatory in ‘The Hague. In 1976, he was appointed to the bass trombone position in the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, He continued to study with Jeff Reynolds and Roger Bobo in Los Angeles, After 23 years with the N.R.P.O., Ben joined the Rotterdam Philharmonic as solo bass trombonist. He played for ‘more then 15 years with the Netherlands Wind Ensemble, and is still active as bass trombonist in the Dutch Jazz Orchestra. He bas also played with the Dutch Brass Sextet for fourteen years. Ben is Professor at the Rotterdam Conservatory and the Royal College of Music in Manchester. He was invited as teacher and soloist to the International Trombone Festival in Detmold in 1992, the ITF in Cleveland in 1994, the Budapest International Brass Festival in 1996 and the Rencontres Internationales de Cuivre in Lille (France) in 1997. Im Feb, 1998 Ben spent two weeks giving master classes and recitals in the USA. At the invitation of leading trombonists from the New York Philharmonic, the Cleveland Orchestra and the Houston Symphony, he visited such notable institutions as the Julliard School of Music, Cleveland Institute of Music, Oberlin Conservatory of M Rice University and University of North Texas. In 1999 and 2000 Ben gave master classes in Korea. In July 2000 Ben was on the faculty/staff of the ITF 2000 in Utrecht and during this event he released his first solo CD, “Nana”. In 2002 he has been soloist during the ITF in Denton, Texas, given master classes in Spain, Germany, Sweden and England; made his Japanese debut as soloist and gave master classes during a 12 day tour. In recognition of his contributions to the ITA and to the trombone community at large Ben van Dijk is the recipient of the 2003 ITA Award. This award is the ITA’s most prestigious citation and it recognizes Ben's artistic achievements and his tireless efforts in promoting and improving global trombone performance standards, brass pedagogy, and instrument design. ‘The year 2003 also brought the release of Ben's second solo CD “First Song”. It is Ben’s hope that this CD will be of some benefit for any upcoming auditions and that it will also be another nice CD of bass trombone repertoire = wm Para) EP rua! Dicvenal B ri mi qiAuthor’s note In this book I'd like to give you some guidance in various areas of trombone playing, Of course, there are many more topics one could address, but I have focused on three areas in this book. 1. Breathing 2, Daily Routines 3. Warm up It is my hope to give you some perspective and direction, but it is definitively not my idea to make you dependent on this book. On the contrary, I hope to encourage you to look for ideas yourself and be as inventive as possible. Most of my ideas come from mat y years of playing and teaching combined with all the wonderful contacts I have had with different experts on these matters during my career. It’s a combination of the ideas which have helped ‘me to come to where I am right now. They also have proven to be of value to many of my students. During many of the master-cl isses 1 have given in the past years, students and colleagues have asked me to write down my ideas and bundle them into a book. Well, here itis! There are already many good trombone books available. But I have noticed that many of these books don’t have thorough explanations of their notated examples or they consist only of text. I have tried to explain all my exercises as clearly as possible with both text and notated examples taken from my own experiences, As a little extra I'd like to pass on many of my “Tips of the week”. They cover many topics which have to do with trombone playing in general. ‘These are nothing but my thoughts and they are there just to give you ideas that may be useful in your playing, peg Ren es ae ee me ed ag a ee oe Lurge you to read all the text carefully and to please be patient. A good house is built on a solid foundation and accordingly you must construct your trombone playing skills in the same manner. Wl Have fun! Pr aT— Pre- Warm up Exercises The goal of these exercises is to assure that your breathing is functioning in a relaxed manner before you actually start playing the bass/tenor trombone. Breathing ‘Thy to achieve a natural method of breathing. Examples of when your breathing is most relaxed might be 1, Breathing in fresh air through your nose during a refreshing walk along the beach or in the woods. 2. Breathing in through your mouth during a deep sigh of relief. 3. The most relaxed way of breathing, though, occurs while one is asleep. When breathing in this manner, the stomach muscles are completely relaxed. The relaxation of the stomach while breathing is one of the greatest problems for many of us. Try to conjure up this feeling of relaxed breathing repeatedly while playing your instrument Explaining the Breathing Mechanics T don't want to go into full detail on the organs and muscles connected with breathing. However, I think it is important to explain some facts concerning breathing. Your chest is considerably larger at the bottom than at the top, the lower ribs are not fastened to the breastbone; their forward ends are free. Obviously the greatest extension is possible at the lower part of the chest! Certain muscles play an active role in breathing. A very important one is the diaphragm, a strong, flat, sheet-like muscle stretched across the base of the chest. Attached to the lower ribs, the backbone, and the breastbone, it separates the chest from the abdomen; it might be regarded as the floor of the chest and the roof of the abdomen. Now the diaphragm comes in action. During the first step of the inhalation it automatically flattens from its pormal relaxed position. You can cause it to descend even lower than normal. Pushing forward the front-walls of the abdomen, will result in a pressure being felt against the belt buckle. Try it! This action of the diaphragm causes the lower part of the lungs to be filled; this is step number one!!! The intercostal muscles come into play next, pushing out the lower ribs, breastbone, and chest, Since the diaphragm is attached to the lower ribs and the breastbone, it will be drawn down to an extent byt side and front-to- side-to- back expansion. The action of these muscles fills the middle part of the lungs. This is step number two!!! The third and final step isto fill the higher portion of the hangs. The upper chest is expanded, thus lifting the rib cage. In this final movement, the lower abdomen will be sti ightly drawn in, giving the lungs a support and helping to fill the highest parts Acomplete breath consists of these three steps combined in one fluent movement. Let us review the actions: the diaphragm, in contracting, enlarges the lung ca pacity in a downward sweep: the lower chest is expanded outwards (side-to-side and front-to-back): the upper chest is protruded, expanding the chest upwards. The lower f er wu # rT * # x =; I 9 abdomen is drawn in slightly to give support. The chest is fully expanded in all directions, filling the lungs to a maximum capacity. Two Methods of Breathing 1 os Breathing through the mouth is certainly the most widely used manner of breathing while playing a wind instrument. But itis often advisable to breathe through the nose during breathing exercises. If you hold your throat by your larynx with your fingers while breathing through your mouth, you will notice an obvious 4 movement which can cause your throat to cramp. This cramping ean cause great problems later while playing your instrament. If you breathe through your nose in the correct manner, you won't notice any movement in your throat at all and you will see that you can take very relaxed, extremely deep and low breaths. It is very important, however, to make sure that breathing-in through the nose takes place as quietly as possible. Too much sniffing can cause an irritation of the mucous membranes. I'm not saying that we can't breathe through the mouth, The aim is to transfer the relaxed feeling of breathi ig through the nose to breathing through the mouth. I myself use breatl oe ee ee Oe ed ee ing through my nose in combination with breathing through my mouth regularly during concerts or other stress-sensitive moments to make sure my breathing stays relaxed. Take care that you don't breathe exclusively through your nose though, or a cold could cause you some big problemst 2 rr eer oe Ts TT10 Exercises IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU MAKE USE OF A CONSTANT PULSE, SUCH AS A METRONOME OR TAPPING YOUR FOOT, DURING ALL THESE EXERCISES. Exercise one This is an exercise you don't have to do every day, but you should use it regularly to make sure your breathing. has that relaxed feeling about it. I also recommend this exercise for removing any sort of eramped feeling you sometimes get while practicing, a) Lay down flat on the floor and breathe in slowly through your nose for 8 counts. Concentrate carefully on step one of the breathing, pushing downwards the | diaphragm! Listen carefully to your breathing to make sure it's completely even. | b) Hold the breath for 8 counts. Check: During these 8 counts you should have the same feeling as if you talk without any tension in your voice. It's important that’ you get this feeling under control, because this situation is exactly like playing c) Now, blow out slowly for 8 seconds. Form your embouchure into playing position but make the gap between your upper | and lower lips big enough that there is no buzz. This also has to sound very uniform, | 0 listen to your self carefully d) Keep repeating this exercise until you're absolutely sure of the relaxed feeling. ) Now do this exercise a couple of times breathing in through the mouth, and try to keep the same relaxed fecling. f) Get up slowly and continue with the next exercise. Exercise two Stand up straight with your feet slightly apart, don’t lock your knees, and make yourself tall. To determine the position of your chest, put your hands on your sides at the level of your chest and take a breath. This expands and raises the chest. This is the correct position of the chest during breathing and playing. Rotate (tuck) your pelvis slightly forward and relax your stomach muscles.od uw Exercise three ‘Try to combine, in the correct order, the three steps of breathing in one fluent movement. Repeat these exercises inhaling and exhaling in different ways. For example, you could inflate through the mouth in one second or completely empty your lungs in one second at fortissimo. Try to achieve the most “natural and relaxed feeling possible” while doing these exercises and concentrate on what you hear and —' i. =i especially on what you feel. Be inventive and try to have fun doing these extremely important exercises. | a) Breathe in calmly through your mouth for 8 counts. | You have to suck in the air the way you will drink a Me Donald's Milkshake, steady and slowly. b) Hold the breath for 8 counts. You should be able to talk without any tension In your voice. It's important that you cree! get this feeling under control, because this situation is exactly like playing, ¢) Calmly breathe out for 8 counts. Again put your embouchure in the blowing position with the opening a little too big. ‘Thus no buzz happens, but some resistance is felt. Listen carefully to the airflow. ‘eoF a) Breathe in calmly through your mouth for 4 counts. b) Hold the breath for 4 counts. ©) Calmly breathe out for 4 counts. | a) Breathe in calmly through your mouth in 1 count. | Think of tts breathing in fora sight b) Hold the breath for 4 counts. | ©) Calmly breathe out for 4 counts.a) Breathe in calmly through your mouth in 1 count. Think of it as breathing in for a sigh!!! b) Hold the breath for four counts. c) Exhale 1 count in fff, When exhaling, the air flow must be consistent and there must be no decrescendo, | a) Breathe in deeply but still very calmly through your mouth in 1 | count. b) Exhale 1 count in ffff. REPEAT THIS LAST EXERCISE SEVERAL TIMES!!! “HORSE SOUND” Both in the pre-warm up and in the daily routines 1 make use of a short exercise named “Horse Sound”, The idea of this exercise is to relax your lips and activate your blood circulation. Thi muscles to function well. Inhale deeply very important if you want your ind calmly through your mouth and let your lips flap around completely loosely for about four seconds (horse sound). Repeat this exercise several times up to one or two minutes. In the “pre-warm up" the main goal is stimulation of the lips but during the daily exercises it's more a relaxation of the embouchure.: : a ! a 5 Ya a ea oe a3 Exercise four — The point of this exercise, by Jeff Reynolds, is to simulate situations in which we don't have much time to inhale, so the goal is to execute each inhalation very quickly and very deeply in one (relaxed) second, Take special care to breathe very low and deep and avoid any cramping up of the throat. Make sure your shoulders hang slackly along your body, and don't rise while breathing. Listen to yourself carefully as cramping up will be accompanied by a rasping noise in your throat. Do this exercise in front of a mirror 1) Inhale 1 count. Exhale 1 count. ffff 2) Inhale 1 count. Exhale 3 counts. ff. 3) Inhale 1 count. Exhale 5 counts. mf | 4) Inhale 1 count. Exhale 7 counts. p 5) Inhale 1 count. Exhale 10 counts. pppp When exhaling, the air flow must be consistent and there must not be a decrescendo. So exhale blocks of air. At the fifth BLOW, hold the back of your hand in front of your mouth, and make sure the air is as warm as possible ‘The air can only be warm if the throat is fully relaxed and if the breath is supported from the bottom. Think of having a hot potato in your mouth or of blowing steam onto a cold window. Exercise five Take your mouthpiece and block its end for the most part with your finger. This exercise is very effective in activating your coughing muscle, right under your navel. This is the point from which your breath support must come. As you exhale, your stomach will pull in, but this muscle will contract and it will seem like it's pushing out. INHALE FOR 1 SECOND ------ EXHALE AS POWERFULLY AS POSSIBLE F OR 4 SECONDS, WITHOUT ANY DECRESCENDO. REPEAT THIS EXERCISE SEVERAL TIMES! This exercise can also come in handy if you don’t have the time to warm up extensively, a situation which can arise, for example, when you're suddenly called to play @ gig. This exercise can also come in handy in day to day orchestra life, before a tricky entrance; in a Brahms symphony, for instance. 3 movements tacet, no time to warm up, and suddenly you're playing that beautiful, famous but very tense trombone chorale. With this exercise at least you can get your breathing back to where it belongs.14 ON PAGE 75 OF THIS BOOK YOU CAN FIND SOME BREATHING HINTS WHICH CAN BE OF GREAT HELP TO UNDERSTAND MORE OF THESE EXERCISES. ESPECIALLY THE CONTROL OF BLOWING AIR IS EXPLAINED IN A VERY SIMPLE WAY. O a. It is certainly not my intention to make an obsession of all these breathing exercises. Some people will use them more than others. Just use them whenever you feel you need to, and believe me, that'll be more often than you think. Try to do everything as naturally as possible. Check this by doing these and other breathing exercises in front of a mirror, and especially by practicing in front of a mirror. Don't forget to always use a constant rhythmic pulse. This will have a positive influence on your timing while playing your instrument. Be inventive and come up with your own variations of these exercises. There are a number of books on the subject that you might find helpful. Charlie Vernon's book, “Daily Routines”, for instance, contains very effective exercises and clear, concise text. This also applies to Bart van Lier’s book, “Co-ordination in Trombone Playing”. All the material published about or by Arnold Jacobs and Edward Kleinhammer on this subject could also be of great use to you. But in my opinion, the best book available at the moment on this subject is “The Breathing Gym” by Sam Pilafian and Patrick Sheridan. a wane ® Don Harwood, Joe Alessi, Ben van Dijk and David Finlayson after their recording of two Bruckner Motets for Ben’s CD “Nana”.Daily Routines «™ General practice hints Concept and Concentration ‘While practicing, it is extremely important to have a concept of how you want to sound, Before you even start the exercise, try to think of the most beautiful tone you've ever played or heard. During the exercises, try constantly to improve the quality of your tone. While practicing, regularly shift the focus of your concentration. Think for instance, about tone quality, direction of the tone, speed of the air stream, support of the breath from the ™ diaphragm and total relaxation while playing (“How am I sitting or standing?” |. Don't forget; the main goal of our Daily Routines is to be able to produce the most musical sound possible. ‘The goal of my “Daily Routines” is to optimize the coordination between breathing, lips, and lastly, the tongue. We start with long tones in the middle register. These are then connected by way of slow glissandi. Begin these & tones without the tongue (HA articulation). ‘This is to avoid the possible cramping of a tongued articulation ‘This method of attack also raises awareness of the correct lip position (embouchure), and the correct speed of the air stream, Breathe correctly (see pre-warm-up) and ensure that the air stream has the correct speed from |, the onset (No swelling of the notes!) Make the air as warm as possible and strive for an optimal vibration gj _ between the upper and lower lips, which will result in a beautiful, full tone. J Holding your instrument z It’s extremely important to find a way to hold your instrument as easy and relaxed as possible, There should not rension may have a negative effect on your | be any tension in your hands, arms, neck and back of your body. playing. It can have a negative influence on your breathing system which in turn, will have a negative effect on your embouchure, sound and proper slide movement. Look in the mirror many times during your daily studies i and ty to sit or stand as natural as possible. For bass trombonists who play for a long uninterrupted time I can recommend two very good devises which I use myself quite a lot when I have to make hours; it’s the Ergobone and the Trombone Stick. You can find information on my website www-basstrombone.nl under the general news item, 1 also recommend holding your slide in very gentle way. Realize you have something of high quality in your fingers. The more you treat it like that the better it wil work for you. I make use of a flexible, but controlled slide- hand-wrist, like you will use in a “Jazzy” vibrato. This makes it much easier to move it quickly and stop it when I want it to. When the slide moves, the trombone should be as still as possible so there will be no negative influence on our embouchure!* 7. i @ Pulse and Tempo markings € It is advisable to use a constant rhythmic pulse while doing these exercises. If this causes difficulties in the beginning, you should use a metronome or tap your foot. In this book I have chosen to not indicate metronome markings all the time. Instead I give you an approximate tempo advice in the exercise text. In general the long-tone exercises need a rather slow tempo but always with a steady pace. Play with a conscious internal feeling of rhythm; this will be of great benefit in your entire career! Faster exercises need to speed up from a tempo which causes no technical problems at all. Don’t be impatient; you really need to be able to play the exercise correctly in a slower tempo before you go into a higher gear. Intonation Be aware of good intonation throughout the entire time you play on your instrument. Check it frequently with a tuning devise but most important: use your ears! Because all instruments are different it is difficult to give you all the out of tune notes on your instrument. However there are some general deviations I like to mention ‘The sixth partial has to be lowered a little bit. The amount of correction you have to make is very diverse on almost every instrument or mouthpiece you use. In this book I use 1-, 2- ete for this deviation. The longer your slide-position is the bigger the correction has to be. ‘The seventh partial has to be raised quiet a bit (A flat in first position is almost not usable) and for this I use, 1+, 2+ etc. For this deviation the lower positions need less correction. How to use these exercises The exercises in the Daily Routines may be used as part of a long daily warm-up routine or to address specific issues such as dynamics, articulation, flexibility, amina, tone-quality, range and much more. They also offer you the chance to work on your habits. We talk of either good habits, or bad habits-depending upon your approach. Skillful playing on a trombone stems from a series of good habits, poor playing, from a series of bad habits. Get rid of your BAD HABITS and form only GOOD HABITS! The primary thought in all the exercises is, to avoid setting up any resistance in the production of the tone! Work on a complete relaxation as we did in the breathing exercises. You can start at the beginning and simply play through all of them till the very end. This is not a bad idea, but I could imagine that the order of the exercises is not your favorable order and it will take quit, a long time to really play through the whole book. You are absolutely free to decide on your own order and time you spend on these exercises. As long as it will benefit your playing it is fine with me. Of course you are also free to make your own exercises and replace them for mine._ 7 Long tones Exercise no.1 Execute this exercise in mf, at a slow tempo, with a constant pulse. The attack should be done without tongue, (Ha).sWhen you have a lot of time for a warm up, I recommend repeating every 2 bars and playing it the second iime’dn the mouthpiece. Take an extra bar between the repetition to take out or put in your mouthpiece. Start the glissando on the second beat of the bar. This means that the last glissando (going to 7th position) will be the fastest, but still as slowly as possible, smearing between the notes. Inhale, in a very relaxed way, as if with a hot, potato in your mouth, Feel your lips make the glissando synchronized with the slide and support the tone with the air until the very end of the note. Control the tone with the speed of the air. Make your sound as beautiful as possible, singing, full, round, dark, fat and always centered. Think asf playing a beautiful song! exercise no. 1 ‘The firs time on the instrument, the second time mouthpiece only. Ha = atlack only with air no tongue! "> a ee Se ee ee ee ee eee Se exercise no.1b oT oe i yl Phre =e ; f ae SF i WU ¥ W18 Snake exercise Exercise no.2 This exercise should also be played in a very relaxed, slow tempo, starting without the tongue. The glissandos between the notes should be played as slowly as possible. Take a full breath for every new beginning, with an open feeling in the back of your mouth. Think about a hot potato in your mouth! Don't make a erescendo during the glissando and make your sound as beautiful as possible, dark and warm with a lot of overtones in it and with a singing quality to it. As in exercise no.1, I recommend repeating the exercise and playing it again on the ‘mouthpiece only. Take an extra bar to take out or put in your mouthpiece. It is very important to stay relaxed! Keep thinking about your breathing. For each phrase you have to take in a full deep breath and then blow your horn full of hot air. This ean only be done with an open throat. In these middle register exercises the speed of the air is rather slow but always very intense and supported. Hold your slide in a very relaxed way, as if to play a proper “Jazzy” slide vibrato. Of course you can play these exercises in different registers going both up and down, Tuse the glissando a lot in my warm ups but also to solve problems in my general playing, Be aaventive! exercise no.2 Play from position one to seven in a slow tempo. : Tia = attack only with air no tongue! Play from position seven to one in a slow tempo, Ha = attack only with air no tongue! aliss > a: —) ma, ‘a, = So hk : 1 phe! mle | f'n“a ra ea iaera es 6a (Lehre ae sae eee eee Ee 19 Coordination Exercise no.3 This exercise is designed for developing coordination between air, lips, and tongue. The first slurred bar is to be started with an air attack, without the tongue. Don't forget to always take a full breath. Slur the notes down as ‘leanly as possible, Keep the stream of air constant. Don't forget that a slur is a quick lip glissando supported ‘with the air. Again, control the tone with the speed of the air. The repeat of the phrase should be played with a “Gah" or “doh’, attack. Separate each note, but don't stop the tone with the tongue. Place your tongue forward as late as possible and after the release (attack) move it down as quickly as possible. Make this exercise sound like the most beautiful song you know, following Arnold Jacob's advice in Wind and Song! Exercises ga to 3f should be played in all positions from one to seven! Don't forget to think about your correct, open throat breathing! exercise no.3a a= start the note without tongue ~~ mf Dah or Do and seperate —_ exercise no.3b ‘Has start the note without tongue =a mf Dah or Do and seperateseat te re Dah or Do and seperate Michel Becquet and Ben van Dijk \during the Helsinki ITF 2003’ J : J ’ : = : 3 / 2 zl " 1 J : | J 1 a Mozart ‘This fourth variation is the beginning of “Tuba Mirum” from Mozart's “Requiem”. Again, make it sound as “vocal” as possible and play the phrase in all seven positions. First, play it as legato as possible, then differently, with “Dah” or “Doh” attacks. Iti also very good to play this type of exercise on just the mouthpiece. exercise no.3d. j mf Dah or Doh and seperate tir the note without tongue Vv v ‘V= valve position22 Mouthpiece exercise in first position Exercise no.4 Play a middle F on your instrument. While playing, take the mouthpiece out and keep playing the F. Now slur on your mouthpiece up to a Bb and put your MP back into the trombone again. Keep the sound going! Stop! Re-attack the Bb and take your MP out again. Keep playing! Slur up to a D on the MP and put it into the trombone again. Keep the sound going! Stop! Re-attack the D and take your MP out again. Keep playing! Slur up to an F on the MP and put it into the trombone again. Keep the sound going on! Stop! Re-attack the F and take your MP out again. Keep playing! Slur up to a Bb on the MP and put it into the trombone again. Keep the sound going! 1 advise doing this exercise with a rhythmical pulse. Invent your own variations on this exercise in different registers and focus your embouchure. exercise no.4 —_pliss. ‘mouthpiece instrument ‘mouthpiece instrument _ iss mouthpiece ‘mouthpiece instrument = == ‘mouthpiece play frst time only on the mouthpiece, then repeat on instrument.23 hos Ha Da coordination I Exercise no.5 - “Ha Da Ha Da Ha Da - Daaah Exercise” Be idea behind this exercise is to work on coordination. Coordination between AIR, LIPS and lastly the TONGUE! Use a rather slow tempo and start the first note without the tongue, ha, second note da: thita mete ha again and the last note of the bar a Da. Start the second bar with ha, then da again and the halt note witha long ™ Gaaah. Play the notes separately and shape them like the bricks of a house. i exercise no.S » ha daha daha de doash —sim....ete mt ‘aw Ist valve- or open 6th position aie [a bh ee ed 3 da a 4 aa la a a da da a i“. Of course you may continue higher and lower but don't force and stay as relaxed as possible! ATWO MINUTES “HORSE SOUND” PAUSE acy acre aT ra ae Se24 Exercise no.6 ‘The next exercises should be played in a rather quick tempo. Play the first two beats legato and the next two beats using legato tonguing. During the staccato, use a light tonguing and be sure you don't stop the air, Imagine bouncing a ball on the ground as in basketball. exercise no.6a Don’t forget to think about your correct, open throat breathing! ee by Be if ap Da atck on ist note & Tonguing After these coordination exercises I like to continue with tonguing exercises. I will give you several different exercises I use myself. In my opinion it’s always better to start in the middle register and work you way down or up. It's very important to focus your attention on the tongue movement; where to place it and in what direction to move it. For the middle register I recommend a tongue placement near the bottom of your upper teeth. For the lower register, make the placement lower to a placement between the teeth. Find out what works best for you. For the higher register the placement has to be nearer the top of your upper teeth. After the release (attack) of the tongue, always move it down.a “ : a SE 2's Me ei |! YB 25 Exercise no.7 ‘These exercises are mostly based on scales and arpeggios. I like to start with some very easy scale exercises, first going down and then up again. Play them with a very steady pulse and use different tempi and articulations, from tenuto tonguing to molto staccato. Also pay attention to your slide movement! Hold the slide gently between your thumb, index, and middle finger. Your wrist has to be flexible like when you use a “Jazzy” slide vibrato. The slide should flow with the music. Stop the slide on each note and don't move to the next position too early, exercise no. 7a pues ‘Make use of different dynamics, articulations and tempos. Take your mouthpiece cot ofthe instrument Xs i Play in the same style as the Bb scale and ‘when you have the time, play the extra 2 bars only on the mouthpiece!Bass trombonists should continue downwards as low as possible. The lower you play the longer you have to play L to make the notes sound good. Also remember the “in between of your teeth” placement of the tongue! fl Ben van Dijk and his best friend Hendrik Jan Renes, solo tuba of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra,27 Remember, make use of different dynamics, articulations and tempos! exercise no. 7b ae Fi (8 as eae See ee SS Pa Seeere Dutt rrr rie Ee Baas SSS Spree 4 s i : J 4 ; Y ; u \ \28 Relaxation and lip flexibility in the lower register Exercise no.8 ‘After the tonguing exercises I like to play some slurred, molto legato valve-exercises. Take in a full deep breath, fill the lungs from the bottom to the top, and blow a constant hot stream of air. Try to keep a lot of lip in the mouthpiece and keep the corners of your embouchure firm. These are not intended as technical exercises. My e— goal is to loosen up the embouchure, to become more flexible, and get my air moving and relaxed. The contra- J notes may be played an octave higher when they are too low. Still, I recommend trying to play them all, whether | { you are a tenor or bass trombonist. , exercise n0:8a Don't forget to think abou your correct, open throat breathing! V = valve en etcetera =a mfp ad 3 #7 TT 8 NF 1 Bass trombonists play the low B and F# with double valve and tenors should play the low B as a fake note in the of valve 6th position and the F# open in sth position. Mu Exercise no.8b is a variation on no.8a, made available to me by one of my teachers, Jeff Reynolds. I think this exercise is a slightly more specialized for bass trombonists, but until the last two bars it only uses one valve. So it is possible on a tenor trombone. The purpose of this exereise is to loosen up your embouchure and make your — breathing system more active. It will help the tenor player also. exercise 0.8 =_ 7 a CVC Ma oo erm MT ov 29 Register building and lip fle lity Exercise no.9 ‘These exercises are for the development of the different registers. Keep in mind that you need different air speed for different registers. Pe Low notes = much hot air at slow speed. Higher notes = less, but still hot air, at a higher speed. Bring up the support for the higher notes. Use the cough muscle for this. Keep the corners of your embouchure firm. Don't press your mouthpiece against the embouchure Also make use of different vowels in different registers. For low notes, use “Ah” or “Oh” for higher notes, “Ee”. This will help you to get the right air speed for the different registers. exercise no.9a exercise no.9b 5) low B double valve or fake30 exercise n0.9¢ eet eff nf Play in first position, even when the Aflat tis too fat ex Ben van Dijk in the “Mariinsky Theater” in St. PetersburgOe Fer Rae ae Nene Cgrme | pr eA pet Ses | meme) eee Qe ef Ke 31 Exercise no. 9e Whenever you start to play, take a big, deep breath. Start each note with a “HA” attack, play th js without the tongue and use the slide positions indicated under the notes. Watch tuctaae tke ee positions! Check it constantly! Make the exercise sound like a beautiful melody floating on your av. It's alee good to play these exercises on your mouthpiece! f ry Don't forget to think about your correct, open throat breathing! exercise no.9e mf cantabilé a ae exercise no.9F el / SF Tee a exercise no.9g — eg a When you reach the high Bb in exercise no.of, you have to give a breath accent (ha) and gliss-back to the first Exercise no.9g should be played with the same feeling ofa lip glissando from positions 1 to > as in exercise of ATWO MINUTES “HORSE SOUND” PAUSE32 Back to tonguing again. After these “non- tongued” exercises we now return to some that are tongued. [always like to change frequently : between legato and tongued exercises. When I spend too much time on one sort of exercise I become very stiff, gy So for some diversity we continue now with some register exercises, but now using tongued attacks. | I recommend using a continuous air stream and a “da” attack on every first note of a new bar for these register m jumps. ‘Try to avoid changes in your embouchure setting from one register to the next. If you have to make Ly changes in your embouchure setting, practice them so that nobody will hear them. For the higher notes, you | have to think of the speed of the air, as mentioned earlier, and you have to make the opening between upper and lower lip smaller, For this 7 always tell my students to think about the opening between the reeds of the = woodwind instruments: for pedal notes, think like the reed of the Contra Bassoon, like a Bassoon reed for "um the middle register and for the high register like an Oboe reed. | Exercise no.10 In the next exercise, start every bar with a tongued articulation and either slur up or down an octave. Play the whole exercise in a very slow tempo and don't forget to inhale a sufficient amount of air. Play 2 bars in one breath! Use good support when you go up the octave and remember the settings for the different registers! exercise no.10a different dynamics ian Da attack on every first note of a new bat sae f fa? Sel Sel a?i Sy Se Se Se, ee St ee ee ee ee, ee ee ee ee | | ee L- ‘The next exercise gi Again, play the exercise in a very slow tempo and don't forget to inhale support, when you go up the octave and remember the difference in air spe exercise no.10b 33 you the possibility to concentrate on the embouchure settings for the different registers. a sufficient amount of air. Use good ed for the different registers! Opps + Da articulation34 Slide Coordination Exercise no.11 dg Rllowing exercises are to coordinate a correct slide technique with tongue and air. Again hold your slide so {hat you can make an easy, relaxed slde-vibrato. Now move your slide as late as possible, staying a6 Tong as, possible on the last note you played before you move to the next one. This will make your slide yo fact eer dee ety hold xour slide gently. Stop the slide on the exact spot for the note. see many players go-tos fy and then retumn to the correct placement. This makes for jecky slide movement, insecure playing seal Salk nec in bad intonation. Play these exercises in many different ways: slow-fast,legato-staccalo, piano forte vie ardor course on different scales. exercise no.la If possible, play these exercises with 2 bats in 1 breath, If it’s not possible, breathe where you need it. Different tempo's Legato, portato and staccato. -wt. oe eee I eG ea a ae 35 Here is another exercise to practice slide technique in combination with air relaxed and stop the slide at each position. Notice your bell during this, Possible! Let the tongue bounce on the air. The air stream should be the same as when you play long tone exercises. Play this exercise in different ways. Dynamics and articulation should be varied often. But stat slovr in legato and not too loud! You can also start this exercise in seventh position and work your way up to frst position. and tongue. Again, keep your wrist exercise. It should be as steady as ‘The speed of all the 26th notes stays the same, even when they are written as sextuplets! The air should always flow as in legato, even when you play this exercise staccato. xercise no.11¢ 7 Play these in different dynamic and tempos. — _—__——__—— eS ye ser iteie Legato, portato and staccato. nett p ete ee te ete exercise no. 1d Legato, portato and staccato.36 exercise nolle The next exercise is for working on slide movement in chromatic scales. To make the chromatic scale a little bit easier it helps to first play an augmented arpeggio. The notes of this arpeggio are the keynotes in your chromatic scale. After you played the arpeggio you simply have to fill in the notes between. Start slowly and after a while you should inerease the speed. But be patient. A good solid house is not built ina day! You may also start this exercise on pedal Bb and go up two octaves or work yourself around the circle of fifths. The air should always flow as in legato even when you play this exercise staccato. ‘The air should always flow as in legato even exercise no.11F when you play this exercise staccato Z Fie id dn ion enactSSP SP ed edd Gad Ge el ed Ce 37 gS ae aos reine tices ea epee er ears pet Ee cape rpere cet tester na Fateie-tieietes tieciee'e se SSF etree Ete iz Papleepiectscipteelet fees, geste sietterie® E A TWO MINUTES “HORSE SOUND” PAUSE38 Chord exercises ‘These chord exercises utilize the Basie Chords in every key; Major, Minor, Augmented and Diminished. Play them using different articulations, dynamics and tempi. They give you the opportunity to work on many different aspects of your playing; different registers, tonguing, slide, intonation and breathing. Tenor trombonists may start a bit later, like on the E major chords. But I recommend trying to play these exercises 2s low as possible. For bass trombonists I recommend to play them as high as possible. Don't forget to think about your correct, open throat breathing! exercise no.11g Make use of different articulations and tempos, eS 7 oSli | af Sa? aa a Set 7 4 ame) me nee a e i ®, < a a a # Lat bah“to CFC) 1 Ce! Gay ci 4 i Ben van Dijk d42 Contrast “After these more virtuosic exercises I always build in some contrast in my warm ups. It is now time to work on our legato technique, which is one of the most beautiful tools we have on our instrument. Here are some simple legato exercises. Legato playing on the trombone is one of the most difficult techniques to learn. Legato means to slur from one note to the other without the use of your tongue. However, on the trombone this is only possible between notes in different harmonic series. All the other connections must make use of the tongue. If you slur them without tongue you will have a glissando. No matter how late and fast you move your slide, the gliss will be there. That's why we trombonists refer to “LEGATO TONGUING’ as a specialized trombone technique. Thus on the trombone we have 2 types of legato techniques: Slurs without tongue (real legato) Legato tonguing (a technique unique to the trombone) I make use of the slurs without tongue whenever I have note connections in different harmonies. For the connections where there would otherwise be a glissando, I use the legato tonguing technique. Both techniques are performed with a continuous flow of air. Beside the legato technique these exercises are there for the development of our breathing system. Remember what I said in the pre-warm up exercises; breathe in calmly through your mouth asf sighing deeply. Coordination in legato Exercise no.12 - “Sing a song!” Play these exercises in a slow tempo about :=72 with a constant pulse and play them as you would play a most beautiful song. For this you need deep breathing and total control over your breath, The more relaxed you are, the more control you will have over your sound. It is also most important to move your slide gently, as mentioned before. Move your slide as late as possible without making jerky movements. The slide must flow with the music! exercise no.12a Don't forget to think about your correct, open throat breathing! All slurs played with a "Legato Tonguing” except were you see the "No tongue!. Ss le I = nf —_— i) No tongue! [No tongue!43 Play these exercises on four different scales on a daily base. Bass trombonists should go as high as possible and tenor trombonists should not be afraid to go into basement. Go as high as: exercise no.12b And also as low as: For the lower scales you may take some extra breaths, but try to play as many notes as possible on one breath! = (7 Cel ec: 4 ul Using existing melodies as legato and vibrato exercises in your Daily Routines. It is very helpful to use familiar melodies or parts from melodies in your warm up routines, This will make the session more enjoyable and will help you develop a more melodic style. I suggest using some simple mus themes in your daily exercises, Start with famous tunes and then transpose them to other keys. Of course you are free to use others. Please, be as inventive as possible to make your warm up session less boring. Ben van Dijk and the William F Cramer Choir with Jay Friedman conducting in Wagners “Wotan's Farewell” during the 2002 ITF in Denton, USA Ifyou listen to the great brass players, you can usually recognize them without being told who is playing. Why? I think it is mostly because of the way they use vibrato, For me the biggest different between players such as Joe Alessi, Christian Lindberg, Urbie Green, Tommy Dorsey, Blair Bollinger, Doug Yeo and others, is their vibrato. Of course there are other differences, like general sound or interpretation. But the clearest one is the vibrato. I think there is nothing in one’s playing as personal as vibrato. My first tip about vibrato is to listen more carefully to the different styles of vibrato your “heroes” use. Try to imitate how wide they make it and the speed they use. a eel eS oe Oe ¢ use two types of vibrato: Slide vibrato Lip or jaw vibrato Tr cl” In classical music most players use only lip or jaw vibrato. For Jazz, mostly the slide vibrato is the one to use. Although in the low register a slow lip vibrato éan be used. This is a matter of personal taste. To study vibrato 1 uused to begin it in my daily warm ups, bringing it into the long tone and slow legato exercises. Try all sorts of different vibratos, changing wideness and tempo of the waves you make. Listen carefully to yourself. Read my. x {ips about being aware! (Page 82) | also use melodic etudes like Borgdoni-Rochut to try out my vibrato styles }__ and then bring it into my solo pieces. A last simple tip is: Higher means faster and lower means slower vibrato! | Have fun and SING IT OUT!44 J Theme from Mahler's Symphony no.1 exercise no.12¢ ee Tuba Mirum from Mozarts Reqieum exercise no.12d___— pe a Transpose it up till ........ oF go down. Melody from Dvorak's New World Symphony exercise no.12e Date Transpose it up till or go down,fe el! Me” ee OM Ree ee ER Ek GU) tk a 45 Russian Easter Overture by Rimsky Korsakov exercise n0.12f OO Transpose it up till. oe pee zee > = ee I'm getting sentimental over you George Bassman exercise no. 12g46 Charlie Vernon (Chicago Symphony) and Ben van Dijk Here are some of my favorite melodies which I use in my Warm Up sessions. Some are original tenor or bass trombone excerpts and some are arrangements I did myself from other sources. For this purpose the Borgdoni- Rochut etudes are also very good material. Popular songs or jazzy ballads are great for this part of our warm-up. Again, be as inventive as possible and look for nice First, some in the lower register. Symphony No.3 Camille Saint-Saén: exercise no.12h music yourself. Ss The unique Sarabande from Bach's fifth cello suite is enigmatic and harmonically desolate. Its loneliness is emphasized by the complete lack of double stops, one of the reasons this Sarabande fits the bass trombone s Sarabande became a favorite bass trombone which Bach uses in all his other Sarabandes. Perhaps this is 30 well. There is a story about how this particular audition solo. Mistlav Rostropovitsch played it as an encore after one of his solo appearances with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Edward Kleinhammer, the famous bass trombonist with the CSO for many 8, loved the piece enough to make it one of his favorite study materials. As many students of Mr. Kleinhammer worked on the piece, it eventually became part of the standard literature. {Its beautiful harmonic intervals in legato through the golden register of the bass trombone make this piece very appropriate for audition committees to judge many of the candidate's abilities, Po, mim cnt in u ‘~= 47 Sarabande Joh. Seb. Bach exercise no.12i —) GF Ph! Che poco. poco oh It's up to you what ever melody you choose. These are just some examples I use myself. It’s also possible to stick to scales in what form you like, but keep in mind we are making MUSIC, so never play like a synthesizer, ‘Now some more melodies in the higher register. Symphony no.2 Gustav Mahler exerciseno.12} 4 72 sar a eo ee Lec Noa48 “Nana” by Ben van Dijk a Spanish lullaby as played by Ben van Dijk on his solo CD “Nana”, dotce espress. ina slowand fee Spanish style, exercise no.121 Ben van Dijk and Roger BoboTuba Mirum W.A. Mozart exercise no.12m_ 4 7 i Se 49 quasi cadenza mf a tempo Po dgeet occ noc Lea A em ea or eee ie = It's very useful to play these legato melodies on the mouthpiece. Play them with out any use of the slur between the notes. Don't be afraid of glissandi! The idea is to get your air moving so that when play on the instrument again your air will support your slurs more evenly. during the ITF 2003 in Helsinki-Finland TIP: tongue and you start to A TWO MINUTES “HORSE SOUND” PAUSE Ben van Dijk and Jiggs Whigham50 Exercise no.13 - “More slide exercises” ‘These slide exercises are to be played at different speeds and varied articulations from “no tongue” to “staccato”. Watch the intonation carefully and use a clean, even articulations. We should not hear the slide in our playing, So once again, move it very gently and precisely. Also remember, when you play staccato, you have to blog through the phrase and let the tongue bounce on the air. In this exercise I have given some position- and valve- indications. These are my favorites, but I like you to look for your own favorite valve-positions but make the slide movement as easy as possible. Don't forget to think about your correct, open throat breathing! Make use of different dynamics,articulations and tempos. exercise no.13ahoist CAP tS) tS) 4 ONL GL * { a Make every note as clear and pure as possible and work on perfect intonation. Be aware of the different setting of embouchure for the different registers in combination with the air speed needed. Remember lower notes need more air but in a slow speed and higher notes need less air under a higher compression (speed). Bass trombonists should continue downward as low as possible. The lower you play the longer notes you have to play to make them sound good. Also remember the “in between of your teeth” placement of the tongue for the lowest register. Make use of different dynamics, articulations and tempos. exercise no.13b DSS Pt f DR ee tether sees| a 52 SE SSS See ee ee = a | Ft, Lot ¢ i . z € exercise no.13¢ Make use of different articulations and tempos. & SS Sey) pws ej SS Sey ol a Samer | RF OPi Se a he lL a roy occ ATWO MINUTES "HORSE SOUND” PAUSE54 ity exercises G More lip-flexi = Exercise no.14 Good lip flexibility, meaning the ability to change quickly and smoothly between pitches, is an essential ability for any trombonist. The key for successful lip slurs is to keep the air constantly flowing. When doing the extended slurs, change the air flow! ‘The low notes require a greater volume of air to produce a great tone. Imagine making an ‘ah’ sound in your mouth and directing the air into a large tube. Always constant, never stop. The high notes require fast air. Imagine saying an ‘e’ sound in your mouth and directing the air super fast into a small straw! Always constant, never stop. Go for the most beautiful sound that you can create. Listen to yourself, tape record your playing, Is your sound full, rich, warm, musical, and pleasing? nag fa a a nm ‘a_ at a * 4 i rm Jay Friedman (Chicago Symphony) and Ben van Dijk Pal exercise no.14a Don't forget to think about your correct, open throat breathing! Pie start slowly and then increase the tempo step by step. di TRS PARR Se B08J 2 q tet ee ee es! ee anes Clana! Gane jn exercise no.14e ly and then increase the tempo step by step, ——_ eee a ea eo ane Eclat tetiet ep aeeeeter feeedess eee =56 exercise no, 14d i. > I I ai Lt ul = fq fi he Cw. Ee *, Ben van Dijk, Ian Bousfield (Vienna Philharmonic) and Stefan Sanders (Buffalo Symphony), x \F eC Cov eo oe " “ Yr exercise no.14e 87 exercise no.14fexercise no.14g start slowly and then increase the tempo step by step. exercise no.14h start slowly and then increase the tempo step by step. exercise no.14J start slowly and then increase the tempo step by step. _—— ~~ Et berere tee OT Hie ~~ Ss WS aeton bapten ePaper et Pghee tee Sroe: SSS EBS 7s SSPeo ee ee Lk. ay mer cooro mo eo 59 always prefer repeated articulations/flexibilities exercises and like to end of this part of the daily routines with some of these combinations! exercise no.14k start slowly and then increase the tempo step by step. £y = be tie bef. pee ote tite be (Die J secs saeie * Ihesk i i pom f pare exercise no.141 Start in the 7th position and work your way up to the Ast position, stert slowly and then increase the tempo step by step. Pp mf f SSSPlaying Pedal-notes Exercise no.15 fefore I started my studies with Jeff Reynolds in the early eighties I didn’t know anything about “shifts" for {ne Pedal register. I eould play down to pedal G, but not very loudly. I needed a perfect warmvup to get it oxt, All the time I was already playing bass trombone professionally, but don't forget, you don't need to play that lowe Tescath when you play in @ Symphony Orchestra. When 1 had to play lower, for instance in my Big Bands, 1 did something, probably a sort of shift, but don't remember what it was like. Jeff showed me his shift that was already there, to my surprise, on the pedal Bb. He made the shift so quick. It Was the “Bulldog:shift”, corners down, chin forwards and MP upwards, I started to study this shift mycelf and Fe requentad Toutd pedal G for loud notes, sometimes even for loud pedal 4's or Ab's to pedal F. When pp to mf is requested I use no shift. also use a third pedal setting for loud notes lower then Gb. I lower the MP till the rim is on my upper lip. Also, ow the comers of my mouth are a bit down, my chin a litle bit forward and let the lower lip swing. Both on the contra and bass trombone, I can play with this setting a big fff down to pedal Db. Tused it on the recording I {Rade for my second CD, “First Song” on pedal H's in Lebedev and Meditation-Hidas and on ihe enna trombone in “Wagner for Bassbones” on pedal E’s and Db, and Iam very happy with the resulta This exercise makes use of first position “Fake-notes”; Fake-notes are notes played in a wrong position and more a less forced by your embouchure to sound in the desired pitch. The Fake-note will ask far fray lip corners, more air and has to be played a complete dynamic louder. Make the repeated note in its commer position, as centered and vibrating as possible and relax.Pe ee! fee tm te! ant te He | Als | as fee! nme! a? Hees PHlense | Fr? Teer 2 Fras | Hanae! S-- — 61 Play in a slow tempo. Don't forget io think about your correct, open throat breathing! exercise 90.158 34 555 2d pos 3d pos. 3d pos.~ bi Istpos. Ist pos Ist pos. Istvalve Ist valve——-__2ndvalve _2nd valve- 3rd valve 3rd valve = a Ei = oe 2 3 ; 3 ba ba 2 st pos st pos: Ist pos widow valve, without valve. gather valve: Ist pos. Sth valve Sth valve 3rd double ale 1st pos. I st ps. without vatve. without valve 4th double 4th double Sth double valve valve~ aly FB sa iS ate I pon eB without valve, The below exercises are for the development of good connections between pedal- and valve notes. Take a big breath and play the slurred notes without stopping the air at all. Only use the tongue for the first note, the second note should be helped a little bit with an air kick. Play this exercise in a rather loud dynamic like forte or even fortissimo. These exercises will help your sound in the low register, the connection between pedal and valve notes and will also help you to develop good breathing in general, exercise n0.15b _piay in a slow tempo. be exercise no.15¢62 mm ee if = 7, ‘af a, ®. tH = em i wi ee * i eee63 Cool Down Exercise no.16 exercise no.16a Lento Take @ breath wherever you need it. Always play with full ar! Ist position 2nd position mf 1 dnd pos mp of 2 Sd pos. 3rd position. 4h position, mp nf es mom Sth position. 6th position are nf mf a 70h position, ‘inp —y “igen mf mf mf mf These exercises are designed for cooling down and to give your lips the chance to recover. They also will focus the setting of your embouchure and will make your sound more centered and pure. The exercises also make use of “Fake-notes”; again make the repeated note, in its correct position, as centered and vibrating as possible and relax. He Be | Tae” ee i “Bee! Be fee “Ale Bee Te “Bane > This final exercise will really loosen your lips and will only be possible, if you take in a full breath for every entrance. Although it goes into the deep, it is a perfect cool down exercise; whether you are a tenor or bass trombonist. Make the bender into the fake-note with a slow. lip-glissando down and up again. Use extra air to J achieve this slur with a good sound as if it would be a slide-glissando. =. exercise no.16b J Play in a slow tempo. = : a 2nd pos novaive ae Jrd pos. no valve guy 5rd pos valve in!64 eS ‘th pos. no valve Yh no valve open pedal note Sih pos, no valve is. 6th pos. no valve open pedal nore 3rd pos double valve! (r 6th pos. one valve in! 4th pos. double valve! 7 3rd pos. open “frst valve in pedal note 4th pos. frst valve in open pedal note Sth pos ‘first va 3rd pos double valve in, as peal gus. | 1 th valve ‘open pedal note iS uae ee “th pos. open note 4th pos double valve in eels Salis, Ist pos. i: a : 6th pes. open now entSe) A ee Be! es Rae es! Bee) aes Pee | eee) Hee PH Please = “ema aoa _— bene! 65 Warm up In the following I would like to give you a selection taken from my daily routines and some new exercises which can be used together as a short warm-up session. In my opinion warm up sessions should be well balanced. Sometimes I hear people warm up and after their session they are totally worn out instead of warmed up. The purpose of warming up is to reduce risk of damage of the embouchure and raise your performance standard! I think we have 2 types of warm ups. One is a warm up on a practice day. This can be a longer session taken from the daily routines, including exercises to explore the limits of our playing and to improve those areas. A sensible order could be: Breathing, exercises, Long tones, Flexibility, Tone production, Scales and Arpeggio’s, both in: Staccato and legato building range in both directions ‘The second warm up is the one we use before a rehearsal or a concert. Here we should use it to really warm up only and not to make ourselves tired. For this session I recommend: a shorter breathing exercise only, some long, tones connected with glissandos, a bit of staccato and legato scales, and not too much flexibility. Don't go to the limits of your range. This is only to get your blood circulation and your lips ready for take off!!! Here is the short version of a possible warm up. Breathing exercises Exercise no.1 Inhale in calmly through your mouth for eight counts. EE Ht Hold the breath for four counts. vf Calmly exhale for eight counts. \ Repeat this exercise four times! LA\\ Exercise no.2 , Inhale in calmly through your mouth in one count. Exhale one count in ffff. Repeat this exercise several times! Exercise no.3 - “Five Blows” exercise Jeff Reynolds. Inhale one count Exhale one count. ffff Inhale one count Exhale three counts. ff Inhale one count Exhale five counts. mf Inhale one count Exhale seven counts. p Inhale one count Exhale ten counts. ppp66 Long tones Don't forget to think about your correct, open throat breathing! exercise no. I Ha = attack only with air no tongue! ‘The first time on the instrument, the second time mouthpiece only. Ho, exercise no, 2 Ha = attack only with air no tongue! The first time on the instrument, the second time mouthpiece only. Ha Snake exercise J € Play from position one to seven, =]Legato and tonguing Mozart exercise no.4 Ha start the note without tongue 67 oe if f Dah or Do and seperate exercise no.5 Dae68 exercise n0.5b Tonguing exercises Don't forget to think about your correct, open throat breathing! exercise n0.6 Da articulationeS 69 Lip flexibility exercise in lower register exercise 0:7 Don’ forget to think about your correct, open throat breathing! vvuvyy vetcetera Vv =valve trombonists play the low B and F# with double val ve and tenors should play the low B as a fake note in the 6th position and the F# open in sth position, Connecting pedal notes with valve notes in lower register Play in a slow tempo. exercise no.8 ss A Too TY Cero to Oreo 8 Ceol to oem oe | Tonguing, slide and scale exercise70 exercise no.9 Make use of different articulations and tempos. pet f ae veh SST Ales 2j J J } J > ] 4 d J J i J 4 J J J J J nm A TWO MINUTE “HORSE SOUND” PAUSE Octave slurs exercise exercise no.10 ‘Make use of different articulations and tempos. Da attack on every first note of a new bar. — ————72 Lip flexi! exercise no.11 Cool Down. exercise no.12 Lento Take @ breath wherever you need it. Always play with full air! Iupasion andes sed postion 4th poston 2S Sa SSS aoe Tipe mp fT tape fF 5, pe ome 7 Sth position. 7th position. . —_ _iheesiton ese 2 ie =| YT Suvpo. mp f ‘th pos a] 7—‘sipos. mm mf mf moe oy a ATWO MINUTES “HORSE SOUND” PAUSE“Tip of the Week” nm On January 2001 I started placing a “tip of the week” column on my website www.basstrombone.nl . It contains wi hints concerning many different items of interest to trombone players. It compiles technical suggestions, hints © ‘on how to balance in a section, how to behave during your first gig, audition advices and much more Thave put the tips into different categories to make them easier to find, Ben van Dijk and Japanese students during a Tokyo concertoT 75 Breathing tips Use your breathing better Many of us have the tendency to focus too much on the embouchure and the tongue during playing, 1 think many problems can be easily solved if, during playing, you think more like, 80% on Air and 20% on Embouehure and/or on Tongue. Try to take in the air in a simple relaxed way, inhale on the thythm of the musi slow music needs a slow inhalation and fast music a faster one- and then focus during playing (blowing) on the speed of the air for different registers and dynamics. Low notes need lots of air in slow motion and high notes need less volume of air at a higher speed (the air is more concentrated). Air control 1 Take in a big tank of air, like you have to take in for a big Bruckner entrance; open your mouth completely and blow out. You will notice your air is gone in a moment. For me this means blowing is not the biggest problem, ‘The trick is to keep the air as long as possible iside. This technique is the secret to good air control. See the next Cer @€2 Cer a: tip for more on this, Air control 2 I remember my lessons with Jeff Reynolds. He had me make a fist and he told me my fist represented my air ‘Then I had to push my fist against is open hand. The first time I did this, he didn’t resist at all; the next time T did this, he offered a little bit of resistance. He told me this was the way I had to think while playing. This resistance is made by the instrument and the embouchure, but mostly with your body. Once again take in this big Bruckner breath of air, open your mouth wide open and start blowii ng the air but now very slowly with lots of control, Then close your mouth slowly to a playing position and feel the control you have gained. Try to get this feeling in your daily warm up long tone exercises. Feel the air ‘Take the first finger of your hand and put it vertically in the middle of your mouth against the lip opening. Take lf oe in four beats of air. Feel the cold air move besides your finger into your mouth. Now blow out a steady stream of, air, again for four beats. Now feel the air move out besides your finger and feel the different in temperature of the air. Much hotter! Repeat this several times and make the air warmer and warmer. Your finger should ‘become wet. This will make your sound better and much darker. Moo mo LP76 Articulation tips Coordination 1 One of the most important facets of your playing which will always need to be cleaned up is coordination, First, there is the coordination between breathing/embouchure/tongue. I like to work on this in the following way: To start, use the mouthpiece and work on a middle Bb, I set a tempo in my mind for a 4/4 bar and because of tapping my foot, I feel it all over. Then, first, without sound (simply blow out the air without buzzing your lips and hear the Bb in your mind) or tongue I start to work using a rhythmical inhalation on the fourth beat. Without stopping I blow, starting on the “one” of the next bar for three beats. Repeat several times till it feels relaxed and easy. Now repeat this exercise with sound, still without the tongue. Don't make a “Puh” embouchure but play it from a “HA” setting, There should always be an opening between upper- and bottom lip. Repeat till the sound starts freely and is perfectly coordinated with your tapping foot. Try to stay as relaxed as possible but don't be lazy. Coordination 2 After doing the exercise without the tongue you now repeat it using the tongue. In my opinion the tongue has to be out of the way as quickly as possible. Work all the time with a pulse, and make the attack cleaner and cleaner. ‘The tongue is only there to make different kind of articulations and not to make the sound happen. I use many air attacks during my playing and I always get good rea ions from the listeners. During performances of “Tristan und Isolde” with Sir Simon Rattle some years ago with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra I was very happy I have this “tongueless” articulation in my vocabulary. Now we can repeat the whole sequence on the instrument on different notes, and, as well, play slow scales and arpeggios through the whole register of the trombone, Coordination 3 We have worked on getting better coordination between air, lips and tongue. It's time to coordinate the slide movement with this. Pablo Casals, the legendary cellist, had a very profound answer to the following question. “Maestro, what is the most difficult matter in making music?” To which he responded, “Going from one note to the other.”, a simple but very true answer. As I mention in one of my later tips on the subject of slide movement, the slide has to move with the music. Make no glissando if you don’t want one. Try to move the slide gently so it won't disturb your air control. A good exercise is to buzz a phrase of the music you're studying using the mouthpiece, and move an imaginary slide as if playing. In this way you can work on your slide movement without thinking about embouchure matters. Then repeat the phrase and play it on the instrument while trying to have the same feeling in your arm and hand.1 t > — meee wmiece cro ocr a oe Fast tonguing In fast tonguing, again, the AIR is of major importance. Of course, the articulation has to be very clear but sometimes we fovus too much on the tongue and the shortness of the notes. This can cause too much tension in your throat and will make your tongue slow down. It will have a bad influence on your tone quality. I always try to think of bouncing a ball like in basketball. Let the tongue bounce on the air. Even when the notes have to be short, don't stop the air movement. Work more on a clear artic ion. Listen to great players like Alessi, Beequet and Trudel and notice how fluent their fast tonguing is. The most beautiful fast tonguing I have ever heard is that of the great trumpet soloist Maurice André. Go and buy his records. Wow!!!!!!! You can practice fast tonguing away from the instrument very easily. Riding your bike or just taking a walk gives you plenty of time to practice fast tonguing! Attack problems 1 Sometimes we can have problems with producing a clean attack in both slow and fast music. Here are some ideas to help you work on this coordination problem. In fast tonguing it is very important to let the AIR flow and your TONGUE sit on this air stream. I would suggest working on air attacks a lot: no tongue but still a direct reaction from the lips. Make this “Ha” attack as pure and clean possible. I do a lot of “Ha Da Ha Da” exercises for this. When you start to use the tongue, place it as late as possible and move it (down, not back) as quickly as possible. Remember, the tongue is one of your fastest, most flexible muscles. Attack problems 2 For pieces like Haydn's “The Creation”, I advise to play it (rhythmically and dynamically) several times on just a single note, my so called “one note samba” exerci . Start on the low Bb, then the D up to F or even G which is the highest note in the phrase, Also you can do this with “Ha” attacks. Do it slowly and inerease the tempo to normal. Then try to keep the same clean attacks when you play the music. Playing scales in different articulations every day will help solve attack problems, but be patient and start from a controlled slow tempo. Sometimes we forget to go back to the slow exercise as much as we should. | try to do it myself on a daily basis and try to make the exercises as musical as possible so it’ ill fun. Legato tonguing 1 Legato means to go from one note to the other, slurred, without the use of your tongue. On the trombone this is only possible between notes in different harmonic series. All the other connections have the problem that if you slur them without tongue you will hear a glissando. Even the later and faster you try to move your slide, the gliss will still be there. That's why we, trombonists, speak of “LEGATO TONGING”, a unique trombone technique.78 Legato tonguing 2 For legato tonguing, coordination is of great importance; coordination, that is, between the air, the tongue and your slide movement. For me, it is important to use a constant airflow in legato. Don't give little bumps of air when you go from one note to another. Of course the airspeed can change when you have to make a legato leap from one register to another. Remember: low notes have lots of air in a slow speed and high notes have high speed but much less air to flow. In general the airflow in playing legato is similar to that when you play a glissando from first position to a lower one or vie versa, Legato tonguing 3 In our “trombone” way of playing legato, the tongue movement is very important. Legato, on other instruments, means slurred without the tongue. We need the tongue to cover the gliss between notes in the same natural series. Again, here, coordination is the most important matter. The placement of the tongue, in legato it has to be a soft tongue like “Da” or “La”. It has to be as late as possible and for the release, out of the way as quickly as possible. Coordinate it with the music. We don't want the tongue to be in the way of our air stream to long. A sticky, slow tongue will destroy your legato. Don't forget: your tongue is one of your fastest muscles, Legato tonguing 4 In legato tonguing, the slide movement is very, very important and again, here “coordination” is extremely important. Simply said the slide should move with the music, not too late and not too early. To achieve this you should treat your slide gently, hold it without any force or tension like you would treat a quality piece of silk. 1 like to have a flexible wrist like we use in a jazzy slide vibrato. We never want the arm to have bad influence on our legato; in fact the right arm should move independently of the rest of your body. No breath or embouchure accents due to the movement of the slide should be audible. 1 prefer to speak of my slide moving from note to note as late as possible rather than thinking of the slide moving as quickly as possible. Again, listen to the music and move the slide with it Internal rhythm, ‘A well developed internal rhythmic pulse is very important. You need it for good coordination in your attacks and aljo for playing in an ensemble. Also, when you have to play an audition, a good sense of internal rhythm can be of great help for all excerpts. To train myself to have good internal rhythm, I make use of the metronome and do so especially in my warm-ups, I use this all the time, Play long tones with the metronome and then repeat them without and keep the metronome in your head. Do this also with slurs and scales! In slow pieces T always like to subdivide the rhythm. For instance take the First Symphony by Brahms and go to the beautiful chorale in the last movement. This can be a very tricky piece during an audition. Think 2 bars of eight notes and then start the chorale. It's now much easier to start and to keep the tempo during the piece without a conductor or colleagues. 1 personally also make use of “foot tapping” for developing an internal rhythm. Although your foot may have problems keeping a steady beat ~ it may be too forgiving, I think it is good to help you to become independent of an external rhythm.Soles a os ae Blige cela pee 79 Tongue Don't take your tongue too important. Over the years, Ihave noticed that many of us, to begin a note, are much too focused on the tongue. This can cause much tension in our throat and will have a bad effect on our air stream OF course we need our tongue for different types of articulation but I have found that many of these tongued articulations can also be produced without the tongue and will be gentler than the tongued ones. During my warm-ups, I do many exercises without the tongue. This gives me a very relaxed feel with a better contact with my air system. Try to experiment with this idea and hopefully this will benefit your playing, Ben van Dijk and Vern Kagarice Don't play too short! Many times I notice that brass players have the tendeney to play “separate” but it doesn't mea notes too short. Okay, “separate” means as short as poss ble. When you play a line of notes which is part of a phrase and you play them short you will lose direction, This weekend I started with the recordings of my second solo CD On itis also the Concertino in F major by Ernst Sachse. After the first recording date I listened to the result. The fist thing I realized was that I had to change the length of the notes, Even in the quasi staccato sections Thad to Play longer. Of course this doesn’t mean we should lose clear articulation. On the contrary, make the articulation as clean and clear as possible but don't stop the air between the notes. ‘Thinking like a bouncing ball on the sround: the ground is your tongue and the air is the Air.80 Sound tips Abig bass sound 1 To start with, you should create a sound in your mind. Pursue that sound and there is a big chance your sound will go your way automatically. I think a big mistake many bass players make is that in their effort to make the sound big they forget to keep some higher overtones in their sound. Their sound becomes unfocused, very dull, and not easy to play with for either tuba players or tenor trombonists. I like to think of a pyramid sound with a wide bottom and a rich top to it. For such a sound it is very important to play with super relaxed but energetic air control (for the lower register think about a slow and very steady air stream). Also, your body, especially your arms, should be relaxed. Any tension will squeeze your sound and make it sharp and penetrating. The corners of your mouth should be controlled but never stressed very much, Long tone exercises on both mouthpiece and instrument will help your sound a Jot. One final statement I like to make is: Don't talk too much about a big fat sound, but change it into a rich, singing bass sound. A big bass sound 2 Td like to give you some exercises and ideas for improving your sound through out the register. Although the title of this item is “a big bass sound” these ideas are also very good for tenor players. First, for 5 minutes, play some long note les in the middle register on your mouthpiece. Play them mezzo forte with a tempo of about quarter not 80. Breathe in deeply and play two notes in a line before taking a new breath. Focus on a centered sound and keep the corners of your mouth firm but not tense. Now go to your instrument and play a scale of Bb descending for two octaves. Again play slow whole notes “mf starting them without the tongue and only breathing after two notes. When you need more air in the lower register, take a breath after every note. Keep a relaxed feeling through the complete register. Now go down a half step and play the scale from there in the same ‘way. These are tedious and time consuming exercises but these are the best to improve your sound through out the register. Abig bass sound 3 Itis clea that for a big (bass) sound the air control is very, very important. Relaxed, deep, open breathing has to be done all the time as seen in the next exercises. Play a forte, four beats pedal Bb tenuto like a brick. Take a deep open breath of air and play the Bb again for one quarter and slur up Ye step toa double valve B natural and play that note for three beats, still forte. Now slur from the Bb to the double valved C again three beats and continue like this till you reach the octave Bb. Don't forget your breathing during the exercise and keep playing the notes forte. (Tenor trombonists may skip the B natural slur and start with the slur to the C in the one valve 6th position) This exercise will train your breathing system and embouchure to be of help to develop a big bass sound in a very quick way.81 ‘A big bass sound 4 The nent exercise I'd like to give you isthe famous “erescendo-diminuendo” exercise. Play eight beat notes in a very slow tempo, starting the note ppp without the tongue making a big erescendo to ff or ff over four bent, @ then making a slow decrescendo to ppp. Make it.a fermata and morendo till nothing. I always start in the middle register and make my way down or up. Be your own composer and make it a bit different every day to keep it interesting. A great tip from my tea her, Jeff Reynolds, is of great benefit for this type of work; the louder you Play, the looser you play, and the softer you play the tighter you play. He is talking of the embouchure setting. For this big bass trombone sound we are looking for, this loose embouchure settin ig is very important. If your | lips are too stretched your sound will not be free and ringing, BD My last tip for this is; don't make your tongue too important! I use a lot of tongueless entrance: in my loudest { playing. Loud is beautiful and let's keep it that way! B®, Playing loudly | For playing loudly I recommend playing not only more air (use slow, warm air and avoid any tension), but also playing longer notes. A longer note will be heard more than a short one, so you don't have to play that loud to actually sound louder. The trick is to play loudly without any force - very focused and pure in sound. Produce a full sound, not just a loud one. Listen to your sound going all around you, including behind you. The vibration of your lips will be lad Tooser the louder you will play. Don't try to keep your lips too tight; this will make you sound squeezed and fuzzy. Practice long tones creseendo and diminuendo with a tuner, checking for stable pitch. Remember, your p_ trombone is not a weapon! Over blowing Sometimes you will get into a situation where you need to play extremely loudly. Perhaps you are invited to play im another orchestra which is bigger than the one you play in normally and the low brass play with lots of Power. Of course you have to try to fit in but there is a big danger! Over blowing! In my o} ion you should never play louder than you can eontrol. When you do play louder than you can control there will be no benefit whatsoever. You will even sound much less loud than when you play at your normal loudest level. Over blowing also ean affect your lips in a bad way. Just raise your bell and you will sound much louder in front. Play as focused as Possible with your lips in a loose seiting so you will have optimal vibrations and your sound will have much more direction, wT ee. — r