Rezamozaffarinia

Hi,
Yet another noob question *blush*, for teachers/more experienced, this is the routine i have written for myself mostly from the replies i got to my previous thread here & my experience learning other instruments, i have been doing it for 4 days now, i am very happy with the rersults but i am a beginner & i dont want to ruin something and regret it later, so is it any good? any changes needed? i'd appreciate any suggestion.

Here we go,

A:45min, Long tones, with tounging, (using tuner),
Objective: constant correct pitch, smooth decresc. & fade out.

Each note is played twice, 15-16 seconds for higher notes and 30s for lower ones, no sharps & flats, from middle C to low G then back to Middle C and all the way up to the C above the staff. there is a 30s rest beetween each 2 notes.

10 minutes rest.

B:45min, Etudes, (using mirror), with tounging,,,
Objective: Keep the mouth position and jaw still.

Middle C to the C above the staff and back, twice for each note,30s rest between 2 bars. Cresc(f)....Decresc....Cresc(fff)....cut.

In 3/4: C,D,C ..... D,E,D .... E,F,E etc, (mf to fff) and cut.

10 minutes rest.

C:120min. Scales, (using mirror), legatto, staccatto & tounged.
Objective: build brain-finger-lip memory, no jaw movement esp. while descending.

T=60 , 90 , 120 , 160 ,200.

Quarter notes, one Octave and back x25.

Middle C to staff C

D to D

E to E
.
.
.

One Octave from Staff C to the C above the staff...

The End.

all the best
Reza.

bagmangood

My one thought is you're spending to much time on non-musical and the mechanical aspects. 45 min of long tones is a long time, as is 120 min of scales. The work is good, but you could probably very easily afford to shorten those times and play more music.
Other people will almost certainly have more ideas...

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hubnub

I agree. Spend more time on tunes. Personally, I wouldn't put so many 45 minute sessions together with only 10 minutes of rest between either. I'd spread it out more throughout the day.

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jeancmoa

Are you a beginner with trumpet or with this specific routine? There is such a thing as over-practicing. If you are a beginner on trumpet, you are over-doing it. Also, do you have a private teacher? If not, get one promptly.

I have been playing trumpet for 15 years, and have taken lessons and advice from the best, including Wynton Marsalis. Throughout high school I thought I could get away with just talent and not having a private instructor. Then a great trumpet player made me realize how wrong I was. I had to get an embochure change because I had been playing wrong for years. My work ethic was good, as yours seems to be, but I had stopped progressing. Taking lessons is the way to become a great musician, along with dilligent practice of course.

Your routine is great, but I am concerned that you are going to burn yourself out and that you may not be doing the excercises correctly. Get back with a little more info , as I would like to help you with anything I can. By the way, the other person is totally right. You do need to dedicate more time to playing actual music. Alot of lyrical always helps in becoming more fluent with the horn.

rowuk

Long tones, buzzing and slurs should be IMHO done WITHOUT tonguing. I do not go up or down chromatically or with a scale. I pick the notes at random. This is also my breathing check. I never use a tuner or recommend it for my students. I tried it for a couple years and saw no improvement. Wind players do not play a "well tempered scale"!

I divide my practice session into 3 equal parts:

longtones/slurs/breathing

Tunes

Technical stuff

if I have more than 2 hours to PRACTICE, the tunes part gets longer than the other two.
Why put your mouth and jaw into a vice? Why get hung up on technicalities? This second part of the practice session I call "tunes" and it is there ONLY to MAKE MUSIC. Let go of the intellectual stuff and play for your soul. This is why we even call ourselves MUSICIANS instead of TECHNICIANS. I would make this the LONGEST part of my practice.

I don't know who came up with the "lockjaw idea". Therefore I can't tell you what is supposed to accomplish. I have never had a student with this "problem" so I'll let somebody else explain it. I teach being relaxed, standing up straight and finding a natural angle to hold the trumpet that keeps excessive pressure off of the upper lip.

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