| By The Book
I have played the trumpet for a very, very long time. The music was always in my face. I played Arban in elementary school, Hering in Junior High and Charlier in High School. I got excerpt books in high school. The Philadelphia All City High School Orchestra, when I was a member, played The Ravel G Major Piano Concerto. I had, I thought a heck of a good background.
Lately I have been playing with a friend who is from a different side of music. We played all the standard stuff, but before we opened the books we did some playing of a sort that I hadn't ever done before.
We played scales in diatonic thirds, fourths and fifths. We played cycles that were never introduced in my student days. I thought I had fingers.......forget that. I am amazed at his technique. For maybe the first time I thought the music and did not rely on the printed page.
The bottom line is- How much of your practice time is devoted to things that get the brain in gear?
Wilmer
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Be sure Brain is engaged before putting Mouthpiece in gear.
S.Suark 1951 |