| Hi Dave -
Boy, if you know of a good practice routine, I'm all ears!
Actually, my practicing usually depends on my work schedule. If I have some gigs that will be a workout, I'll just do a thorough warm up that day. If I'm not working one day, I'll have to put in some practice time.
The biggest problem I've encountered is that players tend to practice/play things that they sound GOOD on. The trick is to practice/play things that you sound BAD on. (Sounds simple, but it's amazing how often it doesn't happen.)
I picked out some of my biggest weaknesses and wrote my own exercises based on them. I do them daily, and it forces me to tackle, rather than avoid those problems.
The older I get, the longer it takes me to warm up. Now I'm in the habit of getting to gigs really early, throwing in a practice mute, and going at it. I do Clarke #2, lip slurs (tons of them), tonguing, and range exercises.
When I'm home (and don't have a 4 yr. old crawling on me), I like to slow down the pace of practicing. (play, rest, play, rest) Although not as often as I like, I also put on Aebersold play-along CD's to try to keep my jazz ideas together.
The trumpet is such a physical instrument. It's hard to stay on top of things, but I can always tell when I've put in the time and when I haven't!
Tony |