Manny Laureano

I have most of the morning off so I'm getting some practicing in and wanted to give you guys something new to work on.

I did some of my usual warm-up and I'm ready to go. I wanted to work on double tonguing and delicate playing, so, I combined them. This is for advanced players (that means you can double tongue, have a dependable High C, and have good endurance).

It's a very simple exercise in terms of knowledge required. The challenge comes in how high your standards are. In other words, you have to listen to yourself in a comparative context.

Here's how it goes:

1) Set the metronome to no faster than half note=88

2) You will play a two octave chromatic scale, double tongued, only notes on the quarter. More clearly, CCCC, C#C#C#C#, DDDD, EbEbEbEb, etc. So, when you're done with a measure you've played 16 notes but only 4 different notes. Got it?

3) the loudest you play is mezzo forte

4) You must notice how nice your sound is at the very beginning and maintain that SAME sound all the way up and all the way down. This is the hard part. You're looking for recording quality. The sound must stay rich, full, with no thinning as you ascend. The sound must be just as beautiful at the end as it was when you started out.

5) When you "perfect" that, go up a half step and repeat. Continue up in half steps until you max out.

Sounds easy, right?

Fine, grab your horn and give it a shot. Do this for no longer than 5 minutes, maximum at a time. Remember, beautiful sound, stay with the metronome, and NO THINNING of the sound in the upper register!

Let me know how it goes.

This is one way to build a classical style upper register and the endurance to stay up there for a while.

ML