andyraver

Can anyone help? I have been playing trumpet for a year now, married with children i can give about an hour a day to practice. There seems so much to get through with tonguing, slurring, scales, arpeggios, intervals, triplets, trills, range, pitch, accuracy, tempo etc etc etc. Can anyone give me an idea of where i should be after a year and what to prioritise in practice at this point.

Regards
Andy

bagmangood

My answer is practice, and if you aren't taking lessons, find a good local private teacher
Trumpet isn't easy, and we have a lot of technical stuff that gets in the way of playing music. Always practice tone and tonguing. Range will come in time (if it hasn't already) and just improving your musicality (AKA listening to good players) will help with pretty much everything else

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s.coomer

I agree with the earlier post especially get a good teacher who car work with you and help you to priortize your practice sessions. You'll find that you need more work on some things than others and also that a teacher can help you with them to make them easier and more manageable.

Jude

Hi, Andy - you'll probably be advised before long to get a teacher, if only for a few lessons. I'd add to that to be sure to discuss with any potential teacher in advance exactly what it is you want from him, in your case organizing your practice schedule.

When I started with a teacher 3 months ago I was so happy to find someone who could play well that I didn't think very much about what I wanted from him. I assumed he would take over organizing my learning, he assumed he'd show up and play along with me on whatever I put on the stand. I got some good advice here about how to use him as a resource, essentially, but it's getting a bit depressing to spend time with someone mainly interested in running out the clock. (He's retired from teaching music in junior-high school, and mostly tired, I think.)

You're already ahead of the game in being able to identify what you know you need to work on, so you have a better chance of finding what you need (from a teacher, if you don't find it here).

pipedope

An hour a day is not bad.
Probably not enough to get into the pro player ranks but will certainly build your skills and endurance.

I suggest joining a band.
Find a community band or other group to plkay in. Best is if they practice and perform regularly.

Joining a group will block out time for rehersal and shows and is also LOTS of fun and reminds you why you are doing the practice every day.

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Virtuoso2B

an hour a day is not the ideal amount of time, but it's enough to work with. It seems like an odd approach, but if you spend 5-10 minutes a day hitting the major points, you'll make MUCH more progress than focusing on a just one or two things for the practice session. A little bit every day will take you alot further. But what is most important is that your practicing must be very focused. As someone else noted, maybe you won't be able to reach the ranks of a symphony player (but how many of us do anyway?), but you'll be a solid and reliable player. Most important of all though, make sure you're having fun. That's why they call it "playing"!

oldenick

You should be playing the Arban book. Preferably with a teacher. You can cover just about all the technical (and many musical) aspects of trumpet playing using that book one hour a day. If you must go it alone checkout Eric Bolvin's web site and think about picking up his Arban Manual. With one year of playing under your belt a teacher is still your best bet.

Good Luck
Practicing works smart practicing works better

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rowuk

Yeah, I like the idea of a teacher too, but that did not answer your question! Here is a safe and sensible routine:

1/3 chop builders (slurs, long tones, intervals)
1/3 technical (tonguing, scales.........)
1/3 tunes

The order is not significant, just do not play the tunes when your chops are beat up! You need to make MUSIC every day!

Take notes on what you play EVERY DAY. Especially if you don't have a teacher, good record keeping will document your progress!

NEVER FORGET THE TUNES. It is the reason that we play trumpet.

This practice routine scales well from 1 to 6 hours per day.

Good luck!

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Decentplayer

I went for lesson with a private teacher way back when I was in elem/junior high school. He didn't do much for me. He just helped me with what I had to learn for the school concerts. If there is something that you feel you're having a problem with, then, perhaps a teacher would help you with that. People also don't realize, some ppl don't have the money for a private teacher. If you're just playing for fun, and not a job, I can't see a teacher being that necessary, unless you really wanna improve your playing regardless of what your job is. Good luck and there are other ppl who can also suggest some good practice books.

eisprl

If you only have an hour a day to work with might I suggest maybe creating a weekly schedule. For example:

Mon, Wed, Fri can be long tones, scales, flexibilities, tunes
Tue, Thurs can be long tones, scales, articulation
Sat and Sun can be all the above if you have more time

If you practice everything with a metronome then tempo works itself out. (Same with a tuner and pitch). Work those two things into whatever else you are working on.

I am no master of scheduling does anyone see anything completely wrong with what I suggest? I don't have the issue of having only an hour a day.

more input?

Happy practicing
Eric

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