Getting serious again, need some guidance

[Kingfan]

I've been playing for 50 years now. Studied under Jim DeSano of the Cleveland Orchestra in high school and was a performance major for a whole two quarters, so I have a good foundation. I play now for pure enjoyment and the comraderie. I have good quality small bore and large bore tenors and and a bass trombone. Right now I'm in a community band and a big band, and sometimes play in a brass quintet.

My confession is that I haven't practiced between rehearsals since I left college. Now that I'm semi-retired I have no excuse. My warm-ups when I play take me one minute. Ashamed to say the only times I play long tones is whole notes written in the music. I have small bore and large bore tenors and and a bass trombone.

I want to get serious again, but need some structure. I tried lessons a few times in the last 10 years, but the only teachers I can afford are at my level of playing so I wasn't getting anywhere.

I just dusted off the music shelf and have the Remington warm-ups, Barrett's Strength In The High Register, Little's Embouchure Builder, and a set of 10 studies with no names, just playing times, starting with fast staccato studies progressing to moderato for numbers 6 and on.

I have Rochut's Melodius Etudes, Arban's Famous Method, Mueller Technical Studies, Bordner Second Book of Practical Studies, and Rubank Advanced Method for Baritone Vol. 12. For bass bone I have Grigoriev 24 studies and Alan Raph's The Double Valve Bass Trombone.

I have several classical and jazz solos, transcription of Pankow's tbone parts with Chicago, and a ton of big band/wind ensemble music I copied in years past. I can take home the folder for the community band but not the big band.

I figure I should play a minimum of an hour a day. I'll buy my wife noise canceling headphones if I have to! What of what music I listed above should I be playing and for how long? Suggestions on how to structure my hour: 5 min. of warmups, 15 min. studies, 40 minutes of fun music?

Ok, let the fun begin!

[BGuttman]

I can sympathize with you. I'm in a similar situation.

First, are you in any danger of losing a chair in any of the ensembles? If so you need to do more technical stuff.

I like doing a short warmup, Remington (do a few exercises; don't go nuts -- and mix them up). Then some technical stuff that works your scales and arpeggios.

You aren't going to try out for the Cleveland Orchestra, so practice should be fun. Rochut, the melodic etudes in Arbans's, etc. should be a significant part of your practice. If you need to work on your jazz playing, spend a lot of time doing either reading or improvising.

Just my take.

[WilliamLang]

i think you have a good intuition about how to proceed. i would recommend 10-15 minutes warm-up, 10-15 minutes of studies (reading from a different book everyday) and then 30 minutes on solos, improvising, challenging material, etc. at the beginning it might be good to consider splitting it into 30 minute sessions in the morning and afernoon (work and life balance permitting of course)

congrats on getting started again!

[hyperbolica]

There are probably a lot of us in the same boat here. I'll be interested in what other people have to say too.

I think first you have to decide where you want to go. Do you really want to be an orchestral player, concert band demon, jazzer, chamber music guy, ska player?

Make sure the fundamentals are there still, so take a couple of lessons with a pro to make sure you're on track. Then do the long tones, scales, intervals, lip slurs, trills, intonation games, articulation, etc...

Method books only go so far, I'd just get involved in real music. Solos (trombone or otherwise), Orchestral excerpts, Real Books, play along CDs, improvisation materials. Make sure you can read clefs regardless of which direction you go. Even pop musicians benefit from being able to read clefs.

I'd also recommend recording yourself and listening to it. This might damage a frail ego, I know I was super depressed after recording myself, but it will show you the obvious stuff that you need to do to improve.

Best of luck!

[Kingfan]

Thanks to the input so far. No, not in danger of losing a chair. Probably not playing in an orchestra again, just big band (lead down to bass) and community band (same) plus quintet if asked. I have some jazz improv play-along CDs I've been afraid to try, but looks like now is the time to get over my fear of sounding like a beginner again.

[JLivi]

If you’re looking for something a little different and still technical I highly recommend the Brad Edwards Lip Slurs book. Great slow, fast and melodic slurs.

Honorable mention, Technical Studies (Clarke)

If I were to break down a 60 min practice session I would don’t ask follows:

20 min (long tones and lip slurs)
- One thing I like to do with slurs is go down to 7th chromatically, and then back up. 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-6-5-4-3-2-1. It’s an easy way to extend a slur.

20 min technical studies (tongue exercises, scales, patterns, technical studies)

20 min Etudes & other musical options
+5-10min range exercises.

If you’re looking for more material, I’d be more than happy to send you the packets I give to my high school students. It’s really just stuff I play/practice but I force my students to play it too.

When looking for stuff to play, content is king. Buy a new book every 2-4 weeks and build out your library. That at least kept me busy over the years when I didn’t play music full time.

[Kingfan]

JLivi, thanks for the tip on Bead Edwards. I don't have the Clarke studies but know it is an old standard. I would love to see that packet, I'll PM you with my address.

[Backbone]

Been using this play along for long tones. Really helps. Also, since I play Bass exclusively, I just repeat the second 8 minute section for pedals.

[JLivi]

JLivi, thanks for the tip on Bead Edwards. I don't have the Clarke studies but know it is an old standard. I would love to see that packet, I'll PM you with my address.

Email sent, and sorry, BRAD Edwards Lip Slurs.

[harrisonreed]

Brad Edwards accomplishes SO much SO efficiently!

[tbonesullivan]

My warmups last around 45 minutes, and are based around the Remington Warmups. They also include scales, slurs, etc.

Just doing a good 20 minutes of various long tones can do wonders for sound, endurance, etc.

[norbie2018]

The beginning of the Arban book is hard to beat for the basics of playing. They can be played detached or legato, in various clefs to change the range, and you can vary the dynamics and inflections. Record yourself as well daily and listen back with an open, patient mindset. If you can play the Arban like you imagine your favorite trombone player can, with purity of sound and musicality, you'll have tapped into something special.

[Kingfan]

JLivi, thanks for the tip on Bead Edwards. I don't have the Clarke studies but know it is an old standard. I would love to see that packet, I'll PM you with my address.

Just downloaded them and printed copies. Will start tonight!

Email sent, and sorry, BRAD Edwards Lip Slurs.

[Kingfan]

The beginning of the Arban book is hard to beat for the basics of playing. They can be played detached or legato, in various chefs to change the range, and you can vary the dynamics and inflections. Record yourself as well daily and listen back with an open, patient mindset. If you can play the Arban like you imagine your favorite trombone player can, with purity of sound and musicality, you'll have tapped into something special.

I think I learned the most by playing in unison and duets with my old teacher. I tried to copy him, and what a great feeling when we sounded alike!

[Mikebmiller]

If you want to play something fun, get Michael Davis’ Bone Kill book. It has about 15 jazzy solo pieces, many of which are quite challenging.

I have a patient wife, so most nights after dinner she washes dishes while I spend an hour or more practicing. The dog will even hang out with me most nights (his hearing is not so great any more). I have a bunch of solos on the stand that I spend time with, along with the Rochuts and the MD book I mentioned. I confess that I hate method books. I haven’t touched my Arbans since high school.

Just having fun with the horn should be the goal, so play whatever makes you happy.

[afugate]

Some great responses already.

Have you done an assessment of where you are today? Knowing what you do well and what you do poorly is the key to good practice. Most people spend too much time working on things they are good at and not nearly enough on those areas that truly need improvement.

Why? Several reasons. We hate to do stuff that's hard. We hate to sound bad on the horn. We're uncertain if we're actually doing it right. (That's where a competent teacher is essential.) And, let's face it. It feels good to do stuff we can do.

What? Well, the list is endless. Perhaps start with major groupings of Sound, Articulation, Flexibility, Intonation, Expression, Patterns (scalar/arpeggiated/other). Maybe add Transcription and Playing along by ear since you're interested in improvisation.

Once you know, pick 2 (maybe 3) and focus on those things for a month. Be very specific about what you want to improve in an area. Then spend at least half your practice time doing those things.

--Andy in OKC