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Practice: A Musical approachGordon Mathie

How to practice? I could write for days on this topic, but I will keep my remarks brief. If you have anyquestions, please ask me; I love to talk about trumpet playing and can be reached at [email protected] an excellent article on this topic, please read: "Practicing for Musicianship" by John Schlabach, ITG Journal,12/97. [Editors note: This article can be found on the ITG website:www.trumpetguild.org/pdf/9712clin.pdf.]

General

There are those days when we cannot find time to practice, but it is important to warm-up every day.Warming-up is a different scenario for each brass player, but a basic ten-minute warm-up involves thefollowing exercises from Schlossberg, Daily Drills and Technical Studies: #2,8,11a, 12,15,18,26.

OK, you have done your warm-up, followed by a rest period to allow the lips to get ready for the day. Why areyou going to practice? Dont practice for hours, practice for results. Have a list of specific long and short-rangegoals, and know how to accomplish them. Remember the great Armando Ghitallas advice: "If you are notprepared to do the same thing every day of your life, dont plan to be a good brass player."

When practicing, use the metronome, a tuner and a tape recorder. When practicing, use your time wisely.Practice scales and arpeggios with different articulations. Chromatic scales lend themselves to the practice ofsingle and multiple tonguing. Practice "lip slurs" but also improve intonation on alternate fingerings at the sametime. Practice all drills tongued and slurred, being sure that tone quality is always good, whether tonguing orslurring.

Legato

Every practice session should include some slow, legato playing for improvement of sound, intonation anddynamic control. The following are valuable sources: "The Art of Phrasing" in the original Arban Method;Concone studies; Phil Collins In the Singing Style; Getchells Practical Studies; etc. Again, save time bytransposing slow legato music.

Scales, etc.

Practice scales and arpeggios in all keys, at all dynamic levels, and with different articulations. Practice majorscales but also minor, whole tone and modal scales. Forgive the plug, but my Drudgeries book might give yousome different approaches to scales, arpeggios and chord progressions. The Ernest Williams Method of Scales isa good guide for traditional scale formats.

Range

For range improvement, I have found that chromatic scales are effective, if approached correctly. Practicechromatic scales every day, but only as high as you can play easily and with good sound. Slurred two-octavechromatic scales, played daily only as high as you can play correctly, will improve range. Approach the upperregister like learning to run the mile: dont start with the mile, start with the quarter mile, then the half mile,etc. You will not learn to play high C by practicing high C; you will learn to play it when you can play G abovethe staff with control and good sound, then G#, etc.

Etudes

Practice etudes by working out the trouble spots first, then putting it all together. If you run into a problempassage, dont keep repeating it, analyze it. Is the problem musical or technical? Find out where the passage isgoing in the harmonic/formal scheme of the etude (ask your teacher for help), and then learn it in as manykeys as possible and with different articulations and dynamics. Then go back to the original. In other words,practice not to learn pieces per se, but to learn music.

Finger Dexterity

Every practice session should contain some work to improve finger dexterity. Practice the Clarke Technical
http://www.trumpetguild.org//itgyouth/masterclass/blackmore.htmhttp://www.trumpetguild.org/pdf/9712clin.pdf



Studies in major, minor and whole tone keys, and with various articulations.

Solos

Practice solos in the same manner as etudes. Work out the trouble spots in as many keys as possible, and withdifferent articulations, then do a "run-through". Occasionally start at the end and work backwards by sections.Learn the solo in other keys and with different articulations and dynamics. Learn music, not just a solo!

Sightreading

Every practice session should contain some sightreading. Use new books, solos and etudes you havent playedfor some time, borrow new books from other students, etc. Mentally analyze the music, play it through withoutstopping, then go back and fix things.

Summary

?Improving as a trumpet player is not just talent and repetition. Real improvement comes from criticalevaluation of ones playing, careful planning of steps to correct weaknesses, and musically-based work on thosesteps. Good luck!

Sample Practice Sessions

My ideal practice day consists of 3 separate sessions:

1. Warm-up - 20 minutes2. "Nuts and Bolts" - 60 minutes (scales, long tones, arpeggios, transposition, slow songs, sightreading)3. "Fun Time"

Etudes - 30 minutes

Solos - 30 minutes

This is ideal, and I realize it would be very difficult to maintain such a schedule with your busy lives. There isthe weekend and summer vacation, though!

A 90-Minute Practice Session

Brief Warm-up (assuming a previous warm up) - 5 minutes

Songs and Legato - 10 minutes

Scales - 20 minutes

Rest - 5 minutes

Etudes - 20 minutes

Solos - 15 minutes

Rest - 5 minutes

Sight Reading - 10 minutes

Selected Books for Practice

Legato

Arban, Complete Conservatory Method (Carl Fischer) - Easy to Medium - "The Art of Phrasing"

Collins, In the Legato Style (Manduca Music Publications) - Medium?

Concone, The Complete Solfeggi (Balquhidder Music) - Easy to Medium

Scales

Arban, Complete Conservatory Method (Carl Fischer) - Easy to Medium - pp. 17-20, 59-75

Gates, Odd Meter Etudes (Fox) - Easy to Medium Difficult - #1,5,7,9,15,18

Mathie, Drudgeries (Giardinelli) - Easy to Difficult

Pfund, The Trumpeters Supplemental Guide (Pfund) - Easy to Medium - pp. 29-31

Williams, Method of Scales (Colin) - Easy to Medium

Arpeggios and Chord Progressions

Arban, Complete Conservatory Method (Carl Fischer) - Easy to Medium - pp. 20-21,42-151,256,258,290



Bousquet, Thirty-Six Celebrated Studies (Carl Fischer) - Medium #19

Charlier, Thirty-Six Etudes Transcendantes (Leduc) - Medium to Difficult - #3,8,11,15,17,19,23,32,34

Lillya, Trumpet Technics (Balquhidder Music) - Medium to Medium Difficult - pp. 16-17,21-22,24-27

Range

Colin, Advanced Lip Flexibilities (Colin) - Easy to Difficult

Lin, Lip Flexibilities (Balquhidder Music) - Medium to Medium Difficult

Finger Dexterity

Clarke, Technical Studies (Carl Fischer) - Medium

Hickman, Trumpet Lessons, Vol.4 (Tromba) - Medium

Sightreading

Barker, Sightreading and Technique (Moorcraft) - Medium

Hickman, Speed Reading for Melodic Instruments (Wimbledon) - Medium

DR. GORDON MATHIE

Gordon Mathie is a former Professor of Trumpet and Music Education at the Crane School of Music, PotsdamCollege, and a former member of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Vermont Symphony, the Potsdam BrassQuintet and the Leonard Smith Concert Band. In retirement, he still performs with the Brass Band of Columbusand is an active clinician.

He was a charter officer and board member of ITG and has received the following honors: The SUNYChancellors Award for Excellence in Teaching, the Phi Mu Alpha Orpheus Award, the ITG Award of Merit (firstrecipient) and the Wayne State University Arts Achievement Award.

He is the author of The Trumpet Teachers Guide (Manduca Music), Drudgeries (Giardinelli), a book of routinesfor advanced trumpet players, and has transcribed: Baroque trumpet concerti for Piccolo Trumpet and trumpetensemble (Triplo Press); the Grieg Huldigungsmarch for brass quintet (Manduca Music); and Telemann Duets forTransposing Trumpeters (Balquhidder Music).

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