Best way to work on upper range?

[MSoundHornLine04]

Just wondering, what's the best way to practice and improve your range? I usually do long tone scales and lipslurs... helps but just wondering what you guys think!

[StewMuse]

Well, long tones and scales are important to every day playing, certainly, but how often do you actually have to DO those things when confronted with actual music? You must actually PLAY MUSIC in the upper register to learn how to play in the upper register. It doesn't matter if you have a great double A if all you can do is play a scale up to it.
Find some materials (or create your own) that take into the upper register and make you be a musician...good luck!
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[LeeC]

Here's my take on upper register development:

Part of it really is practice room work. You simply aren't gonna have a useable high F (or whatever note you're striving for) in concert if it isn't there in the practice room. Arpeggio work is excellent at developing sheer practice room range, so do lot's of them. Almost all the upper register technical books employ these (arpeggio) exercises.

Much more importantly strive to play stronger IN CONCERT on those notes that already do have within your useable playing range. It is far more beneficial to have "just" an A above the staff that you can play all night long with good control and intonation than tons of register fit only for the practice room.

As your "In concert" range gets stronger you'll acheive much more confidence. Unfortunately this is the kind of advice often spoken but seldom used. As Mark Twain was quoted: "Common sense is not so common".

You can't sell common sense. Most of the time you can't even give it away for free.

[ This Message was edited by: leesbrass on 2004-01-31 16:53 ]

[gphorn]

I once read a Maynard Ferguson interview in which he suggested working on your upper register by playing ballads and taking then up a third, then a fifth, and so on until you are comfortable playing "music" in the upper register. Sounds logical to me.

Gary
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