Will I get better?

[GarrettGorbyDCI]

I keep a detailed practice journal and my routine consists of this.
Stamp Warm Up - Ray Mase - Rest - Orchestral Excerpts - Artunian practice for Jury - Rest - High Range - Warm Down

Takes about 2 hours, not including long rests. Will I get better If I just keep grinding it out? I haven't missed a day in a month and I try my best to have consistent and focused practice.

Is it just a matter of grinding it out or is my routine bad? I sound impatient and I probably am, but I'm willing to grind it out to become better.

[CJceltics33]

You’ll certainly get better. The thing about practice though is you have to do what works for you. What works for me is switching it up every day or week rather than having a set routine. I suggest you do that for awhile then assess how you are feeling.

[JayKosta]

[GarrettGorbyDCI]

Every year I seem to get way better than the last so I haven’t hit a plateau yet. My only concern for fundamentals not being worked out right is through my articulation, which I’ve always struggled with. Thank you for your advice!

[Dayton]

A few thoughts:

First, when you say "Stamp Warm Up" do you mean that you use Stamp's "Warm-Ups and Studies" book as part of your warm up, or that you use someone's version of a Stamp-esque warm up? Similarly, when you say "Ray Mase," do you mean his Extended Flexibility book, or something else? I ask because both the Stamp and the Mase books have a ton of really good "fundamentals" material in them. If you stop with Stamp's basic warm up (or someone's version of it), for example, you are missing out on a lot of good material -- scales/modes, flexibility, articulation (not to mention a whole philosophy about playing) -- and your routine may not be very comprehensive.

Second, how much of your practice time is focused on what you need to get better at? Excerpts can be really useful, as can working on a piece like the Arutiunian (concerto?) -- particularly if you are thinking ahead toward your Jury -- but if articulation is an area you struggle with you might get more benefit from spending some time with Arban, Franquin, St. Jacome...working on articulation. You'll get better more quickly with orchestral and solo literature if you improve your articulation.

Third, what does your professor say about your routine and your progress? Does he/she know your goals and think you are on track to achieve them? If not, what does your professor recommend that you do differently? If you aren't studying with someone this summer, you might see if there is someone in your area you can get a few lessons with. The focus could be on helping you understand what you need to work on and how to work on it.

Fourth, you mentioned an upcoming Jury but did not specifically say that you were a music major. If you are, two hours per day is not a lot of time with your horn if that is all of the playing you are doing this summer. Just something to consider....

And finally, are you balancing the dynamic level you practice at? Many folks spend a fair amount of time playing at medium-to-loud volumes. Make sure you are spending some of your time playing softly. You might find that practicing articulation studies softly offers some real benefits.

Good luck!

[HERMOKIWI]

Practice helps you to get better at what you're doing but practice doesn't know the difference between what really benefits you and what doesn't. You have to look at results for that.

Practice is about doing things better. It is not about doing things more. If you practice doing things wrong you just get better at doing those things wrong. There is no trumpet method that is immune from the player doing things wrong. As the saying goes, it's not practice that makes perfect, it's perfect practice that makes perfect.

So, there is no trumpet method that can guarantee success. The methods are only as good as the way you practice them. No matter how much you practice you will always be limited by any fundamental weaknesses until you correct them. If practicing isn't correcting fundamental weaknesses then the value of practicing is questionable.
_________________
HERMOKIWI

[zaferis]

lots of suggestions that I might have made as well. Here are some other thoughts.

First of all progress, even with a high level of efficiency, is not a straight-line growth. Ups and Downs, and then Plateaus. It's typical to work and work and work without seeing improvement in yourself, then all of a sudden you jump to the next plateau.

How about approaching your training like an athlete? Not the same routine and level of expenditure every day. Many top athletes have a 3, 5 or 7 day routine, varying from lighter to heavier days.

I would encourage the same warm-up: moving air, buzzing, long steady tones (flow studies, Stamp, etc), Clarke studies (or the like), scales, tounging, flexibility, (20-30 minutes)... THEN vary your level of expenditure of practice/rehearsal/performance. One doesn't improve with a max workout on every day, your muscles do need recovery time.
(i.e. light, moderate, maximum, light, moderate, maximum, rest....)
Include listening and reading (books)...

As young players we must practice all of these things while we are learning how to practice. Learning how to best use our time, and what things to focus on for our own needs. As you improve your practice will improve and become more efficient. Thousands of hours!
So for now, listen to your Prof and keep pluggin'
_________________
Freelance Performer/Educator
Adjunct Professor
Bach Trumpet Endorsing Artist
Retired Air Force Bandsman

[JayKosta]

[Andy Del]

[Pops]

Always ask yourself WHY and WHAT.

WHY am I practicing this?
WHAT is it that I want to accomplish with this material?

You mentioned a tonguing issue so WHY are you not spending 20-25% of your practice on real tonguing material?

Make your practice fit your playing needs.
_________________
Clint 'Pops' McLaughlin
You can always Google me.
50 years Teaching. Teaching and writing trumpet books is ALL I do.
7,000 pages of free music. Trumpet Books, Skype Lessons: www.BbTrumpet.com

[blbaumgarn]

Pay attention to what Zaferis has said. The trumpet player is indeed an athlete, an athlete using a different set of muscles and skills. I dropped out of college 50 years ago did factory work for 4 years and then went back to college and played football. I changed to phy ed and learned better how to train. I always lifted weights and ran, etc. But starting at 23 I leaned in detail how to train for specific physical skills. I picked up the horn again, bought a Benge one day when I went to try a couple Bachs and applied the principles of dividing trumpet practice into segments like lifting weights. It will work it really will. Having a teacher will help you organize your time if you use that resource. If the activity of playing the trumpet wasn't physical we would never feel tired after a long practice or performance. Good Luck to you.
_________________
"There are two sides to a trumpeter's personality,
there is one that lives to lay waste to woodwinds and strings, leaving them lie blue and lifeless along a swath of destruction that is a
trumpeter's fury-then there is the dark side!" Irving Bush

[Billy B]

Lot's of good advice here, but it all really boils down to; It's not what you practice but how you practice.
_________________
Bill Bergren

[cheiden]

Without knowing more, it doesn't sound like a balanced routine. And there's no way to know if you're applying any of it well. Take a least a few lessons from the best pro you can find to get a balanced routine and to show you how to approach it. Anything else is a crapshoot.
_________________
"I'm an engineer, which means I think I know a whole bunch of stuff I really don't."
Charles J Heiden/So Cal
Bach Strad 180ML43*/43 Bb/Yamaha 731 Flugel/Benge 1X C/Kanstul 920 Picc/Conn 80A Cornet
Bach 3C rim on 1.5C underpart

[Trumpet239]

A useful link about practice

https://www.optimists-alumni.org/downloads/acrobat_downloads/trumpet_methods.pdf

specifically: "AVOIDING BAD HABITS By: Mark Van Cleave" "and Smart Practice Mark Van Cleave"

[shademo]

Thanks, all, for these tips.
_________________
1940 Holton 48
1956 Connstellation 38B
1969 Getzen Eterna Flugelhorn
1970 Conn 8B
2023 CarolBrass Euro Baro (on order)
Warburton 3S, 3MCW, 4FL

[Bill_Bumps]

Will I get better If I just keep grinding it out?

The short answer is "yes." I ask myself the same question every time I practice, which is every day. Sometimes it seems as though I will never reach the level of proficiency I'm aiming for. And yet, when I look back three or four months, I find that the level at which I'm playing now seemed unattainable at that time. The trumpet is a difficult instrument to play well, and the unfortunate reality is that it takes time to become good at it.

I've been playing clarinet since I was eight, and if I do say so, I'm fairly good with it. And it often irritates me to no end that I can't play at an equivalent level on the trumpet. The difference is the time spent in practice, of course. I remind myself of that, and go on practicing.

Just keep banging away. You will improve.

[John Mohan]

I find the "grinding it out" descriptor to be worrisome. Improving one's abilities on a brass instrument is a matter of knowing "what to practice, how to practice and when to practice" and then following through and sticking with said practice in order for the desired development to have time to occur.

In other words, if one practices the correct material correctly, and sticks with it long enough, they will develop the abilities they seek to develop.

One can practice all day every day, but if they are not practicing the correct material correctly, they are wasting their time. Sadly, I think this applies to the majority of ambitious players.

As my teacher Claude Gordon said, "Aimless blowing won't get anyone anywhere."

I think the OP's routine seems to be a fairly well-rounded one. If he (you) are keeping your mind on what and why you are practicing the various components of that routine as you practice, and allow proper rest time between individual exercises and between the individual sections of that daily routine, and slowly build up the routine as your endurance grows, you'll improve. Just don't fall into the habit of practicing without concentrating and thinking about what and why you're doing it (which to me, is what "grinding it out" implies)

Best wishes,

John Mohan
Skype Lessons Available - Click on the e-mail button below if interested
_________________
Trumpet Player, Clinician & Teacher
1st Trpt for Cats, Phantom of the Opera, West Side Story, Evita, Hunchback of Notre Dame,
Grease, The Producers, Addams Family, In the Heights, etc.
Ex LA Studio Musician
16 Year Claude Gordon Student

[Craig Swartz]

Probably looked upon by some as a dumb question, but do you actually see yourself playing like whatever/whomever professionals you'd like to emulate? Sometimes it's best just to let it all go and try to copy, to hell with all of the technical and physical "requirements" to do things properly.

As a kid in the '60s, I played almost entirely by ear. At the time my older brother (a horn player who also owned a trumpet and who also played by ear) and I learned the entire repertoire of Herb Alpert TJB by playing along with the recordings, in harmony and with all of the inflections, nuance, etc. My parents would take us around to entertain their church group and other social gatherings, we'd just play along with the recordings. We were pretty good for kids, too.

To this day I have no idea how I ever did what we did, and even after teaching professionally for more than 50 years I've never learned how to teach others to both play by ear, nor to teach amny how to listen to nuance, style, and the like if they don't have a clue. No doubt in my mind, however, if I'd have been listening to Maynard back then I'd have had a great double C before I hit HS. I almost had it down when the TJB Carmen Suite came out- I'd never heard a double Bb/Bb above "highC" prior to that and I worked long and hard to be able to do that lick with the recording... (Not sure who it was- wasn't Herb)

In any event set your sights on what you want to accomplish first, then go about figuring how to get there. Use your ears to help you make the same sounds/licks/tunes that you want to be able to play abd go after it. Again- I get it, and I taught/played fairly professionally since 1973 and still do. I understand the need for fundamentals, discipline, work (which is much better if you descibe that as "playing") and all, but it's too bad, IMO, that many of us get caught up in all of this. Just play and do so for enjoyment. While I'm happy to get paid for playing and teaching, the money was never the reason I've done it. Good luck!

[Bill_Bumps]

Craig, that was four paragraphs of excellent advice. Which is another way of saying that's my philosophy exactly.

I never have been able to play by ear, though, on any instrument.