View previous topic :: View next topic |
Author |
Message |
tptjam New Member
Joined: 29 May 2020 Posts: 1 Location: Cleveland, OH
|
Posted: Sat Oct 17, 2020 6:44 pm Post subject: Getting Back Into Shape |
|
|
What are your favorite books or exercises for someone who was in great shape (say regularly performing/teaching/etc), then took a few MONTHS off and would like to get back to where they were?
I know there are a lot of different theories on this and the best way to do it, but interested to hear what works for you individually (or even what didn't work for you). |
|
Back to top |
|
|
nltrumpet Veteran Member
Joined: 11 Nov 2019 Posts: 206 Location: Washington DC
|
Posted: Sat Oct 17, 2020 7:51 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Short tones. Long tones are great, but I find they can be tiring if I’m coming in without warming up or not in shape. Isolated attacks with notes not too long will keep you fresh, and challenge you to sound your best from the get-go, as opposed to “getting there” during a long note. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
Turkle Heavyweight Member
Joined: 29 Apr 2008 Posts: 2450 Location: New York City
|
Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2020 10:05 am Post subject: |
|
|
When I have to take some time away from the instrument, it's Schlossberg that gets my chops back to where they need to be. Schlossberg, every time!
To give a little more detail, Schlossberg gets your chops, air, ears, and whole body/mind engaged with your energized airstream. Once you have that apparatus locked in, all the other stuff - articulation, fingering, intervals, etc. - falls naturally into place effortlessly. But you need your air working first. And that's precisely what proper use of Schlossberg does, in my opinion.
Good luck! _________________ Yamaha 8310Z trumpet
Yamaha 8310Z flugel
Curry 3. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
Denny Schreffler Veteran Member
Joined: 14 Apr 2005 Posts: 390 Location: Tucson
|
Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2020 1:37 pm Post subject: Re: Getting Back Into Shape |
|
|
tptjam wrote: | What are your favorite books or exercises for someone who was in great shape (say regularly performing/teaching/etc), then took a few MONTHS off and would like to get back to where they were?
I know there are a lot of different theories on this and the best way to do it, but interested to hear what works for you individually (or even what didn't work for you). |
To recommend one particular book, the first one that comes to mind is a gentle use of Clarke's "Setting Up Drills." Or, Ernest S Williams, "Secret of Technique Preservation."
Depending on your gig and your age, a few months off might not need much work to get it all back.
If you have to rehearse and gig earlier than you're ready, play your parts at between about 70% and 80%, 80% of the time -- less when you can legitimately get away with it. It's almost certain that no one will notice.
The one time that I needed to come back very quickly after several years, in addition to the above, I switched to a smaller mpc (and, eventually, back): 1¼/#26 → 6/#27 [→ /#24 → /#23] → 3/#23/Schmidt → 1¼/#24/Schmidt) over several months.
-Denny |
|
Back to top |
|
|
Dutch Guy Regular Member
Joined: 22 Aug 2019 Posts: 28
|
Posted: Fri Oct 23, 2020 11:04 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I actually have the same question!
I played the trumpet a lot, but a few years ago I started to combine it with trombone. Over time the trumpet became less and less, and trombone more and more. The last 2 years or so, I hardly touched the trumpet, and, well, this year with the virus and stuff, I didn't really touch either.
I decided to join a new band where they would like me to play trumpet parts. I need to get my chops back!
The sound is getting there, but the endurance, especially at higher range and for the duration of a concert is very very far away.
Any tips for short daily exercises? With the working at home I have the possibility to pick up the instrument multiple times a day for short periods. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
Dayton Heavyweight Member
Joined: 24 Mar 2013 Posts: 2042 Location: USA
|
Posted: Sat Oct 24, 2020 1:13 am Post subject: |
|
|
Quote: | Any tips for short daily exercises? With the working at home I have the possibility to pick up the instrument multiple times a day for short periods. |
Here are a few things you could try.
BASIC. Combine short technical exercises like those in Clarke's Technical Studies or Arban's Gruppetto study into longer sets. You can do this with lip slurs as well. Then gradually add exercises to each set to make them longer. Or do pyramids: One exercise, short pause, two exercises, short pause...until you reach your comfortable max, then start back down. You can spider them or play them in their written sequence. Vary tongue/slur patterns. You can also make the short pauses shorter and shorter, eliminate every other pause, etc. Base it on your chops.
ADVANCED. Vary #1 by adding a dedicated range measure. For example, we'll use the first exercise in Clarke's first technical study. Play it through several times, and then add a series of top line F#s at the end: Perhaps 8 16ths and a held half note to get started. Then play the next exercise though several times and add a series of top-of-the-staff Gs. Continue in this manner. Modify the "range measure" as needed to make the set more/less challenging.
Good luck! |
|
Back to top |
|
|
JoseLindE4 Heavyweight Member
Joined: 18 Apr 2003 Posts: 791
|
Posted: Sat Oct 24, 2020 9:26 am Post subject: |
|
|
If I were previously in good shape and had taken a few months, I’d build up to doing the things I was previously doing. If it worked then, there’s a good chance it will work again. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
Billy B Heavyweight Member
Joined: 12 Feb 2004 Posts: 6130 Location: Des Moines
|
Posted: Sat Oct 24, 2020 10:06 am Post subject: |
|
|
It's not what you play, but how you play. _________________ Bill Bergren |
|
Back to top |
|
|
Nonsense Eliminator Heavyweight Member
Joined: 03 Feb 2003 Posts: 5212 Location: Toronto
|
Posted: Sat Oct 24, 2020 10:29 am Post subject: |
|
|
JoseLindE4 wrote: | If it worked then, there’s a good chance it will work again. |
+1
I basically didn't play at all from about the beginning of June until the beginning of September. The last time I went that long without playing the trumpet... I hadn't started playing the trumpet yet. I practiced exactly the same things I always do, exactly the way I always do them. Why mess with it? _________________ Richard Sandals
NBO |
|
Back to top |
|
|
Robert P Heavyweight Member
Joined: 28 Feb 2013 Posts: 2596
|
Posted: Sat Oct 24, 2020 3:47 pm Post subject: |
|
|
This probably isn't what you want to hear but I believe a much stronger awareness of the functionality of how your chops work would be much more important than any particular material. If that was in place I wouldn't expect you to have to do much of anything special other than pick the horn up and start playing whatever comes to mind. _________________ Getzen Eterna Severinsen
King Silver Flair
Besson 1000
Bundy
Chinese C
Getzen Eterna Bb/A piccolo
Chinese Rotary Bb/A piccolo
Chinese Flugel |
|
Back to top |
|
|
zaferis Heavyweight Member
Joined: 03 Nov 2011 Posts: 2331 Location: Beavercreek, OH
|
Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2020 4:58 am Post subject: |
|
|
3 Bubbles daily and equally:
1. technical things (tone, slurs, tonging, fingers, range)
2. stuff you know (etudes, solos etc-hone and promote musical/chop accuracy)
3. stuff you need to work on (new / challanging material) _________________ Freelance Performer/Educator
Adjunct Professor
Bach Trumpet Endorsing Artist
Retired Air Force Bandsman |
|
Back to top |
|
|
kehaulani Heavyweight Member
Joined: 23 Mar 2003 Posts: 9030 Location: Hawai`i - Texas
|
Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2020 6:22 am Post subject: |
|
|
tptjam, there's an excellent combination of Schlossberg exercises used by many West Coat studio guys entitled, "Instructions for Use of Schlossberg Method When Employing Specified Segments For Reconstructive Embouchure Therapy" that is excellent.
It's embouchure-oriented and doesn't have a thing to do with tongue and fingers but is a great ramp up for the chops so you can do these other things easier.
Kind of hard to find but well worth it if you can. Worked very well for me. If I were you, I'd begin a search using "Trumpet Herald Forum as the source. _________________ "If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn." Bird
Yamaha 8310Z Bobby Shew trumpet
Benge 3X Trumpet
Benge 3X Cornet
Adams F-1 Flghn |
|
Back to top |
|
|
|