Practice Routine

[lloyd56ebone]

Hi, I’m a Junior in High School and recently I’ve been practicing about 2-3 hrs everyday for about 4 months. Right now I’m working on improving my phrasing and wanted to ask if I should do 1. Band music 2. Phrasing from Arban or any other lyrical studies 3. Etudes or what order should I put it in. Do I also incorporate solos as-well with all of that?
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LLOYD

[Dayton]

Great question! The best people to ask are your private lesson teacher, if you have one, and your band director. They actually hear you play and know your needs.

From my perspective, the short answer to your question is "yes." All the types of music you mentioned are important to practice.

As for prioritizing, I'd suggest that the music you are preparing to perform is your highest priority. That's probably your band music and then a solo if you are preparing for a competition or audition. Etudes and lyrical studies are also great practice material, and given 2-3 hours per day you should easily be able to work them in as well.

As for how to work them in, your private lesson teacher should be able to help you sort that out. Thinking of your practice on a weekly vice a daily basis might help. You might not get to everything in a day, but you'll cover what you need to over the course of a week. A practice chart might help.

Taking a step back from your question, and looking at all of your practice priorities, not just your goal of improving your phrasing, how are you incorporating fundamentals into your practice routine? By that I mean scale and arpeggio exercises, flexibility studies, articulation, technical studies, etc. That's how you build your ability to play music well. You may already be spending a fair amount of time working on them. If so, great. If not, work with your private lesson teacher -- or get one, if possible, if you don't already have one -- to figure out what you should be practicing in terms of fundamentals, and how to do so.

I'd also suggest that listening to great musicians perform great music is another valuable way to help hone your phrasing skills. I don't mean casual listening, or having music in the background while you do something else, but really focused listening. Don't limit yourself to trumpet players.

Good luck!

[JayKosta]

Record yourself.
It will let you hear how your phrasing 'comes across'.
While playing, your mind is imagining the phrases in its own way, but that is not always how it sounds to a listener.

I think this is especially true for tunes from vocal music. When sung, the music is incorporated with the lyrics and the listener has 'dwell time' thinking about the lyric in the gap between phrases - there's much less of that with instrumental music, and that can interrupt the flow of the music.
_________________
Most Important Note ? - the next one !
KNOW (see) what the next note is BEFORE you have to play it.
PLAY the next note 'on time' and 'in rhythm'.
Oh ya, watch the conductor - they set what is 'on time'.

[Jason Rogers]

Learn to sing the music that you practice!!!
_________________
Martin Committee 1954
Benge
Bach Stradivarius
Schilke
Getzen

[kehaulani]

The observations of Marcel Tabuteau are, IMO, invaluable. My explaining them would be redundant. These concepts of phrasing are found in:

https://marceltabuteau.com

Sound in Motion: A Performer's Guide to Greater Musical Expression

https://www.amazon.com/Sound-Motion-Performers-Greater-Expression/dp/0253219264/ref=sr_1_5?crid=D5LUATRX0I7L&keywords=music+in+motion&qid=1682781985&sprefix=music+in+motion%2Caps%2C137&sr=8-5

And then, for Tone Studoes:
Long Tones, Vincent Cichowicz
https://windsongpress.com/product/cichowicz-long-tone-studies/

Lyrical Studies for Trumpet, Concone
https://www.amazon.com/Lyrical-Studies-Trumpet-Giuseppe-Concone/dp/B000730CR6
_________________
"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

[Jason Rogers]

..........and learn to sing the music that you practice!!!!
_________________
Martin Committee 1954
Benge
Bach Stradivarius
Schilke
Getzen

[Vin DiBona]

Listen to great players! Great singers, too.
Always play musically, even exercises.
Imagine there is someone outside your room listening. That person wants to to hear your best sound. (That's an Arnold Jacobs saying.)
R. Tomasek

[Bachatit]

Listen to great players! Great singers, too.
Always play musically, even exercises.
Imagine there is someone outside your room listening. That person wants to to hear your best sound. (That's an Arnold Jacobs saying.)
R. Tomasek[/quote]

Great advise IMO. Listening to great musicians and studying their phrasing is really important. Best, V

[trickg]

We know almost nothing about this kid or what their capabilities are. We know a few things, but that doesn't tell us much:

1) Junior in HS
2) Practicing 2-3 hours a day for the last 4 months
3.) working on phrasing

Thats about it. We don't know if they have a focused, robust sound. We don't know if they know their way around technique. We don't know if they have a decent sense of time and tempo...

It's a bit early to suggest much of anything until we have a better idea of what this kid is actually capable of, or have some other specifics about what they have been working on and to what degree of success. Just because they have been putting in a lot of time lately doesn't mean much if they were struggling before they started putting in the time. Let's face it - A LOT of people struggle with this instrument for one reason or another, and some never aspire to anything more than being in some random community band.

I have some thoughts and ideas about it, but I'll refrain from saying anything specific until we know a bit more.
_________________
Patrick Gleason
- Jupiter 1600i, ACB 3C, Warburton 4SVW/Titmus RT2
- Brasspire Unicorn C
- ACB Doubler

"95% of the average 'weekend warrior's' problems will be solved by an additional 30 minutes of insightful practice." - PLP

[rbtrpt]

HI Lloyd

Why don't you come on up to UTA and do a lesson with me? I'll be glad to help you.

Best

Rick Bogard
Professor of Trumpet
Univ of Texas Arlington

[trickg]

[jcheze]

[bach_again]

Play along with recordings of all the music you are playing/learning; transcribe and study how the music is played by great players. Record yourself doing this.

Play along with singers, and other instrumentalists. It's easy to find books of soprano arias you can play along with - imitate Callas (for example), her phrasing and musicality etc...

Big band lead... same; qPress has Terry Gibbs' Dream Band, Porcino, Snooky etc... Hal Leonard has Big Phat Band, there's the Thad Jones lead book on Kendor, Maynard on Music Minus Maynard (hal leonard), Basie-Nestico lead trumpet book for Straight ahead on Kendor... so many!! dig in. Play along with these cats!!

Brass band; ditto. Solo rep, jazz, quintet etc etc...

The music may be written down in many cases, but it is aurally informed, like a language. You cannot expect to speak a language with any sense of authenticity that you do not listen to and imitate.

Singing intervals, singing phrases and music - audeating - in other words, is important; I consider this to be a fundamental skill similar to that of any basic instrumental control, and while important to study - it, alone, will not lead to an understanding and implementation of musically appropriate phrasing.

To this end, we live in a time where everything is available to us on a platter - we have no excuses; we can choose to seek and study with focus and dedication that which interests us - or we can choose to not. To me this is an amazing proposition!

Good luck,

Mike
_________________
Maestro Arturo Sandoval on Barkley Microphones!
https://youtu.be/iLVMRvw5RRk

Michael Barkley Quartet - Portals:
https://michaelbarkley.bandcamp.com/album/portals

The best movie trumpet solo?
https://youtu.be/OnCnTA6toMU

[shofarguy]

Lloyd,

I'm going to take a little different tack on the subject. I might echo those who suggested singing your parts, cuz that's a good thing. However, if you don't sing well already, there's a lot to learn before you can actually help your playing with it. Yes, I was both a singer and trumpet player in High School and College. Jr. High, too. Singing definitely helps you learn phrasing, if you sing in a high level ensemble.

But, here's what I think can help you now. Get a good set of headphones and find a place where you can really get into the music and listen. You have to hone your listening skills to hear phrasing. It's a brain thing. Make phrasing the target of your listening. Below is a list of singers and trumpet players that I think have the best phrasing:

Karen Carpenter
Celine Dion
Andre Boccelli
Luther Vandross
Phil Collins
Herb Alpert (from the 1980s and not the TJB, generally)
Chris Botti
Wynton Marsalis

Find selections that are ballads with flowing melodic lines. These will teach you nuance, if you really listen to things like breathing, articulation, diction, tone quality, dynamics through the line. Also, pay attention to where each note falls in relation to the tempo. Good phrasing isn't mechanical, usually, it pulls here, pushes there to create an emotional energy sentence. Listen to how these artists do it.

If you want to blow your phrasing mind, just try to emulate Luthor Vandross' phrasing in Anyone Who Had A Heart. Go ahead, try to do it! I dare you. Or, find the video of Phil Collins singing Everything That I Am. You might even listen to Herb Alpert's recording of Suavemente. See if you can pick out the words. Or, any of the cuts off his Fandango album.

You have to tune your ear to hear phrasing. Then, when you practice, you'll know what you're aiming for.
_________________
Brian A. Douglas

Flip Oakes Wild Thing Bb Trumpet in copper
Flip Oakes Wild Thing Flugelhorn in copper


There is one reason that I practice: to be ready at the downbeat when the final trumpet sounds.

[JayKosta]

Phrasing:

A simple (and fundamental) aspect of phrasing is that the 'section' of notes needs to be a 'complete thought' - similar to a written sentence.

A phrase needs:
BEGINNING
'flowing' MIDDLE
FINISH

and that is much different from start / continue / stop.
_________________
Most Important Note ? - the next one !
KNOW (see) what the next note is BEFORE you have to play it.
PLAY the next note 'on time' and 'in rhythm'.
Oh ya, watch the conductor - they set what is 'on time'.

[bach_again]