Warmup Routine

[jackz9999]

I'm new here, and I was just wondering what everyone's warmup routine was. Thanks
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Jack

[trjeam]

I think that everyone had a different warm up and you have to find whatever works for you.
My warm up goes something like this;

Long tones - I usually hold out low notes for a while. I don't try to play high at all. I just hold the Low C's and B's out.

Then I'll do some pedal tones until my lips feel right if they still feel stiff or whatever I'll do some lip slurs up and down, up and down.

Then finally I'll do a chromatic up to a G on top of the staff and then back down and then I do another chromatic all the way up to my highest notes wich is usually a high E.

This takes me about 5-10 minutes. Sometimes in band class it would take me up to 30 - 50 minutes to get warmed up. So it's weird with me because sometimes I'll be warmed up in a quickie and sometimes it takes a very long time to get warmed up.
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[_trumpetgod_02]

Hey,

I think that people have a misconception of warming up. All it is is preparing yourself to play whatever you will neeed to play that day. Once you have done that, you are no longer warming up, you are "practicing/ studying. etc" It will vary depending on the player and what they need to play that day. If I only need to play to High C one day, I will warm up differently than when I need to play to DHC.

My opinion,
Nick
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[musicmonkey]

Nick, how do you know what you will have to play on a given day?

I think it better to be prepared for anything, so my warmup routine streches my playing as much as possible. Usually I start with some long tones, then lip slurs, and finally chromatic scales. The time this takes varies from day to day. I could probably warm up in 5 minutes, but if I have twenty minutes to warm up, I will usually fill up that time. Resting about as much as you play is also very important as you don't want to kill yourself in the first few minutes of the day

mm

[_trumpetgod_02]

Hey,

Sounds like you have it then. If you know what demands will be placed on you by a gig. Then you know wjat to warm up for. If you want to pusj youreslf. Go for it.

Nick
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[musicmonkey]

Okay I understand now....I would agree, too. If I have a preformance, generally I warm up as little as I can get away with. Playing only as high as I need to and with as much rest as possible. It's important to be warmed up for a gig, but not tired.

On not-gig days though (and that's most days for me) I do what I said above.

mm

[AccentOnTrumpet]

For me, I like to buzz on the mouthpiece with two fingers, and buzz around for a couple minutes. Then I put the mouthpiece in the horn and do really quick lip slurs in the middle register (G-C, f#-B, F-Bb, etc.) going up and down and gradually get a little higher. Then, I take a couple minutes to get the blood flow going and I'm basically ready to play. All in all it takes about 5-10 minutes for me to warm up really, it shouldn't take too long but at the same time you want to have to warm up a little bit because that means you're good and refreshed. Just my opinion. Warming up really depends on what you're doing and what works for you, depending on your strengths and goals. Some people claim they take like fifty minutes to warm up, I honestly can't see how it would take that long, on certain occasions I take a while to warm up but fifty minutes is just too much if you ask me.

Also, for morning performing it's important to be able to warm up rather quickly if you have a small amount of time.

[ This Message was edited by: AccentOnTrumpet on 2003-02-03 10:48 ]

[_trumpetgod_02]

AccentonTrumpet,

When you say that you use two fingers to hold the mpc when buzzing. Do you do this to eliminate unnessecary pressure. If so where do you hold the mouthpiece. Do you hold it at the cup, or the end of the backbore? Not that this has any real consequence to this thread, but could be considered useful information.

I believe that when learning to buzz on the mpc that extreme care should be taken not to compensate for the difference between playing the horn and buzzing the mpc. I have seen a lot of people who have a really hard time learning to buzz the mpc and try to compensate by applying too much pressure (in my humble opinion). You will notice this when you see them grab it at the bowl of the mpc and usually with three or more fingers (although any more than three becomes difficult). A good way to allieviate that is to hold the mpc at the back of the backbore with two fingers. It is pretty difficult to apply excess pressure that way.

Nick
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[AccentOnTrumpet]

Nick,

Yes, you're correct. The two-finger thing is to eliminate excess pressure. I meant holding the mouthpiece with two fingers at the tip of the pipe...To do this right, you have to make sure that your fingers don't go any higher than the line on the mouthpiece from it being in the trumpet. If you grab the mouthpiece really close to the cup it might make you press too hard and open up your aparture too much. That's the reason I do the two finger thing to warm up. Hope that helps.

Josh

[pushyred]

One thing I've noticed lately is that I have more control with just the mouthpiece, so I started trying to transfer that feeling into using the horn. What I discovered is that with just the m-piece I had more freedom of movement (ie pivot). So I started keeping my hold on the mouthpiece with my right hand and sluring through the open notes from low c to high c. To continue the excersise and keep the same feel, I would use the fingers on my left hand to press down the different valve combinations all the way from open to all three. It really seems to help (me at least) get more fluidity throughout my range. By figuring out what I was doing right with the mouthpiece, I identified what I was doing wrong with the horn.

I guess the point of all this is that you can use your warm-up for a lot of things other than just getting the chops ready for the show.
You should also use the time to warm up your ears and your brain. Concentration (or lack thereof) is a huge part of a good performance.

[anderkamp]

I actually had one of the pro players here in Nashville create a routine for me for my company. Jeff Bailey (first call session player and Co-Principal of The Nashville Symphony created Disk 1 of our 5 CD series entitled Daily Routines. This is a routine that can be played daily under 30 minutes and serves as a foundation for trumpet players. If you are trying to build chops back up after having taken a break, or you're just looking for a different way to warm-up, this might be an option for you to take a look at. Because endurance is always a factor for us trumpet players, the routine is this: Jeff Bailey plays an exercise, then you play it back to a click track. It's a great way to hear an 'awesome' sound and then imitate it. Just a nice way to get going in the morning. Don't ignore all the other things you work on, but this might be a nice addition or change of pace. The sheet music is on the CDRom in pdf format and you can either print it out or view it on the computer screen. I've found it helpful and thought maybe you might too. Our site is http://www.instrumentalresources.com
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Jeff Anderson
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[_trumpetgod_02]

AccentonTrumpet,

I was quite aware if the principle behind that. However thanks for clearing that up for everyone else. It really is good info.

Nick
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