Improve it all at once

[ATrumpetBrony]

Hey guys!

I've mentioned many times over that I'm a trombonist from the outset who began with trumpet probably 2 years ago by now. I lately (past 2 or 3 months) havn't been practicing much trumpet because I needed my trombone chops in shape for the Christmas season. However, now that my largest concert has come and gone, I want to get back into regular trumpet practice..

But for you guys who also double/triple on instruments, what kinds of practices, both on the horn and completely separate from it, do you do to improve your musicianship in a way that's beneficial for all instruments you play, or just for you musicianship as a whole?

I'm not thinking so much as 'finger speed' or 'range' stuff or things like that that really are instrument- and mouthpiece-specific - more specifically things like practicing ear training, transcribing or arpeggios, skills that'd be transferrable across multiple instruments and into arranging/composing with ease.

Anyone?
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ATB

It's not what you play...
It's HOW you play

[trickg]

If you want to improve your musicianship, hammer your fundamentals in the practice room, and then listen to a lot of good music.

If you are struggling with technique on anything you intend to play or perform with trumpet, it's going to make it difficult for you to be musically expressive because your technique is going to hamper you - that's why I suggest working fundamentals.

Once your fundamentals start shaping up, start working on lyrical things - you can even play out of a hymnal for that. That way you can start to apply musicianship and phrasing without having to worry so much about what's going on mechanically or technically between you and the horn.

For what it's worth, and I know this is going to sound crazy, but for some reason I went through a major shift in musicianship and phrasing after I started drumming. It's not that I was bad before - I wasn't - but there was definitely a shift toward improvement. I'm not sure why, except that I have fundamentally such a different approach to the instrument when I drum than when I play trumpet.

With trumpet, everything comes off of a written page and everything is structured inside of a very defined context. With drumming, I learn the songs I need to know by listening, and I don't use music. While I tend to play the specific grooves and hits of the tunes I'm covering, I don't plan my fill figures - I let those flow naturally as they come off of my hands. Maybe that's the difference. In many ways I feel much more connected to the music when I'm behind the drum kit than when I'm on the horn.
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Patrick Gleason
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"95% of the average 'weekend warrior's' problems will be solved by an additional 30 minutes of insightful practice." - PLP

[Steve A]

If you're really aiming to improve everything at once, improving your sight singing skills is probably one of the best ways to do this. The more accurate and detailed a mental picture we have of how something should sound, just based on seeing it on the page, the shorter the route to getting out the bell becomes.

More instrument-specific - the more efficient you get (as in, purer sound for less physical effort), the better all your trumpet (and plausibly, to some extent, trombone) skills get. If you have an easier and more accurate time making a sound in the first place, clarity and consistency of articulation, flexility, control of intonation, etc., etc., all improve.

[Craig Swartz]

"Musicianship" is accomplished without an instrument- it is what you feel, how the music moves you and whether or not you are able to determine style, dynamic, tempi and the subtle nuances from both the material written on the page and from previous experience. This is not to say that "musicianship", per se, can often be limited by one's ability, but in general, it is similar to acting a part in a play. Are you able to be convincing to those within hearing distance or are you only reading the part?

Were I suggesting exercises, I'd probably use the Art of Phrasing section in Arban's, and demand that the student/performer strive to "make it his/her/its own and convince those listening that the outcome is not some simple, mundane melody, but something heart-felt that needs to be expressed.]. In this regard, I'd also suggest a lot of listening to opera arias and similar material. Experience is vital, as is expertimentation. Good luck.

[JoseLindE4]

-The Victor Wooten metronome game is a great way to internalize time and can be done on any instrument or away from an instrument.

-The Tommy Stevens Schlossberg video (about a $2 rental on Amazon) changed the way I teach and think about music.

-David McGill's Sound in Motion also changed the way I teach and play.

-Ghitalla once said that he couldn't really hear until he intensely studied solfege.