A Basic Routine and The Bottom Line
by
Paul Kemp
In my mind, a basic routine is not a warm-up. I do not believe in
"warming up" in the sense that there is a set regimen of things that
you MUST do before you can actually play each day. To be perfectly
frank, I don't even really like the word "routine", because it tends to
suggest the idea that there are certain things that a player plays
through each day as a matter of habit, and as they get easier, then the
player doesn't have to think as much. I am of the opinion that when
one is REALLY practicing ANYTHING, the thought processes are aware
to the point that the player is always making everything that he/she
plays sound better, whether it be long tones, articulation exercises
(either tongued or slurred), technical passages, or whatever. Without
this as the ultimate goal, any time that we spend practicing might be
well served doing something else. I'd like to deal with three questions
concerning the basic routine:
WHY HAVE A BASIC ROUTINE?
One thing that I have noticed about truly great trombone players is
that WITHOUT EXCEPTION, all of the ones that I've heard, regardless of
the type of music that they regularly perform, is that they SOUND
GREAT, and that they all do fundamental things very, very well. In
order to sound great, it is necessary for all of the muscles involved in
playing the trombone to be reintroduced, on a daily basis, to the
demands that are placed on them. Playing the trombone is very much
somewhat of an athletic endeavor. Another thing that I have noticed
with sports teams is that they practice drills on a consistent basis.
Basketball players practice ball handling drills, which involves dribbling
& passing, and different types of shooting drills, such as lay up drills,
jump shot drills, and set shot drills from many different distances. The
reason that so much time is spent on drills is so that when these
situations arise in the course of a game, the players will be able to
execute these different functions easily.
The same correlation can be applied to playing the trombone. What is
involved in obtaining a great sound? The first thing is having a very
good idea in your mind about what the trombone is supposed to sound
like. This can only be accomplished by consistently LISTENING to great
players, both live and on recordings. The idea is likened to that of
someone shooting target practice either in archery or at the pistol
range. Think for a moment. How consistently could you hit a bullseye
that you could not see? The obvious answer is that you couldn't hit the
target at all if you couldn't see it. The trombone correlation would be,
"How can you produce a great sound that you haven't heard?" You
can't.
What I have found in my own experience is that the better you can
perform the practice drills, the easier it is to carry those concepts over
to playing the music. If you can't play the drills well, this will also spill
over into your music.
HOW SHOULD I GO ABOUT PRACTICING A ROUTINE?
I firmly believe that it is important to attempt to achieve the highest
musical standards possible when practicing drills. Have a definite idea
in mind concerning what you want to sound like, and then be very
strict with yourself in terms of pitch, time and rhythm. Practice with a
tuner and a metronome REGULARLY in order to insure that you are
maintaining a good intonation standard as well making sure that your
rhythm and time are lining up exactly. Another tool that can be very
helpful is a decibel meter in order to insure that you are not
unintentionally getting softer or getting louder. Try to maintain the
same consistent volume, unless you are practicing a
crescendo/diminuendo exercise. If there were one word that would
summarize the point that I'm trying to make here, it would be
CONSISTENCY.
WHAT SHOULD I INCORPORATE INTO A ROUTINE?
The sky is really the limit on this question. There are always things
that tend to give us problems. It may be sound, a consistent
articulation style, whether it be tenuto, staccato, or legato, tonal
range, volume range, slide technique, flexibility, interval studies,
proper embouchure formation, sustaining long notes, etc., etc., etc. If
you're not sure what you're having problems with, then by all means
get with a GOOD teacher who is very good at diagnosing problems and
who can help you determine the things you need to practice as well as
setting a good example that you can imitate.
AN ANALYSIS OF THE REMINGTON ROUTINES
Emory Remington was the professor of trombone at the Eastman
School of Music. He died in 1971. Donald Hunsberger has put into print
a collection of his warm-up studies, which are published by Accura
Music. Much of Mr. Remington's routine has to do with the exploration
of the overtone series. To get an idea of how they should be done,
there is a CD entitled THE LEGACY OF EMORY REMINGTON that
features the Eastman Trombone Choir and Ralph Sauer performing a
sample of the warm-ups. It is probably the most famous of the
trombone routines and there two things in particular that I like about
them:
1) Everything throughout the book is based on the very first few
exercises in the book, which are long tones.
2) There are enough examples to give the student an idea of how
these exercises can be EXPANDED after the written portion has been
mastered.
LONG TONES
The first few exercises are long tones. The only thing that I do
differently is that I tend to hold each note out longer than the indicated
tempo, which is M.M.=108, which seems quite fast to me. The idea is
to breathe deeply and to keep the air moving constantly through the
note. You can breathe between each note, or you can breathe every 2
notes, but the idea is the same. Every other note always goes back to
either Bb or F for tuning purposes, which makes this exercise excellent
for making sure that you are putting the slide exactly in the right
place. To me, the idea is to ensure that your sound remains the same
on every note. In my experience, this is quite easy to do on the series
starting on middle Bb, a bit harder to do on the series starting on
middle F, and even more difficult to do on the series starting on low
Bb. I firmly believe that these long tones should be continued as low as
possible, as I have found that the more that the trombonist subjects
himself to the lower register, the easier it is to make the notes focus in
the middle register. Care should also be taken to make sure that the
embouchure is correctly formed and that this basic formation does not
change as the notes go lower. The only thing that should change is the
size of the aperture, the hole in the middle of the embouchure, which
will get larger has the notes descend, and smaller as the notes ascend.
For even more benefit, try these exercises with a breath attack (no
tongue) and smearing between the notes.
TONGUING EXERCISES
After the long tone series, the tongue is brought into play by tonguing
on a line on one, in a variety of different patterns. Examples of a major
scale and chromatic scale are given in the book. The point here is to
make sure that the rhythm is ABSOLUTELY EVEN. Use a metronome if
necessary, and if sixteenth notes pose a problem, you can use eighth
notes or eighth note triplets. Make sure that your rhythm is absolutely
even, and that you are keeping a consistent stream of air going
through the exercise. Breathe deeply, and think of the same blow as a
long tone with the tongue slicing the note up into exactly equal
increments. If you were to practice this exercise with the spirometer,
the idea would be to make sure that the ball only moves about 1/16-
1/8" from the top of the spire with the repetition of each note. Again
this exercise is rather easy in the middle and upper registers, but
becomes more difficult in the lower register.
THE HARMONIC SERIES EXERCISES
These exercises start in 7th position on low E and ascend up to 1st
position. If it is too difficult to sound good doing it this way at first, you
can always start at the end of the exercise and work backwards
towards the front. Again, the watchwords are to BREATHE DEEPLY.
Only as the necessary strength is developed is the exercise carried to
the next higher partial note. No forcing allowed. Minimum effort and
relaxation and ease of sound production throughout each exercise are
paramount. These exercises can be performed both slurred and
tongued.
FLEXIBILITY
In my opinion, the key ideas to remember when performing these
exercises are to:
1) Start slowly (quarter note = 60) and make sure that the rhythm is
exactly even. NO BUMPS! Perfect smoothness is the goal.
2) Again, blow long, as if playing a long tone, and BREATHE DEEPLY
before each slide position change.
3) Make sure that it is the air stream and embouchure that are
changing the notes. Do not tongue ANYTHING except for the very first
note.
4) As your ability improves, increase the speed incrementally.
SECURITY IN THE UPPER REGISTER
As I tell all of my students, this is an old exercise, but a good one.
Again, the key to performing this exercise well is to BREATHE DEEPLY
and concentrate on absolute smoothness. I hold the upper note out as
long as possible and take a breath after the ascending passage before
executing the descending passage. After you can play high Bb reliably,
you can add the next partial to the descending passage. The upper
register is built one note at a time, and this exercise reinforces that
idea. I also feel it is important to learn to adjust the out of tune notes
as the upper register is played in these expended positions. Work to
make the higher notes sound just as good in the extended positions as
they do in the closer positions.
DIATONIC SCALES
If you just learn the Ionian mode of a scale, then you really have not
learned the scale. In order for scale study to be complete, all of the
modes must be practiced until they are just as easy as the major scale.
That is exactly why I like this particular scale pattern. Speed, at least
not at the beginning, is not important, but insure that all of your
articulations are consistent, that your sound is the same from note to
note, that you are putting the slide EXACTLY in the right place, and
that your slide movements are perfectly coordinated with your tongue.
And admonish all of my students to breathe after the quarter notes in
order to keep the pattern consistent. Only after you have mastered the
above points do you add speed, and then only with a metronome.
If you get into the habit of doing a routine each day with the idea of
improving some aspect of it, then I feel confident that your playing will
improve quite a bit over the course of several months. It is also helpful
to chart your progress so that you can see the small improvements in
your playing in percentages. Feel free to add exercises to your routine
that address certain problems in the music that you are preparing.
There's always something to practice.
THE BOTTOM LINE
I have found that students are far busier today than they were 25
years ago. Finding students that are very focused on playing the
trombone well is very difficult indeed. I am still sorting things out as to
why, but it seems that students feel the need to be involved in many,
many things. While that in itself isn't bad, it is my feeling that there is
a growing propensity to be a jack of all trades, master of none.
Intelligence really has nothing to do with it, but experience has taught
me that if one is to excel on the trombone, certain things must always
be addressed if one is to be successful on the instrument. Practice time
must have focus and direction. I have come up with a list of five things
that if concentrated on during his/her practice time, it is quite possible
to become accomplished in a relatively short period of time, and it is
possible to improve quite rapidly. If your practice time doesn't have
focus and direction, then you would be much better off just leaving the
horn in the case.
1) Sound
Without a beautiful sound, you have nothing. A great sound is the
real basis of a truly great technique, no matter what type of music you
play. The listener could care less how fast you can play if you don't
have a beautiful sound. Everything that you play at all times should be
played with your best sound.
2) Pitch (Intonation)
I personally believe that the trombone is the most difficult
instrument to play in tune, both with itself and in ensembles. It is the
only completely adjustable pitched wind instrument. However, the
listener could actually care less how difficult our plight regarding
intonation is, but if you don't play well in tune, the listener will judge
your playing as lacking a certain polish and luster. Intonation is
something that you must address every moment that the instrument is
in your hands. We must always be willing to adjust our pitch for the
good of the ensemble, but at the same time we must always strive to
set a good intonation standard.
3) Time
I don't know how many times I've heard younger players (and some
older ones too) play things with out any reference to a standard of
time. I've played in ensembles where the conductor had a good sense
of time, and when he/she possesses it, it makes all of the difference in
the world in regards to the direction the music takes. I've also played
in ensembles where the conductor didn't have a good sense of time,
and the music takes a completely different direction, and it is not
favorable. With a good sense of where the beat is, even the most
difficult passages can be learned much more easily, but if this is
neglected, it never does make sense. A metronome used regularly can
do wonders to help your sense of time, and should be used regularly in
order to insure that your time stays very consistent.
4) Rhythm
Rhythm without time is utter chaos. You can't have one without the
other. These two areas are really Siamese twins. The problem that I
see the most is that rhythm is not thought of in terms of mathematical
accuracy. No matter how complicated the subdivisions may get, if you
add all of the fractions in any particular measure, it must always equal
EXACTLY the number of beats in the measure. It is not uncommon to
see a misprint in music, and if that happens, then the score must be
consulted to find the discrepancy. Rhythm must always line up within
the framework of time.
5) Style
Style has many layers of complexity, and it is not my intention to
explore all of those levels here. Much of style has to do with
articulation, and it is my belief that a player should always try to
articulate notes the same way within a particular style. For example, if
you have a legato passage, make sure that the slurs between all of the
notes sound exactly the same. If you have a staccato passage, play all
of the notes the same length with the same amount of space between
the notes. One thing that I see quite a bit of is that players tend to be
too flamboyant in terms of style; in other words, they try to play
everything so flamboyantly that they lose all sense of everything else.
Make sure that your brass playing fundamentals and musical
fundamentals are very solid first, then you can really work on:
6) Interpretation
Interpretation is really making the music your very own. However,
you really can't interpret music until the previous 5 points are learned
so thoroughly that they can be delegated to your subconscious mind.
There are no two people alike in this world. If you heard 100
performances of any given piece, and if you kept very careful notes,
you would find that all 100 of them would be different. Some of them
would be similar, but no 2 of them would be exactly the same. You
must avoid trying to fit into someone else's mold, and just try to be
yourself through your music. However, there are infinite shades of
differences between schools of thought, and you can't ignore sound,
pitch, time, rhythm, and style. Those are the basics. After they are
understood, then be your own person.
