by
Gary Wurtz , DMA
SFA Assistant Professor of Music, Trumpet
Director, SFA Jazz Band
Arban's Practice Routine
1. Warm-up Technique: pp. 11-36, 2 or 3 daily in key of the day
2. Flexibility: pp. 42--, play one a day
3. Scales: pp. 59-75, 2 or 3 daily in key of the day
4. Chromatic: pp. 76-86, play a different one daily
5. Accuracy: pp. 91--, key of the day
6. Intervals: pp. 125--, key of the day
7. Arpeggios: pp. 142, 143, 144, 145, 147, 149, key of the day
8. Double Tongue: pp. 155-174, 2 or 3 daily
- Triple Tongue: pp. 175--, 2 or 3 daily
"Suggested Key Schedule"
(Play each key for a day, or week, or as long as it takes to start making
improvement in that key. Don't wait until you are perfect before moving to the
next key. You'll get it better the next time around!)
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Day 1:
C |
Day 7: A |
Trumpet Intonation
Some of the concepts addressed below are trumpet specific, some relate to all brass instruments, and yet others are applicable to all musicians.)
Two
important steps to playing in tune:
1. Know if you're out of tune. Listen. If pitch is bad, assume it
could be you. Being first chair does not mean you cannot be out of tune, just
as having perfect pitch does not mean you have perfect intonation. Everyone
must take responsibility for adjusting intonation to fit the group of musicians
with whom they are playing.
2. Adjust. Don't just sit there. If you don't know which way to go,
try up or down. If it gets worse, go the other way.
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Knowing your pitch tendencies will allow you to make an educated guess as to which direction you are probably out of tune. |
Pitch Tendencies:
- Valve
combinations:
1 + 2 = sharp (use first slide).
2 + 3 = flat (lip up, absolutely no slide).
1 + 3 = sharp (use third slide).
1 + 2 + 3 = very sharp (use first and third slide). - The
harmonic series:
Fifth harmonics are flat (lip up 4th line D, 4th space E-flat, and E).
Sixth harmonics are sharp (lip down high G and F-sharp, thumb slide on F).
Seventh harmonics are unusuably flat.
·
Environmental temperature:
cold = flat; hot = sharp.
The colder or hotter, the flatter or sharper.
- Condition
of the trumpet:
Very dirty = smaller bore = sharp.
Immovable slides = inability to adjust = sharp. - Sound
quality, dynamic level, and distance:
It is only possible to play in tune with a good, centered sound.
Loud playing tends to go flat, or is at least perceived as flat.
Soft playing tends to go sharp, or is at least perceived as sharp.
Playing at a distance makes the pitch go flatter to the listener, therefore if you are playing from backstage you must push in. - Miscellaneous
equipment issues:
Mutes make you go sharp, so pull out. Each type of mute will differ, so check yours with a tuner. Filing the corks can adjust a mute's pitch to a degree.
Tuners only work as a reference. You can be in tune with a tuner and out of tune with everyone else.
The shallower the mouthpiece, the sharper you will play. - Embouchure
and tongue position:
The tighter your embouchure, the sharper you will play, and the looser the flatter.
The higher your tongue is arched in your mouth, the sharper you will play ( a good means of "lipping up"), and the lower the flatter. The concept of adjusting your tongue arch in order to change pitch and tone quality is often referred to as "voicing." - Equal
versus Just intonation:
Equal temperament is playing 100 cents per half step, like with a tuner. This is the way a piano is tuned.
Just intonation is adjusting to make intervals and chords "beatless." As wind instrumentalists we have the ability to accomplish this.
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Here are the places where you should begin to do this (with relation to the root):
You must know your place in the chord to accomplish this task. |
The Essential Trumpeter
Why Practice?
As a musician at any level (professional, amateur,
student), everyone should have specific goals for improvement and performance
ability. Most immediately, as college music majors, you have certain
goals imposed upon you such as lessons, auditions, ensemble and solo
performance requirements, juries, upper level examinations, and finally your
senior recitals. The only way to be successful in all of these endeavors
is to practice correctly and frequently.
Practice How Much?
As stated in the syllabus for trumpet lessons, you
should practice as much as it takes to accomplish all of the performance goals
in your musical life. While a requirement of two hours is cited for a
lesson grade (90), realistically no amount can be exactly specified. How
much to practice is a personal matter, and is effected by the endurance
considerations caused by the rehearsal and performance schedule of the
ensembles in which you participate. Nonetheless, now is the time in your
life that you should find the time to practice at all costs. If you have
to get up earlier, and/or stay up later to get it done, then so be it.
Your practice time is your investment in the future successes you will have as
a performer.
What to Practice
If you were to compile a list of skills and abilities
necessary to play college and professional level music, it would include (but
not necessarily be limited to) the ability to function at a high level in these
areas:
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Tone speed Range low Articulation speed Flexibility lip slurs Accuracy (hitting the correct notes) |
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On a daily basis you should practice exercises, method books, etudes, solos, etc. that will allow you to address all of these pertinent issues. Additionally, you have to practice your ensemble music enough to be able to play it at a high level in rehearsals (as well as on the performance).
How to Practice
Practice things slowly enough to play them perfectly,
then increase the speed gradually. Repeat difficult passages over and
over until you can play them multiple times in succession without
mistakes. Reduce the music to smaller cells of difficult material that
you master before continuing to the next thing. Don't expect to make
great improvements over night in most cases. Utilize the technology
available to you such as portable tuners and metronomes, stereos (listen to
available recordings when possible), recorders (the tape doesn't lie), and
computer programs that may help (such as Vivace or Band-in-a-Box.)
When to Practice
Practice at times that work with your ensemble
rehearsal schedule. In order to be ahead of the game, I recommend a
practice session before your first class in the morning. By putting in a
practice session early, you are not forced to cram heavy practice in between
heavy rehearsals. Additionally, the early warm-up will allow you to
function at a higher, more efficient level during your rehearsals, lessons and
performances. A best case scenario would be the early morning session of
about 45 minutes, a mid-afternoon session (prior to marching band if possible),
and a late evening session (between 9:00 and 11:00). Practicing three
times a day will allow you to break up your practice and avoid becoming fatigued.
Where to Practice
First of all, there are ALWAYS empty practice rooms
upstairs. There are always more people in the lounge than in the practice
rooms. I would like to see everyone else at this university complaining
that they can never get into the practice rooms because the trumpet studio is
hogging them. Secondly, it is a good idea to practice in a variety of
venues. Look for unlocked classrooms, rehearsal halls, etc. to
occasionally hear yourself in a different environment. Sit under a tree
and practice outside sometimes. If you live in a situation where you can
practice at home, great...but don't only practice at home. Sometimes the
familiarity of being at home, combined with the availability of a TV, makes
home a less than ideal place to practice.
How Do I Teach My Trumpets to Play Higher?
Sooner or later all trumpet players have to learn how to play in the upper register. It is the nature of the beast since the trumpet is the soprano of the brass instruments. Many books have been written with the intention of aiding in the development of the upper register, but no single book is the favorite of the masses. While I have had much personal success by applying the techniques taught by James Stamp in his Warm-ups and Studies, I generally practice and teach range through the use of scales, arpeggios and other range development exercises. The great thing about using scales (and arpeggios) is that there is always another one once you have mastered the current one.
In my experience as a teacher and player, there is a common misconception about the high register. I have heard many teachers tell their students to "blow harder" when the students are struggling to play high, but simply blowing harder will never produce a higher note. Anyone can test my theory. Play (or have a student play) a second-line G, then start to blow harder. Make no other adjustment beyond blowing harder. The result of blowing harder is that the volume grows louder, but the range will not increase.
In order to play higher notes, the vibrating surface (in our case the lips) must produce a higher pitch. For the lips to produce a higher pitch they must be tighter in the middle. The very reason a smaller mouthpiece makes playing high easier is that it stretches a section of the lips tighter, which allows them to buzz a higher pitch. In order to play high on the everyday mouthpiece, the player must learn to make the lips tighter. Specifically, tightening the bottom lip will begin to produce the desired effect.
Once the lips are tight, it will take a lot of fast-moving air traveling between the lips to set them in motion. This is where the "blow harder" concept comes into play. I generally try to think of blowing "faster" rather than harder, and it seems to help. Also, to aid in moving the air faster, the back of the tongue should be raised, as in saying the vowel sound "EE". This shrinks the passage through which the air travels in the mouth on its way to the lips, and funnels the air faster.
The
role of mouthpiece pressure in playing high cannot be ignored. Without a
doubt, it takes more mouthpiece pressure to play high than it does to play
low. It is harder to use too much mouthpiece pressure than one may
think. The problem with mouthpiece pressure is that some of us appear to
be using more pressure than others are, when in fact our bodies just react
differently due to our individuality. I once heard the world-class
trumpeter Chris Gekker say that "it is impossible to use too much
mouthpiece pressure. We use as much as it takes. Our bodies just
give the audience the impression that we are using too much." I have
since come to believe he is right. Just like some of us have skin that
turns red at the slightest touch, some of us have a deeper depression on the
lip after playing than others. It's not that the deeper depression means
more pressure was used, but simply that that person's skin or lip tissue reacts
differently to the pressure of the mouthpiece rim.
Trumpet
(Cornet) Embouchure Tips for Beginners
From the first day of beginner band, getting the embouchure right may be the biggest concern for the future of each young trumpet player. The proper initial embouchure combined with frequent reinforcement will best assure that a young player will be successful in the future. A poor embouchure might allow a young player to succeed at the earliest stages, but sooner or later it will cause the student to hit a wall. I have had to “re-teach” embouchure to high school and college students whose bad embouchure habits have raised insurmountable barriers, and the frustration with which they deal is almost overwhelming for them. In fact for some of them it is overwhelming to the point that they decide to quit playing altogether rather then start over.
By high school, the results of a bad embouchure will be a deficient tone quality, poor intonation, lack of endurance, weak range (both low and high) and no flexibility. With the proper embouchure all of these aspects of trumpet playing are almost guaranteed to be at least pretty good, and they certainly all have the potential to be great. Naturally, there is more to good trumpet playing than just a good embouchure. A constantly moving air stream is essential to good playing, but sufficient air cannot overcome a bad embouchure.
Here is a 7-step embouchure checklist that teachers of beginners should reinforce daily.
- Flat chin. (I sometimes tell students to think of pointing their chins toward the ground.)
- Firm corners.
- Teeth apart (about the same as the width of a mouthpiece shank. Inverting the mouthpiece and placing it between the teeth makes for a good way to check the distance.)
- Bottom lip slightly curled in (make the bottom lip shiny.)
- Wet the lips. (The lips need moisture as lubrication to allow them to vibrate more consistently. A dry embouchure tends to provide a drier, raspier tone quality.)
- Don’t puff the cheeks.
- Keep all of the red of the lips inside the cup of the mouthpiece.
Number seven is the deal breaker for the student’s future. If your student takes his/her horn down and you see a semi-circle on the red of their upper lip (see figure A), their days are numbered. The inside rim of the mouthpiece must rest no lower than the line that divides lip from skin (see figure B). I have seen some students play with the mouthpiece so low that some red of the top lip is actually above the outside rim. In this case it may be worth considering switching to an instrument with a larger mouthpiece, such as the euphonium or tuba if the student is only in the sixth or seventh grade. This is less of an option by high school. Also, a little deviation to the right or left of center is of no major consequence, and is generally the result of the student's teeth formation.
When all is set properly, the student’s face should have a natural look. There should be no excess tightening, twisting, etc. The band director should spend five to ten seconds of every class period reinforcing the above checklist on an individual basis. Have each student play something short (perhaps even a single pitch), then give them one or two points to address for improvement. One might even have chair tests based on embouchure formation on occasion, since nothing seems to motivate young players more than a good, old-fashioned chair test. The total time should take only a couple of minutes, but there is no better way to spend part of your class time.
Finally, the reinforcement of a good embouchure should continue every year. Some of the worst embouchures I have seen in those ninth grade and up are on students who had satisfactory embouchures earlier in their band career. Sometimes embouchure placement begins to migrate as students grow physically, or as more demands are placed on them. When younger students start to do well and are asked to play in a fairly high register, they frequently start pulling the mouthpiece down further on their upper lip. The smaller surface area of the upper lip within the mouthpiece cup often allows students to play higher a little easier at first, but there will be consequences later if they are allowed to continue in this manner. Reinforce the idea of learning to play high on a properly formed embouchure. They can do it, and the future remains unlimited for them if they do so.
Figure
A. Diagram of the ring resulting from an
improperly placed mouthpiece.
Figure
B. Diagram of the ring resulting from a
properly placed mouthpiece.
Transposition Issues
Transposition is an inherent part of being a trumpet player. As orchestra members we rarely play a piece that does not require us to transpose, either because we don't own a trumpet in the specified key, or because we choose to play on a trumpet other than the one specified. The desire for a particular tone quality, better dynamic projection, more accessible high or low register, or even the opportunity to play in an easier key signature are some of the factors that we might use in determining which trumpet to use: B-flat, C, D, E-flat, cornet, flugelhorn or piccolo. In the chart below are the transpositions encountered in orchestral music in the various languages, and the transposition intervals from either B-flat or C trumpets.
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English |
Italian |
French |
German |
From Bb |
From C |
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Trumpet |
Tromba |
Trompette |
Trompete |
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C |
DO |
UT |
C |
up M2 |
as written |
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D |
RE |
RE |
D |
up M3 |
up M2 |
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E b |
MI b |
MI b |
Es |
up P4 |
up m3 |
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E |
MI |
MI |
E |
up tritone |
up M3 |
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F |
FA |
FA |
F |
up P5 |
up P4 |
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G |
SOL |
SOL |
G |
up M6 |
up P5 |
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A b |
LA b |
La b |
As |
down M2 |
down M3 |
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A |
LA |
LA |
A |
down m2 |
down m3 |
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B b |
SI b |
SI b |
B |
as written |
down M2 |
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B |
SI |
SI |
H |
up m2 |
down m2 |
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major |
maggiore |
majeur |
Dur |
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minor |
minore |
mineur |
Moll |
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flat |
bemolle |
bémol |
ces |
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sharp |
diesis |
dièse cis |
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- On occasion (Shostakovich Sym. No. 1, for example,) the transposition to F-alta appears. The term alta means down to F instead of up. From B-flat trumpet the transposition is down a P4, from C trumpet down a P5.
- If a part is designated Cornet in G (German: Ventil-Kornett in G, French: Cornet-a-Pistons en Sol, Italian: Cornetto in Sol,) the transposition is down to G. That will be down a m3 from B-flat trumpet, or down a P4 from the C trumpet.
- Transpositions up a 3rd may be accomplished by reading the line as bass clef and applying the appropriate key signature (add 3 flats when transposing up a m3 and 4 sharps when transposing up a M3).
- Transpositions of up a P4 may be played as bass clef up a step and adding one flat to the key signature.
- Transpositions to trumpet in B, G and A-flat are extremely rare, so if you have limited time to practice transposition, focus on the others.
- Piccolo trumpet in A playing a part for D trumpet can be played by reading the line in bass clef, up one step, and adding one flat. Playing a part for C trumpet you can read bass clef and add 3 flats to the key signature.
Transposition Specifically for Band Directors
The trumpet world is full of great players and teachers, and I humbly
bow before them all. Generally speaking, those of us who post articles on
the Texas School Music Project web site think of them as geared for band
directors looking for helpful hints for themselves or their students. For
that reason I want to address transposition from the position of the band
director whose major instrument is the trumpet. First of all, I think it
is a great idea for band directors to play for their students. Some of
the band directors I have respected the most have been great players who
demonstrated for the students regularly. In order to play the line for
every instrument on the band score, the following transpositions must be
employed when using a B-flat trumpet:
- For piccolos, flutes and oboes in C: up a M2.
- For clarinets, bass clarinets, and tenor saxes in B-flat: play as written.
- For E-flat
alto saxes,
- For horn and English horn in F: play up a P5.
- For all bass clef instruments: play bass clef up a step, add one flat.
Notice that if one can master the transposition of bass clef up a step,
he or she can use that to transpose for the majority of the band instruments
(E-flat clarinet, alto sax,
Thoughts for Successful Trumpet
Playing
· ractice a lot! It may seem silly to say this, but do you really do it?
· Practice the right kind of stuff. Fundamentals create the player. Why do you think Arban is still the most popular practice method, in so many countries, yet it was written around 1860?
·