Top Ten Tips for Increasing Skill

[euphkidd]

This year when I tried out for the district band in my area i got 6th which as a freshman isnt that bad but i would like to come back next year and place in the top 3-4 so i was wondering what i should be practicing other than scales that will help me with my :

Chromatic scale
Tone
Sight-reading
Any other musical aspects judges look for at these types of auditions.


Thanks any tips are welcome

Euphkidd

[pmeuph]

Top Ten Tips for Increasing Skill

Since you have a year here are my suggestions:
-Breathing exercises
-Mouthpiece buzzing
-Daily long tones to start...(there are many exercise on the board)
-Tonguing ( a good time to practice rhythm..use a metronome)
-Scales (for finger agility and rhythm.. can also be good for tonguing)
-Slurs and flexibility

You should strive to learn all your scales, work at them daily, One at a time if you have too until you all of them inside out and backwards...Also working your chromatic scale on daily basis will help you fingers alot. For tone the best rick is to use air... The tone will improve a lot if you have a good airflow. Lastly, to improve you sight-reading you should get an easier book than your playing leve ( of songs you don;t know) and make a habit of reading one a day, simulating the conditions that would happen at the audition.

Good Luck

[DelVento]

Top Ten Tips for Increasing Skill

euphkid,

The key to impressing adjudicators with scales and other fundamentals is making music out of them.

When James Jackson sits on audition panels (and he's been on PLENTY of them) he looks for the euphonium player that can make the most music out of the simplest things, even scales.

Don't worry about breathing exercises, and don't get too harped up on technique.

Move your air, sound good, and make music!

[pmeuph]

Top Ten Tips for Increasing Skill

I will agree with DelVento that the key to impressing a jury with scales is to play them with musicality... There is not a doubt in my mind about that and when I hear students play with musicality it is impressing. BUT... If the fundamentals are not there than it is not as impressive. Even if a kid can play with the most musicality in the world... if his rhythm is unstable or is tone is weak or is fingers don't go up fast enough ( all common problems with students, from my experience) than the effect is lost...

Also, since the OP is asking about tips and tricks to improve over the period of one YEAR. I think several technical exercises can not hurt...imho.

Originally posted by: DelVento

euphkid,
Don't worry about breathing exercises, and don't get too harped up on technique.

Move your air, sound good, and make music!

I think there is a direct contradiction in what you are saying. In my opinion the only way to improve the air support to move more air, is breathing exercises.( In any way,...ie. jogging is a breathing exercise)

[clez89]

Top Ten Tips for Increasing Skill

I agree with pmeuph. Breathing is a skill that must be practiced just as one has to practice scales and articulations.

As far as improving tone (and also breath support), you could try this exercise. I picked it up this past week from Sam Pilafian at ASU where he has his students do this quite often:

1) Pick an early rochut etude. You'll end up playing it 3 times. Each time will be FFF and down an octave.
2) First time, focus on playing as loud as you possibly can. Breathe when you need to and make sure you're taking HUGE, efficient breaths.
3) Second time, focus on getting that same dynamic but cut the amount of work you feel you are doing by 50% (i.e., relax)
4) Third time, same dynamic, but halve the effort again. The goal is a relaxed feeling but getting the same output as the first time you played it while you were working hard.

Make sure you're sitting down when you do this as you could get really dizzy really quickly. If practiced consistently, this will open up your sound in all registers (yes, even the high the range).

Something that can really help your musicality is recording and listening to yourself (or grab a friend and have him listen to you). If you can hear the phrase shapes, dynamics, and articulations written on the page away from the horn then you're doing it right. The audience loses a great deal of what we try to communicate musically through performance which is why exaggeration and clear musical intent are extremely important.

[DelVento]

Top Ten Tips for Increasing Skill

This is a very hot issue, and probably doesn't need to be argued here...the issue of breathing exercises and JUST BREATHE IN AND OUT.

Roger Behrend is publishing a brass book and he claims to debunk the idea of breathing exercises and their lack of real results in performance. My teacher believes in this too (because he studied with Mr. Behrend) and I know a lot of other low brass people who are coming to this side.

I don't practice breathing, I work on getting my air moving and taking a big breath. But hey, I'd try each side and see what you like!

-John

[BCbari]

Top Ten Tips for Increasing Skill

I somewhat agree with John, slightly... I can see where you might think that, but I think it is just how you think about it or word the issue. YES, breathing exercises do improve your breathing.... IF you don't breath properly. However, I believe their purpose is more set on developing the habit of proper breathing. That is why the Breathing Gym DVDs/Books were established, no? Chances are that when you turn away from breathing exercises you develop habits that are incorrect and you lose some of that fuel. You could also look at the different resistance levels of these devices. Nearly perfect, if not better, representations of the various obstacles in different ranges of the instrument. It is important to have a consistent breathing habit and breath support in all of those ranges. That is what these devices establish. Whenever I work on breathing, I use the UltraBreath device on JFB and Brandon Jones suggests on his website. Do I work on this for 20 mins? No. I work it just enough to establish the correct sensation of filling my entire diaphragm form the bottom-up. Stretching every muscle in between.

Is breathing essential? Yes, absolutely. Should it be practiced for hours on end? Personally, I don't believe so.

[DelVento]

Top Ten Tips for Increasing Skill

You develop the biggest bad habit when your practice breathing exercises....holding your air in!

The more you hold the air in the more tension builds up. Air needs to move. Doing in for 6 out for 6 builds tension and doesn't advocate a proper oral shape when breathing.

Breathe in and out and keep the air moving...that's it!

But like I said, I don't need/want to get in argument. Let's keep making music.

[BCbari]

Top Ten Tips for Increasing Skill

Not arguing at all, simple a discussion. I suppose that depends on which exercises you practice..

Originally posted by: DelVento
Breathe in and out and keep the air moving...that's it!

Yes you are right, air flow should be constant = In , Out, In, Out with no breaks in the air flow just like a pendulum. However the exercises that deal with "holding" your in are designed to develop the recognition of the full capacity of your lungs (i.e. full breath, sip, sip, sip, release). In performance I would never do this, but it does establish the proper Physical Sensation that my brain recognizes as a Full Breath.

Wind & Song baby!!

[catto09]

Top Ten Tips for Increasing Skill

Originally posted by: BCbari

Yes you are right, air flow should be constant = In , Out, In, Out with no breaks in the air flow just like a pendulum. However the exercises that deal with "holding" your in are designed to develop the recognition of the full capacity of your lungs (i.e. full breath, sip, sip, sip, release). In performance I would never do this, but it does establish the proper Physical Sensation that my brain to recognizes as a Full Breath.

I agree with this. If you don't know how a full diaphragm feels like, then how are you going to be able to put that in to practice while playing? If you're still sipping air in, then your diaphragm isn't filling up - simple as that!

[Nuck81]

Top Ten Tips for Increasing Skill

As an Educator I have to say that one of the very first and MOST IMPORTANT THINGS you teach to young and beginning brass players, is the technique and mechanics on how to take a proper breath. I fact it's always the first thing I work on every year in all my grades. Without proper breathing technique a player has no chance of correct phrasing, support, or endurance. It's a must and something that should be reinforced often and aggressively as it doesnt take long for bad habits to set in and "bugs bunny" breaths to become common place. I can't tell you how often a young player will take a breath so shallow and with enough shoulder lift to knock the shako off his head only to look at me with a proud expression on his face hoping I saw his great intake of air, it's enough to break a mans heart.



HOWEVER I will say once the technique becomes automatic pilot, as it should be with most intermediate and hopefully all advanced players, there is little benefit of spending thirty minutes doing in for 4's out for 12's. Perhaps this is the perspective DelVinto is speaking from...