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Thread: Arban's Practise & Warmup.

  1. I play Arban every day of my life, at least the basic articulation exercises. (I'm convinced that all of the world's problems can be solved with exercises 48, 49, an 50) I consider it largely responsible for any ability that I have today. In response to Gary, I think that it's an incredible book, but not one that I would recommend you tackle on your own. There's way too much to deal with and it's easy to get overwhelmed or lost in the repetition. It's very effective under the guidance of a good teacher who can tailor the book specifically to your individual needs. I use parts of the book for everything from raw beginners through my most advanced students, but there are large sections of the book that I will probably never play.
    Martin Cochran
    Adams Performing Artist
    mceuph75@gmail.com

  2. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by cochranme View Post
    I play Arban every day of my life, at least the basic articulation exercises. (I'm convinced that all of the world's problems can be solved with exercises 48, 49, an 50) I consider it largely responsible for any ability that I have today. In response to Gary, I think that it's an incredible book, but not one that I would recommend you tackle on your own. There's way too much to deal with and it's easy to get overwhelmed or lost in the repetition. It's very effective under the guidance of a good teacher who can tailor the book specifically to your individual needs. I use parts of the book for everything from raw beginners through my most advanced students, but there are large sections of the book that I will probably never play.
    I appreciate this kind of insight, and I presume that this applies to you as a euphonium player and (at least primarily) an instructor of euphonium students? And I also realize that this is primarily a euphonium forum .

    I do understand the utility of Arban as a pedagogical aid. You specify one primary exercise book for all your students and -- since it's comprehensive -- you can use it for students at all levels. This may even be an economical approach (even given the high cost of the book).

    One thing I've begun to wonder is whether the value of Arban (compared to other sources) is relative to the instrument. My understanding is that the exercises were originally developed for cornet. Euphonium is, in rather obvious ways, a not too distant cousin to cornet/trumpet. When you get to the bass and contra bass tubas, the distance increases to the point that there are some significant differences.

    Some indications of a "cornet-centric" tilt to the content are these:


    • The entire "Interval, Flexibility, and Technique" section contains 32 pages of (62 exercises), including a Cadenzas section. But the "Multiple Tonguing Section" that follows it contains 36 pages of (144!!) exercises. Really? 144 multiple tonguing exercises for tuba? I suppose that would be handy if I were working up "Bride of the Waves" or other cornet show pieces.
    • 25 pages are devoted to Ornamentation Studies. Yes, ornamentation can be important. But the somewhat skewed amount of space devoted to it (in the absence of dealing with other topics -- see the next point) does seem to indicate a rather committed high brass point of view.
    • In the "Fundamental Considerations" chapter there is a section of approximately one page in length that emphasizes the importance of developing both the upper and lower range on the tuba, and the demands in achieving good embouchure and articulation. It offers no insight into how to do this. There is a similar section on "Intonation" with mention of the need to "cope with bad notes", that (but not how) fourth and fifth valves may be used to accomplish. There appear to be NO exercises devoted to these goals and the range of the etudes and exercises in the following 215 pages lies fully within what a moderately good high school tubist should be able to manage without much effort -- and does not in fact extend to the low range required in pieces by the likes of Vaughn Williams and Holst (to name only two). It likewise does not extend into a high range that is commonly encountered in even high school concert band. For the most part the range is from the Bb below the staff to the Bb at the top of the staff -- again in the context of an introductory section emphasizing the critical importance of developing both the upper and lower range.


    And if there are "large" sections of the book that a professional euphoniumist, performing artist, and university instructor will probably never play, then this seems to be a rather telling appraisal that again appears to call into question the value of those large sections. Perhaps they are of value to the cornet player, but not to the low brass player? Is it perhaps, in some significant way, like taking an excellent method book for oboe and "transcribing" it into a book for bassoon (with the median step of English horn being analogous to euphonium)? I wonder. And I also wonder whether this is a kind of "one size fits all" approach to brass pedagogy: transcribe it, slap in some introductory sections, and bang! More sales. Too cynical? Sure there is a lot of commonality across technique for brass instruments. But there is significant lack of commonality as well -- and what's especially peculiar is that in the tuba version this is pointed out explicitly, but with absolutely NO alterations to the exercises that attempt to address it. It basically says "Here's this great book that we brass teachers love to use, and it is just really important for tubists that they deal especially with issues X, Y, and Z; but we haven't included anything here that does that." Puzzling.

    I have been toying with getting a copy of Arban for euphonium/trombone, but have been deterred because of my disappointment in the tuba version. It does definitely appear as though Arban is regarded primarily as a source for teaching, and another interesting discussion in which this point is raised is here: http://tromboneforum.org/index.php/topic,63761.0.html. This discussion also mentions what appears to be a very interesting book that might be regarded as an "instructor substitute" : "The Arban Manual" by Eric Blovin. I think I may decide to blow $12.95 on it at some point.

    However, I also think that at least for my own immediate purposes I'll try volumes 2 and 3 of "High Register for Tuba" by Wesley Jacobs -- hoping that these turn out to be better than the ubiquitous tuba high register exercises that are simply up/down arpeggios in different keys. Those are useful as initial steps, but oddly enough I find that the music I play in which high register is required rarely places the high notes as the end or starting notes of an arpeggio . Although I can't see any of the content of the Jacobs book, there is an ITEA review indicating that it should be good.
    Gary Merrill
    Wessex EEb Bass tuba (DW 3XL or 2XL)
    Mack Brass Compensating Euph (DE N106, Euph J, J9 euph)
    Amati Oval Euph (DE 104, Euph J, J6 euph)
    1924 Buescher 3-valve Eb tuba (with std US receiver), Kelly 25
    Schiller American Heritage 7B clone bass trombone (DE LB K/K10/112/14 Lexan, Brass Ark MV50R)
    1947 Olds "Standard" trombone (Olds #3)

  3. #13
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    A little off topic but my Arbans is so old that the price on the cover is $5 (1959 I think). I'd like to have a newer version with spiral binding so it would lay flat on the stand. I think they're around $60 though.
    Rick Floyd
    Miraphone 5050 - Warburton BJ / RF mpc
    YEP-641S (recently sold)
    Doug Elliott - 102 rim; I-cup; I-9 shank


    "Always play with a good tone, never louder than lovely, never softer than supported." - author unknown.
    Symphonic Band of the Palm Beaches
    El Cumbanchero (Raphael Hernandez, arr. Naohiro Iwai)
    Chorale and Shaker Dance
    (John Zdechlik)

  4. #14
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    Yeah, with shipping they're right about at the $60 mark, although apparently if you look around you can get older earlier editions of the tuba one for $117 (?????). Maybe yours has collector value.

    My copy of Rochut (vol 1) I think is even older -- but I confess that I bought it used about 25 years ago in a bin that a local music store was getting ready to dump.
    Gary Merrill
    Wessex EEb Bass tuba (DW 3XL or 2XL)
    Mack Brass Compensating Euph (DE N106, Euph J, J9 euph)
    Amati Oval Euph (DE 104, Euph J, J6 euph)
    1924 Buescher 3-valve Eb tuba (with std US receiver), Kelly 25
    Schiller American Heritage 7B clone bass trombone (DE LB K/K10/112/14 Lexan, Brass Ark MV50R)
    1947 Olds "Standard" trombone (Olds #3)

  5. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by RickF View Post
    A little off topic but my Arbans is so old that the price on the cover is $5 (1959 I think). I'd like to have a newer version with spiral binding so it would lay flat on the stand. I think they're around $60 though.
    OfficeMax (at least the one in our town) has a service where they will cut the back off a book with a recalcitrant binding and rebind it with either a spiral or a comb. I had them do that to my Arban; it now lies nice and flat on the stand. I also had them bind all of my Mead Concert Studies and Dances books into one big book.

    Edit. I also have on old green-cover $5 Arban. I long ago disassembled it so I could just extract individual pages.
    David Bjornstad

    1923 Conn New Wonder 86I, Bach 6 1/2 AL
    2018 Wessex EP100 Dolce, Denis Wick 4ABL
    2013 Jinbao JBEP-1111L, Denis Wick 4AM
    2015 Jinbao JBBR-1240, Denis Wick clone mouthpiece of unknown designation
    Cullman (AL) Community Band (Euph Section Leader)
    Brass Band of Huntsville (2nd Bari)

  6. #16
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    Thanks David. I think I'm going to look into doing that. I found some discussions on a trumpet forum that said some office stores don't do that anymore due to the glue messing up their cutter. Many recommended checking out FedEx Kinkos to do this. One trumpet player said he chose to have three holes drilled so he could put Arbans in a large 3-ring binder. That way when he came to a page he couldn't play he could just rip it out easily.
    Rick Floyd
    Miraphone 5050 - Warburton BJ / RF mpc
    YEP-641S (recently sold)
    Doug Elliott - 102 rim; I-cup; I-9 shank


    "Always play with a good tone, never louder than lovely, never softer than supported." - author unknown.
    Symphonic Band of the Palm Beaches
    El Cumbanchero (Raphael Hernandez, arr. Naohiro Iwai)
    Chorale and Shaker Dance
    (John Zdechlik)

  7. Another suggestion for old falling-apart books: Not that I would suggest doing anything illegal (if it is), but one COULD (not that I have done this myself ) just photocopy the pages that one uses and put them into a three ring binder.

  8. #18
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    Could you by chance recommend any precise exercises for flexibility, strength and endurance in the Arban's?

    EDIT: Hehehe my thread is now hot

  9. #19
    Quote Originally Posted by Wilsen View Post
    Could you by chance recommend any precise exercises for flexibility, strength and endurance in the Arban's?
    Sure - let's cover that at your first lesson! (As mentioned in the thread, a teacher can make specific recommendations based on what the student sounds like. The book is great, and it can serve as a self tutor to some point; but beyond that, I usually give specific advice on the application for the various exercises.)
    Dave Werden (ASCAP)
    Euphonium Soloist, U.S. Coast Guard Band, retired
    Adams Artist (Adams E3)
    Alliance Mouthpiece (DC3)
    YouTube: dwerden
    Facebook: davewerden
    Twitter: davewerden
    Instagram: davewerdeneuphonium

  10. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by daniel76309 View Post
    Another suggestion for old falling-apart books: Not that I would suggest doing anything illegal (if it is), but one COULD (not that I have done this myself ) just photocopy the pages that one uses and put them into a three ring binder.
    I don't THINK this is illegal and that it would fall under "fair use" (assuming you didn't digitize the book and then make that available on the web or sell copies). However, it's sufficiently long that it would take some time -- unless you could cut out the pages and run it through a double-sided printer. I've done that sort of thing myself on smaller old out of print books. And I digitize ALL my band music and three-hole punch it so I can write on it. Also good in case you get caught in the rain (as a colleague did), and your nice printed music gets soaked and totally disintegrates .
    Gary Merrill
    Wessex EEb Bass tuba (DW 3XL or 2XL)
    Mack Brass Compensating Euph (DE N106, Euph J, J9 euph)
    Amati Oval Euph (DE 104, Euph J, J6 euph)
    1924 Buescher 3-valve Eb tuba (with std US receiver), Kelly 25
    Schiller American Heritage 7B clone bass trombone (DE LB K/K10/112/14 Lexan, Brass Ark MV50R)
    1947 Olds "Standard" trombone (Olds #3)

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