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Contra tips


condormovies

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  • 2 weeks later...

Its better for your back in the long run if you force yourself to always have good posture. Also, practice never "chesting" your horn.

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If you don't have a marching horn, find a workout that's part-cardio, part-light weights with high repetitions. Do upper body/back workouts. That'll at least help. Also, yoga. Do that regardless.


Assuming that you do have a marching tuba/contra ...


- If you have access to a large mirror, utilize it when you practice music. Always practice as if you're at a rehearsal (standing, marking time with a metronome, etc). As McLovin mentioned, posture is fundamental. You always want to look tall and lifted, with your lower abs engaged.


It doesn't matter if your horn is down at a carry (or at "chop") or if it's at a playing position: your posture should be straight and your shoulders should be relaxed yet your upper-body should overall look "big."


Using a mirror is the best way to be honest with yourself on how you look. You can catch a lot of things you would've never noticed (crooked head, bad posture, etc).


The ultimate goal is to 1) look big and have big presence, and 2) remove tension.


- You will need to be able to do horn manuals as fast as all the other instruments. Spend a bunch of time going from parade rest (bell on the ground) to chop to horns up. See how fast you can manuever the instrument with as little motion as possible (without dropping it, of course).


- Work on your tone and overall quality of sound. Technical abilities mean nothing if your sound is weak or inconsistent. I've known some otherwise great tuba players who didn't do well in drum corps because they allowed tension to kill their sound quality.


- Hype everything you do and have fun.

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It only counts on the move

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Nah, that's ridiculous.

Tell that to my caption heads I've had haha, its even written on our playing technique book

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Tell that to my caption heads I've had haha, its even written on our playing technique book

Well, all the caption heads I learned under would agree with me, and they are all in the Hall of Fame. You can't play on the move if you can't play standing still first.

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Well, all the caption heads I learned under would agree with me, and they are all in the Hall of Fame. You can't play on the move if you can't play standing still first.

But in drum corps, we march and play

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Can you elaborate on this statement? I've never heard this.

Just curious.

It doesn't matter if you can play your music well stading still in the horn arc, unless if rehearsing a hold, because we march and play. Therefore, playing your music with correct technique and correct notes only counts if its on the move. Its on the front cover of a few corps brass manuals.

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