Spending time warming up?

[KeithHall]

20 minutes on....20 minutes off...for about 2-3 hours if I have to get my chops in shape. I dont play all the time but when I have to get ready to play a gig, I do this for a couple of days prior. It usually works.

I learned this form a former lead player in Chuck Magiones band, and now the conductor for the Rochester Pops, Jeff Tyzik. He used to tell me to watch TV during this process and make sure to wait as long as you play.

DA

I used to practice straight through until my trumpet teachers Gerry Soffer, Phil Christner and Wade Weast suggested other ways. Actually Wade told me to practice the way weight lifters lift, short periods and then rest. Yes, Donny they said to watch TV too. Actually when I used to teach Heat Waves hornline I would stop after an hour and give them a break. The best way is to rest as much as you play.

I saw Tyzik with Vizzutti and Doc Severinson with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. Vizzutti blew them all away!

[PaNors77]

I used to practice straight through until my trumpet teachers Gerry Soffer, Phil Christner and Wade Weast suggested other ways. Actually Wade told me to practice the way weight lifters lift, short periods and then rest. Yes, Donny they said to watch TV too. Actually when I used to teach Heat Waves hornline I would stop after an hour and give them a break. The best way is to rest as much as you play.

I saw Tyzik with Vizzutti and Doc Severinson with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. Vizzutti blew them all away!

Wow that's a pretty tall order,no? Severinsen and Tyzik are not "hacks" by any stretch.

Philbert

[Nespy]

"Just put the horn on the lips and play." (Quote and philosophy of Maurice André..who's better than both of us)

The purpose of a warm up is to get you ready to play. Anything beyond getting sufficient blood in your lips to play the horn is practice. My warm-up consists of some light facial stretching before I come into contact with the horn and then a couple of 2nd line Gs. I then play a G-G#-G-A-G-Bb-G-B-G-Middle C at a mezzo-piano....C-C#-C-D-C-D#-C-E-C-F-C-F#-C-G at a mezzo-forte....and then continue in the same pattern, at forte, G-G#-G-A-G-Bb-G-B-High C. Then I'll play a quick couple of arpeggios and I'm ready to practice or perform.

In personal life, this isn't a problem.

However, occasionally, with smaller start-up groups who put people in front of the horn line who really shouldn't be there, you get people who play through the Blue Devils Dynasty of Brass because that's a good "warm-up" in their opinion. This is simply ignorance of good instruction, brass playing and the purpose of a corps hornline warm up. This, however, is not related to the questions you asked...and you are in Tennessee, so you don't have to worry about idiots in front of hornlines. :)

[camel lips]

However, occasionally, with smaller start-up groups who put people in front of the horn line who really shouldn't be there, you get people who play through the Blue Devils Dynasty of Brass because that's a good "warm-up" in their opinion. This is simply ignorance of good instruction, brass playing and the purpose of a corps horn line warm up. This, however, is not related to the questions you asked...and you are in Tennessee, so you don't have to worry about idiots in front of hornlines. :)

Care to expand on that?I think we have a story in the making there.

I hear what your saying there.I think a lot of time,,,some instructors choose thier warm up routine because so and so did it that way 100 years ago and they were great.

Nespy,,

I learned something from your post today.I had never thought about doing some facial stretching before.I think I am going to try that prior to warm ups for a week or two and see how it works out.Ill report back with my findings.

We have one girl in the corps who is a excellent player and

she often complains that her whole face hurts if she does not get in a long enough warm up.she says when she does get a good long warm up,,,her face does not hurt.I am thinking this might just help her in that area.

As for warming up,,,,Here are my thoughts on it.

I think a good warm up is essential for building range and articulation.

I do a series of warm ups that take about 15 min/25 min depending on how much time I have.

They consist of

Breathing exercises that stretch all of the air areas of my body and running warm air through the horn.

Petal tones to get the blood flowing.

Lips slurs to get the chops flexible

Chromatics to get the fingers moving.

Double tongue exercise to get the tongue moving and flexible.

As my warm up progresses,I generally try and work in several different octave exercises in order to warm up not only my lower register but also my higher register.

[Highschool]

Contra, being a slightly different animal, and my ever-increasing age has forced some changes over the past 15 years.

Being in college and playing regularly, I was able to play virtually instantly as long and with as much dexterity as I wanted without having to warm-up.

Now, I find that warming up is more important to getting my ear, mind, and embouchure back in good fundamental working condition. Stamina is still not much of an issue, although some T-Bird shows have pushed it to near numbness.

Without a really good warm-up, my playing technique goes to the dogs.

Greg

[camel lips]

"

The purpose of a warm up is to get you ready to play. Anything beyond getting sufficient blood in your lips to play the horn is practice.

Or is it????

[khodn]

My "warm-up" can be anywhere from just massaging my lips, where it vibrates, for about 3 seconds, to 5 minutes.

My "daily routine," not very daily recently, can take anywhere from 2-3 hours. After that, there's a nice long break of not spaced throughout the day.

I'm in the camp that considers "warming-up" as a reintroduction to your horn, and as something to get the blood flowing. The "routine" can be spread throughout the day with long breaks. The routine is also designed to practice and smooth out anything that might arise during a day of playing.

[idontwan2know]

"Warmup" as it is used in drum corps has a slightly different meaning than the standard musical definition. We tend to include any technical/fundamental exercises we do under the general term "warmup" when they really don't have much to do with actually getting ourselves ready to play the horn.

I've seen people get it wrong in both directions...thinking that "warmup" is going too long because they're continuing to do exercises long after most everyone is warmed up, or complaining that a warmup is incomplete because a bunch of technical exercises that are of limited value in physically getting you ready to play aren't done.

Any good practice regimen, whether it be for an individual or an ensemble, should include time devoted to warming up, working on exercises to isolate and build certain techniques, working on the actual music you'll be performing(and some you may not), and depending on the circumstances, a warm down.

Personally, my warmup varies depending on how I feel when I first attempt to play. If my chops are in good shape, nice and supple, and I achieve a good sound right off the bat or very soon after, I may only do one chromatic long tone series (G-F#-G, G-F-G, etc.) and then move on to technical exercises. If it's been a while since I've played, I may need to do three of those starting on G, low C, then middle C. It's rare that I'll still feel that I'm not warmed up at that point, but if I feel like I need more, I'll do some really basic, slow lip slurs. I can't ever recall needing more than 10-15 minutes to feel warmed up.

[Shadow_7]

Well the one thing I got from the Army Band is the ability to just play with or without an warmup(note: not to imply playing well). A side effect of standing at attention or parade rest for an hour and a half, then Bam, you're playing again. Some ceremonies involve playing the troops onto the ceremonial field, then sitting through a three hour speech by some officer. Sometimes with a humorous local accent, othertimes with a boring monotone voice. At the end of which you get to play again, cold, after having most of your body go numb from inactivity. Rain or shine, you're just there. However if you're a woodwind, you get to go back to the bus during rain so your expensive instrument doesn't get damaged. Anyway, enough with the double standard.

IMO, if you don't get a thoughtfull warmup, you wont play as well as you could have played. In junior circles we used to do a 2 hour pre-show warmup, which gave us our well respected sound. While some of this blurs the lines between "warmup" and "routine", the end result is the goal. To present a final product better than or equal to what you would otherwise be capable of. Warmup for two hours with soft and low to play a relative short show of high and loud.

In the past couple years, I've done a corps which doesn't do much warmup. Or much horn arc stuff for that matter. 11 hour rehearsal, and only 1 hour for horns, 15-30 minutes of which is the warmup. It generally takes me about a week to recondition my chop to a standard after this type of setup. Especially if I'm doing the corps a favor by playing something other than my main instrument for a season. It's kind of strange to consider that you can double, almost triple your horn arc time(for an entire season) in a single 24 hour period. Granted I did join late in the season, but after four months you'd expect more than 10 hours(total combined hours) of horn arc time.

[Nespy]

Care to expand on that?I think we have a story in the making there.

Nah...it wouldn't be a productive use of anybody's time in this forum.

I learned something from your post today.I had never thought about doing some facial stretching before.I think I am going to try that prior to warm ups for a week or two and see how it works out.Ill report back with my findings.

We have one girl in the corps who is a excellent player and

she often complains that her whole face hurts if she does not get in a long enough warm up.she says when she does get a good long warm up,,,her face does not hurt.I am thinking this might just help her in that area.

I hope it helps. With brass playing, though, there are so many different things to do. Frustratingly, some things seem to work/help one person while doing nothing, or even being a detrement, to the next. I hope it works and is something you can pass along.

As for warming up,,,,Here are my thoughts on it.

I think a good warm up is essential for building range and articulation.

I don't agree with you here. In my opinion, the warm up is not where you learn to do anything...it isn't to build anything. This could simply be a matter of semantics or we could actually have differing opinions. I know what works to build range, and I don't consider any of it something I would do until after being warm. The same goes for articulation, endurance, finger speed or speed of tonguing.

My opinion: You warm up and then you practice (build endurance, build range, improve tone, articulation, technique). You can't effectively do one before the other.

I do a series of warm ups that take about 15 min/25 min depending on how much time I have.

They consist of

Breathing exercises that stretch all of the air areas of my body and running warm air through the horn.

Petal tones to get the blood flowing.

Lips slurs to get the chops flexible

Chromatics to get the fingers moving.

Double tongue exercise to get the tongue moving and flexible.

As my warm up progresses,I generally try and work in several different octave exercises in order to warm up not only my lower register but also my higher register.

If that's what works for you in your warm ups, then that's great. I see some similarities in what you have listed and in what I do.

I stretch my face and flap out my chops.....you play pedal tones. Both get the blood flowing....although I would not recommend pedal tones being the first thing played, that's just a matter of opinions.

I do my little interval exercise.....you do lip slurs. Both get the chops flexible.

The other things you have listed are all fine if they work for you. The great thing about trumpet playing is that there are so many different techniques, ideas, equipment and styles out there, that it is virtually impossible for the serious and interested musician to fail. With serious study, examination and discipline, any of us can be much better than we currently are.

Take Care,