idontwan2know Posted February 15, 2007 Share Posted February 15, 2007 Anything beyond 15-20 minutes isn't warming up, it's practice. Nothing wrong with that, btw...just need to be clear about what it is you're doing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadow_7 Posted February 15, 2007 Share Posted February 15, 2007 Anything beyond 15-20 minutes isn't warming up, it's practice. I'll have to disagree. Sure most times when I'm well rested and feeling good, it'll take about 15 to 20 minutes or less. But in my Jr. Corps days, where my chops spent most of their day swollen, sunburnt, and even split, gettting them into a useable state would take much longer than that. Sometimes it took that long just to get the first buzz, instead of just air out of them. The Freelancers used to do a 2 hour routine before shows to get things working well. And it made a huge difference across the line in terms of the ability to perform for shows. While some of that borders on routine and not warmup, anything less would have resulted in less of a performance IMO. I know a few studio guys that don't get their special sound until after four hours of playing. And I myself don't really get into that special sound/feel until four to six hours of playing on a given day. Except on the rare-est of days where things just work from the get go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BMBob Posted February 15, 2007 Share Posted February 15, 2007 One of my horn teachers always said that as she grew more and more experienced, it took her longer and longer to feel fully warmed up. She prefered about forty-five minutes for warmup. I also know a trumpet player who actually wrote down his warmup - thirty minutes of continuous playing through tonguing, flexibility, and long tone exercises. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drew Wilkie Posted February 15, 2007 Share Posted February 15, 2007 My warm-up, on ANY occasion...be it drum corps, a gig, a concert, whatever...takes about 5 minutes. This is how things are in the real world...if it takes you more than that, nonetheless several HOURS to sound good, you're as good as sunk. Yes, there are a few exceptions...no, there are not many of them in the pro world. My warm-up consists of flubbing out my lips for a minute or so, playing a few long tones and articulated notes, and some scales...and that's it! My warm-up hits every register, from double pedal C to triple high G and above, in 5 minutes, without beating a dead horse. It should be everybody's goal to be able to sound good after a 5-minute warm-up...such an existence as a brass player is very liberating. My point is that if your chops are working properly, you have good embouchure technique and good playing habits, you won't NEED more than 5 minutes to warm up. My .02 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martybucs Posted February 15, 2007 Share Posted February 15, 2007 My warm-up, on ANY occasion...be it drum corps, a gig, a concert, whatever...takes about 5 minutes. This is how things are in the real world...if it takes you more than that, nonetheless several HOURS to sound good, you're as good as sunk. Yes, there are a few exceptions...no, there are not many of them in the pro world.My warm-up consists of flubbing out my lips for a minute or so, playing a few long tones and articulated notes, and some scales...and that's it! My warm-up hits every register, from double pedal C to triple high G and above, in 5 minutes, without beating a dead horse. It should be everybody's goal to be able to sound good after a 5-minute warm-up...such an existence as a brass player is very liberating. My point is that if your chops are working properly, you have good embouchure technique and good playing habits, you won't NEED more than 5 minutes to warm up. My .02 Amen. I second this post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BMBob Posted February 15, 2007 Share Posted February 15, 2007 I don't know exactly what "real world" you're referring to. I know you don't have much more time than a few minutes at most gigs. That is why the majority of professional brass players I have worked with do a lengthy warmup on their own first thing in the morning. Then all you need to do is "refresh" yourself for a couple of minutes before you play. I think the idea that you shouldn't need more than five minutes to warm up may fit some people physically, but not nearly all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martybucs Posted February 15, 2007 Share Posted February 15, 2007 (edited) I don't know exactly what "real world" you're referring to. I know you don't have much more time than a few minutes at most gigs. That is why the majority of professional brass players I have worked with do a lengthy warmup on their own first thing in the morning. Then all you need to do is "refresh" yourself for a couple of minutes before you play. I think the idea that you shouldn't need more than five minutes to warm up may fit some people physically, but not nearly all. The "real world" where you don't have that much time in the morning either. Time is a valuable commodity for everyone so it shouldn't be surprising that it is an advantage to get your warm up down to a few minutes. The body can react and respond quickly when trained and called upon to do so. Say you have an hour or two a day to devote to playing, not counting the gig. Do you work on your performance or warm up? I think with that much time people would arrange their practice from easy to most difficult to incorporate their warm up into their practice time. And if you have to memorize the book, believe me, you ain't warming up!! Edited February 15, 2007 by Martybucs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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