Warm-up and daily routine
The purpose of the warm-up on a brass instrument is twofold: First, to physically prepare the player, their muscles, and their mind for the day's work, and second, to systematically practice and reinforce fundamental technique. All too often, I hear students charge through their warm-up (such as it is) as though pursued, in a blinding rush to get to “Practicing” or “on to playing,” all the while lamenting that it is taking forever to “feel good.”
My advice?
STOP. SLOW DOWN. THINK. LISTEN.
To quote my former teacher, Frank Crisafulli: “The minute you start playing the instrument, you're not just warming up, you are PRACTICING!” This is true from the first note you play, to the last. Your playing is and will be what you practice and how you practice it. To that end, make your daily warm-up (routine) a time for to you establish, practice and reinforce good habits and good sounds.
The following is the core of what a brass player needs do on a daily basis:
BREATHING
INHALE and EXHALE. Spend 2-5 minutes working on your breathing. Practice taking long, deep, full and relaxed inhalations exhalations. Two devices that are very helpful for this are:
Both encourage relaxed, loose and full inhalations and exhalations.
LONG TONES
Find and establish your BEST sound in the middle register of the instrument and gradually expand your sound out to your extremes of register.
FLEXIBILITY
Learning to get around the registers of the instrument more smoothly and easily
TECHNICAL DEVELOPMENT
The "nuts and bolts" of playing an instrument:- Articulations, scales, arpeggios, and etudes.
- Register development.
- Learning to produce precisely the sounds you want, when you want them.
- Learning the structure of music, both aurally and visually, and how it relates to mastering your instrument and your art.
MUSICAL DEVELOPMENT
Lyrical studies, solos, other pieces of music. Utilizing all of the above elements to make meaningful musical statements.