Back in May 2017 I put a plan in motion to get my basic playing technique together.
This article focuses on the lip slurs I practiced as a part of that routine for the past 13 months.
Why Would Anyone Do This?
For as long as I can remember I’ve been self-conscious of my playing technique. Living in LA and having peers who not only play great music, but are also together with their trumpet playing, inspired me to get my act together.
Initial Goals and Methods
The primary goal for this experiment was somewhat vague and had two main parts:
- Improve/strengthen/widen basic technical foundation.
- Whittle down to a future maintenance routine.
I think of “technique” as being able to control the sound and keep it going from note-to-note. And being able to play musically and keep your sh*t together. I feel it also implies a certain amount of physical comfort, and ease while playing.
That said, from everything I’ve learned to this point, I could think of no more fundamental way of developing technique than practicing slowly for a long time.
The practice plan as a whole largely ebbed and flowed as I went along. Initially, there were 11 separate segments split up into a “Daily,” done every day, and a “Rotation” that I circled through as I could. The busiest iteration had 17 bullet points; the current has seven. The main takeaway here being that I went, less definitely become more.
(Sept. 2017 Practice Plan)
(June 2018 Practice Plan)
Aside from the regular monthly-checkups to the routine, in mid-May 2018 I also experimented with a 3-month plan where I I wrote down exactly when I would finish each part of the routine in advance. I planned conservatively and aimed for a tempo increase of 49 beats per minute (bpm) to 56 bpm by the end of the 12 weeks. Due to a few cancelled rehearsals I ended up beating that score. Nice.
Lip Slur Specifics
For the slurs, I chose the preliminary exercises from the book, FLEXUS. A few of my colleagues here in town use them to warm-up and they always sound good.
From there I encouraged progress by slowly and systematically increasing tempo and range.
Tempo Progression
Tempo increases went at a snail’s pace. To begin, I found a tempo that I could play through the slur pattern with my best, fullest sound. On May 12th, 2017 I determined that to be 8th Notes @ 55 beats per minute (bpm).
Written as quarter notes it looks like this:
From there I dedicated four practice days to each tempo marking then bumped up the metronome one click for the next four days. As if that weren’t slow enough, I downgraded the tempo again when I hit 69 bpm by switching back to the original 8th note rhythm at 30 bpm (would have been 35 bpm; 1/2 of 70 bpm).
The reason for being so conservative with tempo was to construct a margin against getting too fast, too quick. That seemed like a good way to keep my development open to new habits while simultaneously ironing in the repetition so it sticks for the long-haul.
By the end I more than doubled the tempo which I could blow a full sound through the slurs. However it is still slow at quarter note = 59 bpm (playing 8th note rhythm).
Range Progression
When I began, I completed each of the slur patterns starting on low C, G in the staff, and C in staff. After 2 months I added the slurs beginning on top space E, and then a month later added the slurs starting on top line G. This made my highest note a high C by the end of the 4th month and I stayed there for the entire 13 months. After that, the only addition was adding an ending slur down to low C at end of each drill.
The idea with sticking to a confined range is to turn that two octaves into the “same thing.” Or to refine the movement needed to get from low C to high C over time. I also notice a little extra mouthpiece pressure being used above the staff depending on how the embouchure is feeling as a whole. By staying in that zone for so long, the reliance on mouthpiece pressure in that register has been reduced.
One Last Thing
I used a three-strikes-you’re-out rule on all of the exercises, meaning I had to move on to the next drill after three attempts. This is something I picked up from Charley Davis while working through the Adam routine in grad school. It’s a good way to prevent getting stuck on one exercise and blowing your chops before finishing the routine.
Practice Metrics
Over a period 393 days I practiced the lip slur routine 224 of them. This is a completion rate of about 57%.
I mention that because it’s only about 4 days per week, and that was enough practice to make some pretty interesting changes.
If you’re feeling competitive, my longest streak was 12 days.
The somewhat low completion rate was due in part to how physically demanding all those slow lip slurs are. Gig days were a wash, and often I would forego the routine on days just before and/or just after a gig to prevent too much cumulative fatigue.
For example, in December I only hit the routine eight times. This was during a seven-week tour w/ the Brian Setzer Orchestra during which I played the routine exclusively on off days, or once or twice per week.
It’s also worth noting that the first 12 weeks of the practice plan were the same 12-weeks that I was getting to know the pencil exercise and, “Embouchure Hell.”
Unmet Expectations
One expectation that I’ve carried with me for a long time, and which rarely works out, is this idea that if you keep practicing the basics really slow, all the time, you’ll wake up one day and, POOF!, be able to play super fast and super high without ever practicing fast and high.
That didn’t work out this time around. But I still at least figured after all that time practicing these &^#-%*$ slurs I’d be able to play them pretty well. Unfortunately I’m still just fracking away.
Additional Bonus Lessons!
1 – Slow Start:
One thing that stuck out about starting the slurs so slowly is that I practiced them for a solid seven months without thinking about it. Usually my mind is flying off the rails. But this time I did not mention the work of slurs once in my practice journals until January 2018.
The flip side of this “just do it” attitude, and the overall tedium of the work, is that there were times when I blasted through with about 0% concentration. Concentration seems to be the deciding factor these days.
The slow tempo also made the slurs much more physically taxing and twice I took a few weeks to play the slurs rubato, without a metronome. The rubato slurs allowed me to move through them more easily & without as much fatigue as the artificially slow tempo.
2 – Three-Month Plan:
One cool thing about planning three months in advance was that it put something on the calendar. That made it easier to say, “no thank you,” since I was already “booked.” Without a commitment to the routine, that open day on the calendar would have been easy to fill with something less important.
3 – Air:
Practicing all those slow lip slurs absolutely changed the way I use my air. So far, I’ve found I can take a more relaxed breath and just blow without having to think so much. It feels like improvement.
4 – Aperture Set (Mechanics/Habits):
One thing I adopted from Rheinhardt’s method is feeling the top and bottom lip touching inside the rim of the mouthpiece while you take a breath. Getting used to playing with more “meat” in the mouthpiece has been useful to me for a number of reasons. However, I just want to share that a little tweak, which I reminded myself of every time I brought the horn up to play, took eight months to become completely second-nature.
5 – Anchor Tonguing & Missing Low Notes:
One of the initial reasons for sticking with a reduced range was to settle my anchor tongue and work to keep it from passing over the lower teeth as I ascended. I found it interesting that the low notes were the ones to “go away” during this transition. It took one month of “starting over” to relearn the mouth shape for the range below low C. Yet another reminder that when one thing changes, everything changes.
6 – Teeth/Jaw Aperture:
One of the more interesting physical lessons was an increased awareness of the jaw aperture and how it effects playing. Before beginning the slurs my jaw would recess at the top of the treble clef staff. However, when the top and bottom row of teeth stay more or less lined up, the sound seems more interesting and easier to control.
The lip slurs have helped me to keep the lower jaw more forward while playing, more of the time. That said, the jaw muscles are still the part of my embouchure that falls first. In addition to continuing with the slurs, I’ve also added an easy program of isometrics using a little gizmo I found online. We’ll see what happens.
7 – Ear Training
Something else exciting about these slurs are their potential in improving the ear. After all this time, and all those slurs, I still don’t hear every note as “equal temperament,” or what the notes would sound like on a piano – especially up in the 3rd(?) partial with the alternate valves on C (23), B(13) and Bb (123). It’s funky.
8 – Improved Finger Technique:
Yep. This actually improved my finger technique. And if you think about it, the slur pattern is just a really slow, “Clarke I.”
Plan Going Forward
For at least the next 12 weeks my plan is to do one lip slur series per day (on the days I practice) only increasing the tempo of the lowest series of slurs (starting on low C). Since regaining my low range after the anchor-tongue shift I have only played those lowest slurs rubato. The plan is to get the low slurs up to tempo with the rest of them.
I also completely cut the first slur series because I really grew to despise it.
(Screw you I hate you)
This has already freed up some chops to work on other weaknesses with my playing. I’m excited to keep going as I feel I can wring a lot more out of these slurs. You know, greater consistency, greater control, greater relaxation…that sort of thing.
Now just because I’m limiting the range of these slurs, it doesn’t mean I don’t need to work on range. I do. So to that end, I’m re-instituting the same routine I used back in high school to develop my playing register to a high A. The catch is that this time around I aim to practice smarter. I’m starting out with the second exercise from this routine, performing it every other day.
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Conclusion
All-in-all I feel confident that the time spent on these lip slurs will continue to improve my playing mechanics and efficiency. And even though it sucks sometimes, I stand by the idea that practicing something, anything, nice and slow, and for a good long-while will not be a waste of time.
Have fun out there,
James
Content Relevant to this Article:
When You Suddenly Lose your Chops – What to Do About it (Video)
To Embouchure Hell and Back: One Trumpeter’s Experience w/ The Pencil Exercise