I need to again give my readers an update as to the values of playing on a trombone mouthpiece at the end of each day.
If you are reading this information for the first time on the value of trombone mouthpiece playing as a benefit to trumpet playing, I will quickly fill you in.
In my first post on this topic (Has Your Faithful Blogster Turned To The Dark Side) I was interested in the value, if any of finishing the day by playing on a trombone mouthpiece to quickly relax the trumpet embouchure. My second post (Update From The Dark Side) reported that this routine was indeed improving my trumpet playing. Today I will explain why I am even more convinced that playing on a large mouthpiece such as a trombone or even a tuba mouthpiece can, and in my case does, improve my trumpet playing.
For several weeks now I have been religiously consistent in my daily practice routine. The first thing in the morning I warm up on chromatic scales, followed by some Clarke Technical Studies. Later in the day I work on flexibility exercises in either the Earl Irons 27 Groups of Exercises or Charles Coli’s Advanced Lip Flexibility book. In the evening I play about an hour on any etude book that is lying around and finish my practicing running through any concert or show material coming up. The very last thing I have been doing is putting my trumpet down and playing about a half hour on my trombone. The results of this schedule have been amazing for every morning when I start my routine again, my chops have always felt great and my playing has been consistently better. That was true until two days ago when I spent the day recording new trumpet arrangements and forgot to end with the trombone. The following morning was noticeably different. Placing the mouthpiece on my lips that day reminded me of my error the day before. Once again I felt as if practicing was similar to pushing a car up a hill with a rope. The response was not there nor was flexibility, tone or range.
How slow we are to learn and equally quick to forget.
Now that I have returned to “the better way”, my confidence in knowing that the time spent on a trombone mouthpiece at the end of the day has been reinforced.
Spending a short amount of time cooling down on a trombone mouthpiece has again been shown to be very beneficial and if you have not tried it……..why not?
Very true!
How are things going for you?
We start a new show in Branson. Rehearsals start Sunday and hope it lasts.
We have three horns which is nice.
This is very true, but i have more benefits warmin up and down with didgeridoo.
Very interesting, where might I get one?
Does the Branson Trumpet Ensemble have a posted schedule of upcoming performances?
Our regularly scheduled public performances are few so listing them would not be helpful.
The bulk of our concerts are for small groups which might not be available to everyone, i.e. conventions, church services, and other special occasions.
As an example, this past Sunday we performed at two different churches on the same day and were contacted to perform at our local convention center the Wednesday before for a private dinner.
Thank you for your interest and how’s the weather in Iowa these days?