Through most of my teaching I have preached the concept of “Rest As Much As You Play”. In this post not only will I illustrate the advantages of this practice, I will also offer a solo which has been broken down to illustrate this concept.
The benefits of “Rest As Much As You Play” method will be felt after the first twenty minutes for this routine automatically guards against over taxing your embouchure which is one of the most degrading faults in our development.
As the title indicates, “Rest As Much As You Play” lets you methodically build your chops rather than tear them down. What you will see in this post is material which will get you started.
The following instructions were given to a very fine high school clarinet student who asked for help preparing his solo for contest. I often use clarinet material for my own trumpet practice for the clarinet material is more demanding in many ways for the trumpet and the additional difficulty increases my trumpet ability.
Instructions to student for preparing his solo
Contents
• Sonata practice material- Sheet music which includes the recording of a section of your solo and after that you are to repeat the same material.
• Sonata solo- rewritten in case you find this one easier to read than your original
• Mp3 recording at the finished tempo
• Mp3 at a slower tempo
• Mp3 at a faster tempo
Things to remember
• Exaggerate your dynamics
• Count every measure, not just the ones you have notes in
• The staccato markings mean to play shorter not more accented
• You OWN the room when playing this solo!
• If you make a mistake (and you will) don’t stop.
• Think through your starting phrase before you play it.
• Don’t let anyone rush you for this is your time.
• Have two extra reads ready in case of an accident.
• Rehearse with your accompanist at least twice each week.
• Get a lot of rest the night before you perform.
• Not every judge knows what they’re doing.
• You know your solo better than anyone else in the STATE.
• No one ever died after getting a II.
• Some who got I’s didn’t deserve it.
• You have done very well up to this point and the only difference between a high school player and a pro is musicality.
Material to be used in this post
(#1) Sonata in D Minor for Clarinet by Cesar Franck
1. Sonata in D Minor- Solo
(#2) Practice sheet with alternating solo and response sections
2. Sonata in D Minor- Practice material
Practice recordings
(#3) Recording at slow tempo
(#4) Recording at performance tempo
(#5) Recording at a faster tempo
Instructions for use of material
• Play recording marked #3.Sonata slower
• Play the same material played by the clarinet along with the click track
• Continue repeating clarinet recording to the end of the solo until you are in control of the material
• When you feel that you are in control of the material, advance to the next tempo
I have included several prerecorded etude collections in my trumpetlessonsonline site which expands on this concept. Check it out at http://www.trumpetlessonsonline.com/
