BRASS
Paul Baron is one of today’s most highly respected lead and commercial trumpet players. His sound is distinctly bright and powerful and
carries with it decades of experience in a wide range of musical styles from jazz to rock, big band to musical theatre, and TV jingles to movie
soundtracks. As well as being a performing artist for Jupiter Instruments and Pickett Brass with his signature line of mouthpieces, Paul is also an
author, educator, and clinician. www.paulbaron.net.
By Paul Baron
The Care & Feeding
of Your Chops
Part 2
I
t is essential to practice all aspects of playing,
because in a professional situation, you never
know what might be thrown at you.
Balancing loud and soft playing, low
and high register, long tones and articulation
studies, and flexibility exercises will make you
ready for almost anything. Of course, we do run
across some music where the saying, “The pen
is mightier than the chop” applies from time to
time. Being prepared for anything will make play-
ing more relaxed and enjoyable.
Finding the Right Routine
There are a number of very good practice
routines available for purchase or download, and
I think it is important to experiment with many of
them to find the one most beneficial to you. You
may also find that a part of one routine works
but other parts do not. You may find that you will
extract certain parts or exercises from a number
of different routines to create a personal routine
that works best for you. I think being open to
different concepts is a good thing, while listening
to your body for the signals it tells you for what
works and what does not. Stay away from the
routines offering a quick fix, or that guarantee a
double C in 15 minutes of practice a day. There
are no methods that will immediately transform
your playing and instantly give you a six-octave
range. If there was, I would be first in line and
everyone would have a six-octave range.
Often times, and for me this is true, a combi-
nation of different exercises from different sourc-
es works best. Sometimes I do a combination
in one practice session, or use one method or
routine one day and a different one the next day.
There is a body workout routine talking about
“muscle confusion” that explains if we are always
doing the exact same exercises in the same way
all the time, we are not actually building any more
strength or stamina. The body gets used to this
routine and we will find ourselves on a plateau
without improvement. Taking that concept into
trumpet playing, I think muscle confusion relates
to practicing different things in a different order,
the same exercises but at different volumes, or
mixing up the slurring and tonguing exercises
by doing the opposite each day – tongue the
slurred parts and slur the tongued parts. I have
found that some exercises work different aspects
of playing more or less effectively than others, so
I will use a certain method for its main benefits,
and another to round out my practicing.
You need to give the routine or method a
respectful amount of time to see if it is a good
match for you, or if there is a portion which really
works for you. Trying a routine once or going
gangbusters for two or three days is not really
giving it much of a chance; I feel it takes me a
solid week to get a real feel for something to
discover whether it is a good fit for me or not.
Mouthpieces are as individual as the players
themselves, and to a lesser degree, it is true for
exercises and practice routines, and your needs.
I think what is universal is the need to balance
your practice and not neglect any aspect of play-
ing, which you will undoubtedly encounter on
the job at some point.
Finding a Balance & Setting Goals
I have found balancing my practice routine with
my playing schedule is an important concept as
well, and it changes and evolves depending on
my work schedule.
The most beneficial routines for my develop-
ment and maintenance are Bill Adam’s routine,
the book FLEXUS by Laurie Frink, Arturo San-
doval’s books, and John Daniel’s book Special
Studies for Trumpet. These methods have a very
logical flow and use many of the staples and
foundations found in the books of Schlossberg
and Arbans. What I like about them is although
they differ in some ways, they cover the entire
range of the horn, and address all the aspects
of playing in very logical and balanced routines.
Once you have found a routine that really works
for you, whether it is a conglomeration of rou-
tines or one in its entirety, I think it is important
to have a goal for your practicing in mind.
Ask yourself what you need more work on,
what part of your playing is lagging behind,
and put more effort to improve a little each
practice session.
If, for instance, you are working on Clarke’s
study number two and want to develop faster
fingers, I suggest using a metronome. Write
down the tempo at which you can play the ex-
ercise flawlessly. Chances are this is probably a
little slower than you have been practicing the
exercise. This is your starting point, and from
there, play the exercise through at that speed
flawlessly. My rule of thumb is to “bump” the
speed up two or three notches each practice
session. Once you are able to play the faster
speed flawlessly, it is time to bump it up again.
If you want to develop your high range, I
recommend keeping a log of your daily prog-
ress. Play your exercises in the logical flow, but
with an attempt to play up to your “target note”
from many different angles every day. It does
not matter if you make it to the target note
every day; the attempt, if done correctly, will
still be strengthening your chops. Once the
vibration does happen, you will have built up
the strength to play the target note because
of all the attempts. (By target note I mean the
very next note up from the highest note you
can comfortably count on at the top of your
usable range, and by usable range, I am talk-
ing about the notes you can count on 90 per
cent of the time and at the
end of a practice session
or job.)
This is based on a lesson from Paul’s book, Trumpet Voluntarily – A Holistic Guide to Maximizing Practice Through Efficiency,
containing more expanded information on this subject as well as 19 chapters with music examples and exercises.
The book serves as a guide to teach the player how, what, and when to practice. It is available now through qPress,
www.qpress.ca.
30 CANADIAN MUSICIAN