[Trombone-l] Practicing

[Chris Tune]

The short answer is "just about everything".  But then, that can't be 
possible. .maybe it just "seems" that way.

Like you, early on, I polished up concert pieces and learned orchestral 
excerpts and looked forward to symphony performing or really any kind of 
performing because it put me "on the spot".

As I did more and more of this, including stints with a Top 40 "rock band" 
and many jazz bands and needed to learn to improvise, I began to get more 
and more scale patterns and "licks" in my kit.  Now, I seek to learn and 
know the "standards", since I'm often asked to jump into casuals where this 
is the thing. As I develop in this arena (Aebersold and BIAB helps), I see 
that it is perfectly alright to have available set licks (in fact, the 
greatest seem to rely on these just as do the mere mortals), but the key is 
to not forget that you are trying to use these things CREATIVELY.  So, the 
unexpected is really your friend and often something that, might at first 
seem a mistake, is really just "jazz".  You know, a simple switch to a held 
note holding beyond what might normally be expected. . .or rhythmically 
repeated stuff or something slightly obnoxious like exaggerated glisses over 
a partial or two, isn't neccesarily a bad thing.  Deal is, to put these in 
where they make sense.

I find that attending "rehearsal bands" and the gigs I do, will give me 
enough sight reading for now.  Although, for me, it would be good to find 
some more challenges here (I've read so many thousands of these things, that 
they are starting to repeat a bit).  One favorite band for this is a 
"twenties" band with many of the original Fletcher Henderson style charts. 
Very challenging and hyper active!  Another way of getting into this kind of 
style would be to record and overdub some ragtime pieces.

I find I go back to basics every once in a while.  I cannot stand it if my 
tone doesn't sound good, or my attacks get erratic. I try to go back to 
essentially basic or (forgive me for the term--its convenient!) "legit" 
style technique with regularity, as I continue to keep up the more modern 
jazz and commercial techniques.

Lately, I've experimented and tried to practice once in a while with 
plunger.  That can certainly be fun.  Having a decent command of certain 
mutes is a decent thing to vary your diet (the "Solotone" mute is a bear. . 
.it is stuffiness itself. . .yet, it comes in handy in certain swing era 
tunes like in the Dorsey and Miller books).

Regarding the extent to which I work things up--I try and really practice 
over and over, things I know will come up for me. I play IGSOY just about 
once or twice a week, whether it comes up or not.  I play Song of India 
while practicing the mute.  I play Marie.  I play the Bijou solo once every 
few weeks.  I do the Stardust solo about the same.  I play some of Jim 
Pankow's solos which I rarely have to perform, but it is nice to be able to 
pop them out when needed, besides they are classic and thus are great chop 
builders.  Gradually I'm adding to the list of solos that work like this. 
Bijou is the latest.  I can think of a few more I'd like to add to the list.

Same thing for Bolero. . .same thing for the Requiem, same thing for the 
"Ride", and so on.  Not too long goes by but I do work on these.

It often seems as if each has its own unique "teaching" to help you.

Hope this helps.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Doug Rowe" <darowe at gmail.com>
To: <Trombone-l at server5.samford.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, March 01, 2006 8:18 PM
Subject: [Trombone-l] Practicing


>I have a question for all those who regularly practice their trombones:
>
> What do you practice?  I'm not looking for exercises or routines--more,
> what kind of music to you play each day?  Do you polish everything you
> play to perfection?  Do you spend hours sight riding?
>
> In order to maybe help clarify HOW folks should answer this fairly
> generic question, here's what prompts me to ask:
>
> I have recently had a change in attitude toward the instrument--not in a
> bad way, but it's taking a different place for me in my life.  Since
> college (I'm currently 27) I have always been entertaining the idea of
> attending graduate school for trombone in the back of my mind, even
> while working as an engineer.  I've written the list about this a few
> times, folks advice was very helpful.
>
> In the past few months I switched jobs, still in technology, and am
> loving what I'm doing.  It's something that I think I'm going to stick
> with for a while--a career.
>
> Which is where the change in trombone mentality comes in.  I have been
> practicing for the past 5 years in preparation for a graduate school
> audition.  Excerpts, solo pieces polished, re-polished, buffed, then
> shined up again.
>
> Now, I'm playing for fun, instead of with a specific goal, aside from
> the goal of performing well in the local/community ensembles that I play
> with each week.
>
> So...
>
> The question comes up, what to practice?  I need to keep my chops up,
> but I'm tired of reading my way through 15 Rochut and Blazevich etudes
> every day just to keep my lip.  I'm also tired of working up solo pieces
> that I'll probably never get the chance to perform (The Hidas Meditation
> just doesn't work well as a worship piece in a Lutheran church).
>
> I do some solo performing, but generally it's in church--mostly shorter
> pieces that are not overly challenging.  I would like to keep growing as
> a player, but, I'm a goal driven person--with out a big goal, I'm
> finding it hard to get motivated to put the time in on the horn like I
> used to.
>
> Don't get me wrong--I still love to play, and I am doing somethings now
> that I NEVER used to do--trying to play more pieces by ear, trying to
> improve (learn?) improvisation by playing along with CD's or the
> stereo.  But, I'm at a point where I'm just out of ideas about WHAT I
> should practice.
>
> So, I turn to the list, where I'm sure plenty of others have been in a
> similar situation.
>
> What do you practice?  If you want to throw a "why" component into that
> question, I'd be interested too, but I wouldn't hold anyone to that.
>
> Thanks!
> Doug
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