Gym Muscles

[JTeagarden]

I am concentrating on bass bone these days, and played first bone at a rehearsal last night on bass bone.

Nothing too crazy, Holst 2nd Suite for Military Band, up to a high Bb, but damn if playing above the staff for 2 hours didn't drain my chops quickly.

I think my chops are the equivalent of "gym muscles;" great in the context of choosing what I will practice next at home, but woefully inadequate for sightreading music that goes where the composer, and not I want to go.

How do you guys build "chaos," "randomness," and "combat readiness" into your practice routines?

[MStarke]

That's an interesting question.

In the last years I have been practicing mostly basics - the boring stuff like scales, patterns, long tones etc. - to an extent that I often think I need to get more actual music back into my practice time. However I do feel that this creates a reliable base for more or less all music that can come across in a gig. For example I mostly sight-read a brass band concert on bass trombone last year which I certainly would not have been able to handle that way if I had not put in that kind of work before.

In general trombone parts in ensemble and orchestra look more like scales, patterns and long tones than like some sort of crazy other stuff. Bordogni etudes in my opinion come relatively close to what is needed typically.

Also if you are doubling on multiple instruments (?), try to touch all of them as often as possible.

Obviously this should go hand in hand with playing "correctly" in terms of embouchure, breathing etc.
And equipment can also play a role, but that's not what you asked about.

[harrisonreed]

I don't think Holst was composing for modern bass in mind, especially with (and I'm just making an assumption here) a modern washtub sized bass mouthpiece designed for playing pretty much exclusively below the staff.

So in that case, I'd scale back. A modern large tenor with a 3G or 2G piece is probably more appropriate for a piece like that.

[MStarke]

I don't think Holst was composing for modern bass in mind, especially with (and I'm just making an assumption here) a modern washtub sized bass mouthpiece designed for playing pretty much exclusively below the staff.

So in that case, I'd scale back. A modern large tenor with a 3G or 2G piece is probably more appropriate for a piece like that.

That's certainly correct, especially if playing first on bass (as stated in the initial post)

[JTeagarden]

I get it: Not exactly what Holst was aiming for, but bass bone does occasionally have to play above the staff, and any manner of things that go out of the comfort zone: How do you practice to be in a position to play whatever is thrown in front of you?

[JohnL]

I get it: Not exactly what Holst was aiming for, but bass bone does occasionally have to play above the staff, and any manner of things that go out of the comfort zone: How do you practice to be in a position to play whatever is thrown in front of you?

Bass trombone is called upon to play above the staff on occasion, but I can't think of any assemblage of bass trombone repertoire that would call for you doing it for two hours. On the other hand, there's always those situations where you show up expecting to play the bass trombone part and someone says "we need you on first". That's a whole 'nother thing. I carry a 3G in my kit for just such occasions. It "tenorizes" the sound a bit and buys me a little more endurance while still being big enough that the transition isn't awkward. Obviously, one does need to occasionally practice on a mouthpiece that size for this to work.

As to the greater question of "randomness"? Keep a list of scenarios (by "keep", I mean "make a list and then add to it as you think of more ideas") that you think would be challenging and simulate a randomly selected scenario as part of your routine. Sightread excerpts. Read different clefs. Play whatever is in your folder on a different instrument than you would normally choose. Play a piece you know well, but transpose it to a different key (yeah, just writing that made my brain hurt).

[harrisonreed]

Oh I didn't even realize you were playing first on bass. If you want to reduce "chaos" ... Ummm .

You, my friend, have induced chaos and randomness upon yourself.

[JTeagarden]

Thanks, I feel like I practice in a way that doesn't reflect "real-world" playing conditions...

There's a great quote by Eisenhower that I love: In war, all plans are useless, but planning is essential.

Just trying to figure out a plan that simulates the real world of playing better.

[tbdana]

How do you guys build "chaos," "randomness," and "combat readiness" into your practice routines?

I guess I wonder why do you approach trombone playing like combat and "gym muscles"? If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail, right? Maybe you should be looking at this from a less macho perspective.

I join others in asking why would you even play bass on first all night, other than this macho muscle approach? 100% it didn't sound good. 100% it was wasted effort. 100% it doesn't give you any indication at all of real world playing.

Still, even if it's wrong, I'm pretty sure I could play first all night long on bass (though I wouldn't) without tiring. I think that's because I take a more Zen approach. I'm not looking to overpower or defeat anything, and instead I treat it like "Row, Row, Row Your Boat":

Row, row, row your boat. In this case, your boat was a tenor, but you decided to row someone else's boat.

Gently down the stream. Two things here. 1. you row gently, you don't fight everything, which of course wears you down. 2. you row down the stream. Not against it. Not upstream. Not fighting. You row gently and you row down the stream, following the path of least resistance, and least effort, going where the stream is supposed to go, not fighting against it.

Merrily, merrily, merrily... Play with joy and celebration, not with force and warfare and grim determination. Easy gets the prize.

Life is but a dream. It's not a war, it's music which is ethereal and dreamlike. Your chops survive by coming from within the music and not imposing yourself on top of it and trying to wrestle it to the ground and pin it. You just be part of the music, one with it, which dictates that you approach it with grace and art rather than muscle and aggression.

Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.

[BGuttman]

I had to play a concert where halfway through I had to change from Bass to Lead (Lead player had to leave for another appointment). Sure it was not easy, BUT

1. I could put my symphonic tenor mouthpiece in my bass trombone that gave me some facility in the upper register.
2. My normal bass trombone range went to high C (C5) and higher so I could cover the part. Especially easy with a 1½G sized mouthpiece, but could be done even on my Doug Elliott setup (LB112/L/L7).

Of course I was glad I didn't need to blow any improv. That is definitely not my forte.

I made it through the gig and everybody was happy with my efforts.

Normally when I play with this group I'm on Bass.

What do I do in the practice room? Tenor trombone exercises on the bass trombone. Arban, Rochut, Blazhevich.

[JTeagarden]

I was asked at the last minute to sub on first due to a last-minute absence, and I haven't touched tenor in a long time... I enjoy sounding bad and missing notes as much as the next guy.

Don't let my "art of war" references fool you, I am not trying to brute force my way to playing, tried that a very long time ago with the results you might expect.

The question succinctly stated is "what do you practice to prepare for the unexpected," with the very strong suspicion that I baby myself when I practice by reading my chops in terms of what they seem capable of at that very moment, which seems contrary to "be prepared for anything."

Also: Tanks, pincer movements, flamethrowers, and bayonet charges.

[brassmedic]

I am concentrating on bass bone these days, and played first bone at a rehearsal last night on bass bone.

Doctor, it hurts when I do this....

[brassmedic]

Actually reminds me of a story my teacher told me. They had inadvertently hired 3 bass trombones for a gig. He was the last trombone to show up at the rehearsal, so had to play the first part. It was Schumann 3.

[harrisonreed]

Well, for starters, I practice equally tenor, bass, small bore, and alto trombone through the week. In this way you can be prepared for any gig. Limiting to just bass is not going to maximize how prepared you are for any gig or chaos/randomness. If anything focusing on tenor *might*, since large tenor lends itself to the widest possible range. But probably not.

[JTeagarden]

I have about an hour a day to dedicate to practicing among my other priorities in life, it seemed like being as good as possible on bass (which comes most naturally to me) was the best way to be reasonably good on one horn, and not mediocre on all of them!

Would be different with a couple more hours a day.

[harrisonreed]

That's all the time I get too. I'll let the other doublers take it from here though. Good luck!

[AndrewMeronek]

How do you guys build "chaos," "randomness," and "combat readiness" into your practice routines?

In terms of preparing for gigs outside of my comfort zone, I don't think there is any kind of magic bullet. I just make sure I'm practicing on improving my weaknesses. It's pretty much impossible to be good at EVERYTHING. You have to pick the best targets.

That said, good practice is focused practice. Randomness doesn't really seem to help much.

[JTeagarden]

I think I need to start using my gazillion method books - Rochut and Blazhevich come to mind immediately - and create lessons for myself, be more methodical and focused with my time, and maybe play orchestral excerpts or from the trombone books of my big band (at least 150 charts) to introduce an element of "deal with it" to my practicing...

[GGJazz]

Hi all .

Apart the extreme situation described by OP , I think that if one is playing bass trbn he have to be able to play in the upper register also , as well as a tenor player have to be able to play in the low register also.

I am a bass trbn player .
Anyway , my point is that we should think that a Bach 50B and a Bach 16 are , basically, the SAME horn . They are cut in the same key and range ; they are both Bb trombones . Of course , they are built to facilitate the ranges they are built to perform on at the best .

I think that what we have to do , with a bass trbn , it is to practice from , let say , pedal E/Eb to high C#/D . All the notes between these extremes have to be played and played again , every day , in variuos contexts .
So , if you practice scales , arpeggios , flexibility exercises , etc , you have to run between the extremes : low pedal , and high tones .

If you play one octave scale , you may start on medium F to low F , then going down half step until the scale from low Eb to pedal Eb ( so , F scale , E scale , Eb scale , D scale , etc) .Then start on low Bb to medium Bb , going up half step until the scale from medium D to high D ( Bb scale , B scale , C scale , C# scale , etc) .

If one is working on Bordogni Etudes , he have to play it one octave below , as well as in the original range.
An so on.

It is challenging , but I think that it is the way to be able to play in the differents ranges .
(Of course , if one is a bass trbn player , his main priority will be to play well in the low range..).

Regards
Giancarlo