Brass

When you practice your music in smaller sections, it is easier to focus your attention in a concentrated way to learn the section. It may take you several times through the section of music to finally play it correctly. Many people stop at…
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As you practice your music, divide it into smaller sections or "bite-size pieces". The more difficult the music, the smaller the sections need to be. On one song you might work on each section from rehearsal number or letter to the next.…
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Now that you know the rhythm and the positions, you are going to practice putting them together. You are going to teach the rhythm to your positions so you can move them to the right position at the right time. This sounds very simple, but…
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You will know when you have outgrown it and no longer need to do it. If you still have to think about the position numbers or whether it's Low, Middle, or High, then you need to keep doing it. Identify the notes on all of your music until…
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When you first practice your music, you need to know how the rhythm sounds before you do anything else. In music, everything meets the rhythm. This means that everything you must do to play music on an instrument you must learn to do in…
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The trombone has 7 positions: First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh or 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. When learning your trombone positions, rather than think of them as 7 separate positions, it is helpful to think of them in groupings.…
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We tuba and euphonium players are getting pretty sophisticated now that we have an article on mutes. Still, it seems like such a minor item to be discussing when there are all those tough etudes, solos, and orchestra excerpts to see and…
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7 is all the way out on the trombone slide, just past where the raised parts at the end of the inner slide tubes begin. If you have trouble reaching all the way out to 7, reach as far as you can. You may need to push your right shoulder…
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Identifying notes as the position/fingering numbers plus low, middle, or high at first gives them an idea of where they are on the horn. They then have a reference to correct themselves if they get off: "Oh, I'm on 1 low and I'm supposed to…
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Having said that, however, it's wise to investigate several mouthpieces before making a selection. Don't let your students make the mistake of choosing one simply because their favorite player uses it. No two players have the same lip or…
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