Personalizing Your Daily Routine

What is a Routine?

“Routine” can mean an exact repetition of events or a recognizable pattern of similar events within a framework.  A practice routine can include a series of warm-ups, technical exercises, and music.  It can be as rigid or as flexible as you like.  You may want to improve or maintain certain skills every day and change your practice of others with changing circumstances, such as your evolving strengths and weaknesses, upcoming assignments, performances, or auditions.

Own It!

A colleague of mine doesn’t like the word “routine,” and I understand why.  It implies a staleness, or potential staleness that can occur from repetition.  There are things that brass players need to do on a daily basis, but if we are not careful, repetition can cause inattention.  That can lead to bad habits, undermining the very goals of practicing.

When you personalize something, however, you are more invested, attentive, and care-full.  This is one of the reasons why I found college more enjoyable than high school, for example: in college I chose my own classes, instead of having them chosen for me.  So when it comes to brass playing, I recommend that everyone develop an I.E.P.: an Individualized Education Plan.

As you personalize your routine, keep in mind that how you play is as important as what you play, so you want to avoid practicing any bad habits that come from not paying attention.  If you notice your mind wandering, take a break, refocus, or simply switch exercises.  If you feel like you are just going through the motions or that you no longer need to do something, then change your routine.  A teacher of mine said that practicing is like making a pizza: if the dough is a little dry today, then you need to add water.  Always listen, pay attention, and adjust. Keep it organic.

There are extremes on both sides: some have been doing the exact warm-up routine for their entire long career, and some warm-up in a constantly changing way based on how they sound and feel, and that is also a routine.  Strike a balance that works for you.

On the Other Hand

None of this means that you should avoid consistency: patience and repetition over time are important ingredients of successful development.  Sometimes you need to try something long enough to find out if it works for you.  Many students make the mistake of judging an exercise as not useful after only trying it one time when it needs months to show its benefit.  When teachers assign music, warm-ups, or exercises, it is the result of their experience and training, passed down to them from their teachers.  Only those who have the patience, perseverance, and persistence to work on something over time will be rewarded with improvement.

How do we Develop a Routine?

Start with guidance from a teacher, exercise books, and links from later in this article and across the web.  In my student days I always tried to address every skill I could think of every day.  As you move to independently developing your own routine, consider the following:

  • what and how you practice will shape you as a musician
  • guidance from your teacher
  • your weaknesses
  • your attention span
  • your short-term goals
  • your long-term goals
  • what you think well-rounded musicians should be able to do
  • how much time you will practice
  • how good do you want to get?

Also consider these specific areas to develop:

  • Musicality
  • Tone Quality
  • Breathing
  • Long Tones
  • Slurs
  • Legato & Non-legato Articulations
  • Resonance
  • Intonation
  • Dynamics
  • Vibrato
  • Multiple Tonguing
  • Sight Reading
  • Evenness
  • Flexibility
  • Range
  • Intonation
  • Endurance
  • Dualities such as highest/lowest, fastest/slowest, loudest/softest, longest/shortest, broadest/most forward, and more

The important thing is that the student practice.  Only then can you and your teacher judge the effect specific exercises and make appropriate adjustments.

Some Items in a Warm-Up and Technical Practice Routine

Adjust the content, order, and timing to suit your needs, while working thoughtfully, repetitively, and consistently.

  • long tones expanding out from the middle – for steadiness and air flow
  • Remington pattern descending long tones – for slide technique, steadiness, and air flow
  • long tones with hairpin dynamics – for consistent intonation at different volumes
  • glissandi patterns expanding out from the middle – for air flow, range, resonance, strength, & consistency
  • adjacent & non-adjacent slow slurs – for air flow, resonance, & embouchure accuracy
  • cross-grain slurs – for air flow & slide/embouchure coordination
  • flexibilities, or fast slurs throughout range – for embouchure strength & quickness
  • short loud air attacks while keeping the mouthpiece in place – for building embouchure strength
  • loud melodic single tonguing patterns (Bill Adam/Ernest Williams) – for building embouchure strength
  • legato tonguing of notes on the same partial, chromatic and non-chromatic – for clean legato tonguing, slide/tongue coordination
  • fast single-tonguing (from patterns or music) – for a fast, light, breath-supported single-tongue
  • double & triple tonguing patterns transposed below low Bb based on Rimsky Korsakov’s Scheherazade (2nd & 4th mvts.) & Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite (Infernal Dance of King Kastchei) – derived from music for better motivated air flow, and played low because multiple tonguing is harder in this register
  • intonation, using CD-based intonation exercise materials or playing accompanied music such as Bordogni etudes or Smartmusic (all found in Play-along Materials), or by recording yourself and listening back.
  • range exercises from books by Remington, Bolter, and Ervin; etudes transposed up & down by an octave and/or clef; or high excerpts such as Bolero, Rhenish, Symphony Fantastique, Also Sprach Zarathustra, and Brahms’ Second Symphony transposed even higher as printed in the Range Expansion chapter of my book
  • scales
  • etudes, solos, and ensemble music

The above practice can include recording, singing, using a B.E.R.P., buzzing a mouthpiece, buzzing a mouthpiece attached to a leadpipe, breathing aids, using a tuner, using a metronome, and rest, all in the pursuit of a beautiful tone on every note.

Where can I find warm-ups and exercises?

We don’t have to rewrite the book on this. You can get warm-ups and technical exercises from the following links and books and you can adjust them to suit your needs and abilities. Whatever you decide to include in your routine will shape you as a player, but how you decide to play (how high your standards are and how consistently you practice) will have an even greater effect.

The following books primarily contain warm-ups & technical studies, although some also include music and some are etude books for learning different clefs.  I view the exercises as ideas for warming-up and developing different areas.  The “old stand-bys” for routine patterns are the Arban, Hunsberger/Remington, Marstellar, Remington, and Schlossberg:

Author Title Publisher
Aharoni, Eliezer New Method for the
Modern Bass Trombone		 Noga
Appleman, Rich,
& Joseph Viola		 Chord Studies for Electric Bass Berklee Press
Arban, J.B., annotated by
Alessi and Bowman		 Complete Method for
Trombone & Euphonium		 Encore
Baker, Buddy Tenor Trombone Method Studio 224
Blume, O. 36 Studies for Trombone Carl Fischer
Bobo, Roger Mastering the Tuba: Volume 1 Editions Bim
Bolter, Norman High Range Exercises for Trombone Air-Ev Productions
Edwards, Brad Introductory Studies in
Tenor and Alto Clef		 Ensemble Publications
Edwards, Brad Lip Slurs: Progressive Exercises
for the Development of
Tone and Technique		 Ensemble Publications
Ervin, Tom Rangebuilding on the Trombone Canyon Music
Faulise, Paul The F & D Double Valve Bass Trombone:
Daily Warm-up &
Maintenance Exercises		 PF Music
Fink, Reginald Introducing the Tenor Clef Accura Music
Fink, Reginald Introducing the Alto Clef Accura Music
Hunsberger, Donald The Remington Warm-up Studies Accura Music
Kociela, Thomas Intonation Repair Tool Thomas Kociela
Kopprasch, C. Sixty Selected Studies for Trombone Carl Fischer
Marstellar, Robert Basic Routines Southern Music Company
Mathie, Gordon Drudgeries Crane Institute for
Music Business
Remington, Emory Warm-ups for Trombone Accura Music
Sauer, Ralph Clef Studies for Trombone Wimbledon Music
Schlossberg, Max Daily Drills & Technical Studies M. Baron Co.
Schwartz, David Breakfast: Intonation Practice for Trombonists David A. Schwartz
Sluchin, Benny Study Material for the
Alto Trombone: Volumes 1-4		 Warwick Music
Stamp, James Warm Ups + Studies
(treble clef)		 Editions Bim
Stevens, Milt Scale and Arpeggio Routines Stewart Publishing
Tanner, Paul (ed.) Practice with the Experts Leeds
Vining, David Daily Routines for Trombone Kagarice Brass Editiions
Williams, Ernest Various trumpet books Charles Colin

Written 3/6/2005, revised 9/11/2006 and 12/28/2016