Another (Slight!) Change in Routine - Sat 9th June 2012

As I have mentioned previously, I tweak my routine weekly, adding slightly more advanced material or pushing myself a little further, one way or another.  This week, I have only adjusted my Lip Flexibility work.  I am, ofcourse, still using Irons, I have just altered a little:

WARM-UP:

1. CG Breathing:

• Preliminary Exercise: CG 5-5 x10
• CG 5-5-5-5 (as previous weeks)

2. CG Long Holds + 5 + 5 Notes:

• Low C, B, B-flat, B and C then two octave arpeggio down from Low C to double pedal C, then B, B-flat, B and C (holding double pedal C)
• Then in B-flat and G
• Middle F, E, E-flat, E and F then three octaves down from middle F to triple pedal C, then E, E-flat, E and F (holding triple pedal F)
• Then in E-flat and C (down to triple pedal C)
• The extra notes at the top help to establish a full sound before moving down to the pedal register and help to connect the registers better

3. CG Upward Two Octave Arpeggios + 5 Notes:

• Two octave arpeggio (tongued, minims) from pedal C to middle C, slurring to C#, D, C# and pause on C
• Then E-flat, F and G, then each key as high as possible
• Again, this focusses on connecting the registers
• Last week I tongued this, which was difficult. This week I am slurring.

MAINTENANCE:

1. Lip Flexibility

• Earl D Irons Group 9 - minimum 2 repeats
• Earl D Irons Group 17 - minimum 3 repeats

2. Clarke Second Study

• Slurred, single tongued, 'k' tongued and double tongued, starting on:
  • Low G, Bb, Db, E, mid-G, Bb, Dd and E [+ upper G] --OR--
  • Low Ab, B, D, F, mid-Ab, B, D and F [+ upper Ab] --OR--
  • Low A, C, Eb, mid-F#, A, C, Eb and F# [+ upper A]
• Followed by two octave G diminished seventh from low G to upper G, slurred and then double tongued, then triple tongued, as fast as possible, two (or three) notes per pitch (or A-flat or A dim.7 to match the days Clarke routine)

REPERTOIRE:

• Work on pieces that need it (preparation for the English Nationals and upcoming oncerts)!

WARM-DOWN:

• Three octave arpeggio down from low C to triple pedal C
• Then in each key down as low as possible (usual to G)

As you can see, I have moved from group 12 to group 17 in the lip flexibilities.  I have skipped 13 to 16 for a reason.  After group 9 (in the next couple of weeks) I will move up a little in addition to group 17, probably 13 next, then 14, etc... because 13 doesn't go as high as 12, and is one harmonic higher than 9.  This is a natural progression.  I didn't want to change both at the same time because I feel that this would be too demanding.  I won't change again until after the English Nationals (23rd June).

Whit Friday and a Change in Routine...

Whit Friday
Well, Friday 1st June 2012 was a nie day.  Not too warm and not wet!  As a school teacher I had to beg the headteacher to let me leave a little early (which he did, thankfully!) so that I could meet the bus and begin at Heyrod, in Tameside, just east of Manchester, around 4.30pm.

We arrived, had a moment to warm-up, i.e. blow a few notes, and we were marching down the street and then playing our "stage" march "Honest Toil", by William Rimmer.  Because of the rush, it wasn't our best performance, but 12 performances later (11 in Tameside and finishing with Lydgate in Saddleworth, a little further north) we had made some good performances.  "Honest Toil" isn't the most difficult march, but it proved to provide the band with some consistency.  We were placed 5th overall in Tameside based on our 6 best results - 3 4ths, 2 5ths and a 6th.  Ofcourse, we would have liked to have finished higher, but that's contesting.  Its a very subjective sport!  Other results will come in in the near future.

For all brass players, Whit Friday is both enjoyable and competitive.  The key to doing well is accuracy, stamina, consistency and concentration.  These are the most difficult things to maintain over a seven hour period, especially when you can be playing three times an hour if the contests aren't too busy.  As a soprano player, the first sign of any of these areas diminishing is immediately noticeable.

My Approach...
I approached from a breathing perspective this year.  I focussed on the main aspects of the Claude Gordon style approach to breathing, "Big Breath - Chest Up".  This helped with all of the areas named above:

1. Accuracy - because of good support
2. Stamina - because the pressure wasn't on the lips
3. Consistency - because of good support and good stamina
4. Concentration - because of focussing on breathing not my own fatigue

Not coincidentally, this year has been my personal best Whit Friday performance to date.  This four areas were of the same standard for 95% of the night.  Only the first performance was a little, because of a lack of warm-up.  Focussing on breathing helped to use this as a warm-up.

Change to Routine - from Sunday 3rd June 2012
I had a day off the instrument on Saturday 2nd June for two reasons.  Firstly, after Whit Friday I earnt it and secondly, more importantly, a wedding!  (Not mine, been there done that, but a friends!)

My routine, then, started again on Sunday.  With only a couple of small changes...

WARM-UP:

1. CG Breathing:

• Preliminary Exercise: CG 5-5 x10
• CG 5-5-5-5 (as previous weeks)

2. CG Long Holds + 5 + 5 Notes:

• Low C, B, B-flat, B and C then two octave arpeggio down from Low C to double pedal C, then B, B-flat, B and C (holding double pedal C)
• Then in B-flat and G
• Middle F, E, E-flat, E and F then three octaves down from middle F to triple pedal C, then E, E-flat, E and F (holding triple pedal F)
• Then in E-flat and C (down to triple pedal C)
• The extra notes at the top help to establish a full sound before moving down to the pedal register and help to connect the registers better

3. CG Upward Two Octave Arpeggios + 5 Notes:

• Two octave arpeggio (tongued, minims) from pedal C to middle C, slurring to C#, D, C# and pause on C
• Then E-flat, F and G, then each key as high as possible
• Again, this focusses on connecting the registers
• Last week I tongued this, which was difficult.  This week I am slurring.

MAINTENANCE:

1. Lip Flexibility

• Earl D Irons Group 9 - minimum 2 repeats
• Earl D Irons Group 12 - minimum 3 repeats

2. Clarke Second Study

• Slurred, single tongued, 'k' tongued and double tongued, starting on:
  • Low G, Bb, Db, E, mid-G, Bb, Dd and E [+ upper G] --OR--
  • Low Ab, B, D, F, mid-Ab, B, D and F [+ upper Ab] --OR--
  • Low A, C, Eb, mid-F#, A, C, Eb and F# [+ upper A]
• Followed by two octave G diminished seventh from low G to upper G, slurred and then double tongued, then triple tongued, as fast as possible, two (or three) notes per pitch (or A-flat or A dim.7 to match the days Clarke routine)

REPERTOIRE:

• Work on pieces that need it (preparation for the English Nationals and upcoming oncerts)!

WARM-DOWN:

• Three octave arpeggio down from low C to triple pedal C
• Then in each key down as low as possible (usual to G)