Assignments for the week of January 12, 2017

This week, work on long tones and slurring between low B flat, F, and high B flat.  Take in relaxed breaths, and release the air immediately without any tension.

Bring in your band music next week, and we’ll work more on reading.

Nice work on reading music today – we made good progress.

This week, work on playing long tones on the notes B flat (1st position), C (6th position) and D (4th position).

Focus on:

– keeping the pitch up, and centered

– keeping the corners of your mouth firm, and moving faster air, especially when you notice that the pitch is sagging

If D wants to dip down to the lower note in 4th position (G), try approaching it from C, and sliding up to  D (from 6th to 4th position). Once you’ve arrived at the D this way, try to memorize how that note feels, and reproduce that feeling and sound when “starting the note fresh” (without approaching it from C).

I look forward to seeing you both next week!