Abi:
I hope you start to include the long tones and octave jumps into your practice routine. I’ll explain them again quick. Start with a long tone on Low C, then jump an octave to high C. From each of those notes you expand in an outwards direction, alternating high and low ex low C, high C, low B, high C#, low Bb, High D, etc.. until you reach F# on both sides. From there we started to do the octave jumps. F#, Mid F#, High F#. Try to get all the way up to C! When going for the higher notes, activate your core and really tongue hard. That will help the air to speed up, allowing the notes to come out a little easier – think spitball.
Ab, and Db Major for next week.
Since we didn’t get to do any duets this week it would be nice to hear Arabian song, with the second duet part for next week. If you want, try to set aside time to check out sight reading some other songs.
I’d also like to see 4- 8 bars of the Propellor song written out for next week. If you have an issue figuring out the key signature, just put down your best guess and add accidentals if you need to.
Here are the links to all the duets I’ve sent so far, and the google drive with me playing the other parts!
https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/track?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:fc6a86f0-edc3-4b6d-a4d8-5f16b4105e2b
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1DZdYvu1GP-lQXJqVq22ABrjqgY_g53oe?usp=sharing
Matt:
Nice job with everything we’ve been working on so far! The more time you spend on the horn with focused practice and having fun will benefit you
Try to incorporate lip slurs into some of your practice sessions. These exercises are so good for air control, sound development, and range. If you can do four note slurs (C->G->C->E) I think you will notice a big difference in your playing. While doing these, remember to take a big breath and blow a consistent stream of air, you could even crescendo to help out those higher notes.
German Dance is coming along really well. As soon as you get the rhythms and the notes down more, it will be easier to take a deeper look at the articulation, dynamics, and phrasing included in the piece. Please practice this with a metronome, it will be the best way to get the time and rhythms feeling very solid.
It’s always great if you can check out majors scales during your practice sessions as well. I know we didn’t look at any this week, but try to review C, F, Bb, and Eb major, as well as their arpeggios with a metronome!