Warming up on a brass instrument is very important. If you don't warm up you won't sound good when playing. The bigger the instrument, the longer you should warm up. Try going for at least 10 minutes warm up, longer if you have time.
Steps
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Practice buzzing your lips without the instrument. This is a very good way to warm up. An effective method is to play simple songs on your mouthpiece such as 'Mary Had a Little Lamb'. You don't always need the instrument to practice with, you can buzz your lips as if you are playing your instrument.
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Buzz into the mouthpiece. Before you assemble your instrument, practice buzzing rhythms into your mouthpiece.
- Practice doing different pitches into your mouthpiece, that will help with using your lips.
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Make sure your instrument is functioning well. Try playing the note C and see if it sounds right. You may have to release the water keys. Be aware of any problems your instrument has.
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Play the scale you are most confident with. Play it in different ways. You can play it staccato (separated), slurred, loud, quiet, play every note twice (e.g CCDDEE etc.), play major and minor (a major scale is converted into minor by making the third and sixth note flat). When you have practised that scale a couple of times in different ways, try another scale.
- The concert B flat scale is a good scale to start with. What notes it consists of varies from instrument to instrument depending on the key. As a rule of the thumb if you play a B flat instrument (like the trumpet) it'll be a C scale and if it is a C instrument (like the trombone) it will be a B flat scale.
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Play arpeggios. Arpeggios are the first, third, fifth and last note of a scale. The arpeggio of C would be C,E,G,C'. Again, try playing it major and minor and in different ways.
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Practise lip exercises. Lip exercises are important to build lip muscles. Practice lip slurs. Lip slurs are slurs where you do not change the fingering or position just your lip shape. Try slurring up and down. If that appears too easy try slurring lots of notes.
- The tighter your lips the higher the note, the more loose your lips the lower the note.
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Try buzzing as long a note as you can manage. Remember to take a deep breath before trying. See how point you can hold a note and try and beat that record. This exercise will help you with your breathing.
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Practice tonguing. Warm up your tongue muscles by playing exercises which have lots of notes and rhythms in them (disqualifying slurs). Accented notes are also good for warming up your tongue as they require you to tongue harder.
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Practice fingering/positioning. You don't even need to blow into the instrument to try this. Just move the valves or slide to a study/piece. Try one which requires a lot of different notes and move your valves or slide as it should be. Don't move them around Hocus-Pocus as you won't learn anything from it, do it to some written down music.
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Play through some simple tunes like 'Mary Had a Little Lamb' or 'Jingle Bells'. This will mean that you are ready to play harder tunes.
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Practice different pitches. Try playing a mixture of low and high notes so you are prepared to do both.
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Play studies from music books. Try various types and don't stick to the same ones. Try ones for, lips, tounge and fingers as you need to know all of that.
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Get help with an instructor. If you haven't already, get an instructor to help you and give feedback on how you play and what you need to work on.Advertisement
Community Q&A
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QuestionWhat if I have a large brass instrument? Do I still use the same techniques?RubyTop AnswererYes. These techniques work regardless. Instruments like tubas, trombones and baritones may need a bit more practice as the are bigger, but the techniques work the same.
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QuestionWhat if my instrument is super cold and I'm about to perform?RubyTop AnswererPrepare in advance if possible. Try doing as many exercises as you can before you preform to make your instrument warmer. Use the procedures in the article. Take a look at your music and practice techniques you are using (e.g. slurring). If you don't have time for a long warm up, play as much as you can, then before you go to perform, warm up the bell of the instrument with your hand. This will improve sound quality. Whatever you do, do not under any circumstances put your instrument on a heat source, as that will most likely damage it.
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QuestionIs it wise to play at full volume before properly warming up?Community AnswerAs a trombone player, I suggest playing at medium volume (mp). If you're playing with a group of other people, you should for sure play at mp, but it depends on the instrument and what you prefer.
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Tips
- Try practising every day if you can, and try to play for at least an hour. It's okay if you can't always manage that.Thanks
- Keep in mind that if a brass instrument is not warmed up, it will sound flat. Before your instrument is warmed up it is best to pull in the tuning slide and when necessary, pull it back out again to avoid the instrument being to flat or sharp.Thanks
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Warnings
- If you start to feel faint while playing, you may have possibly been playing too long, put your instrument away and go do something else or you may faint.Thanks
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