So sorry that the volume is a bit low in the middle part of this video. I had been doing videos all day so my brain was a bit fried! That being said what are your thoughts about this mini-lesson?
I used to do spider long tones, starting on second-space A, 3 notes, bending down on the 2nd one. I set the metronome at 47 mm. Starting on A will take you through the full "normal" range, low F# to high C. They worked but were time-consuming. Lots of good suggestions in the vid. Thanks, Mr. Austin.
I agree with your thinking, the notion of endless long tones can be exhausting and a bit numbing. The musicality of the violin excersise as it moves through its chord progressions encourages to the element of fun or enjoyable playing whilst simultaneously improving lip and finger dexterity outcomes all round. Thanks for your video.
I was brought up 55 years ago on sustained chromatic long tones from bottom of the range to top as a part of my daily routine. I still do it and find it helps with tone, pitch and stamina.
That's actually really interesting! I was always told (by almost every brass player ever - received wisdom or just Chinese whispers?) to do long notes, almost religiously as part of a practise regime but as you say flow studies, at least for me, highlight imperfections and clunky gear changing in my embouchure that holding a long note doesn't do. Refreshing to have a different perspective on this and thank you for daring to suggest doing something that suits what the player wants to achieve in their own type of playing. Sometimes a lot of practise is habitual and leads to no improvement only a reassurance that we are following the norm and doing what we've been told to do is ''good for us''.
That's pretty interesting. I've been doing long tones almost everyday. They seem to be working for me right now. Last on I'll change them up to not be so monotonous. It'll definitely make it seem less boring. I tend to hop to Clarke studies for the air flow too.
Trent, thanks for giving long tones a new dimension. I practiced Stamp a lot already, but this is more fun. The circular breathing.. very impressive, don't even understand the technique behind it, to keep the tone steady.
GREAT job on your PTW segment, Trent. The Bill Adam Daily Routine was recommended to me by Chris Botti himself and it's worked wonderfully for me over 4 years. However, I love your flexibility on the horn so I am willing to switch things up and perhaps I'll gain some of your facility all over!
Hi Trent i dont do long tones either. I dont have very long breath capacity. Due to asthma. But i try to use the clark studied and the chichowitz as flow studies. But i’m only about for years into playing after a forty year hiatus
Interesting, I've never thought of long tones as a simple static note held ad infinitum. I guess I've naturally gravitated to utilizing patterns, sometimes simple Caruso interval patterns to Clark's etc. I suppose the nearest I've ever come to that definition of "long tones" would be something I learned many years ago that I dubbed "touch tones" or "whisper tones" where the player plays a tone, usually a lower one, as softly and as long and steady as possible. That's always helped me clean up my sound and lock in breath support.
What do I think? I think that the red mouthpiece at your 4:00 would take some getting used to for the average player. No sweat for you, of course! But seriously, your timing for posting this video is uncanny. I just sat down in front of my computer after improvising ways to make long tones more useful. I had been doing the exercise (I don't remember the name of it.) where you start on a note and follow it by going chromatically and alternately up and down, while the intervals get larger and larger, for example: G Ab F# A F Bb E etc. one note at a time. Lately I've been doing three of four of these at a time, followed by Farkas lip slurs, keeping the feel and flow constant. It makes it more interesting and, like you conveyed, more useful. Thank you for your insight and your demonstration.
Interesting perspective and similar to mine - I do a lot of modified clarks etc. . I guess the closest I get to long tones are the vocalise exercises - which I love for developing a singing like tonal quality in my playing. Also the Walter White long tone backing tracks are just great for improvising around for 20 mins or so - but I can't for the life of me stay on a middle G all that time - it would drive me crazy :)
So sorry that the volume is a bit low in the middle part of this video. I had been doing videos all day so my brain was a bit fried!
That being said what are your thoughts about this mini-lesson?
I used to do spider long tones, starting on second-space A, 3 notes, bending down on the 2nd one. I set the metronome at 47 mm. Starting on A will take you through the full "normal" range, low F# to high C. They worked but were time-consuming. Lots of good suggestions in the vid. Thanks, Mr. Austin.
I agree with your thinking, the notion of endless long tones can be exhausting and a bit numbing. The musicality of the violin excersise as it moves through its chord progressions encourages to the element of fun or enjoyable playing whilst simultaneously improving lip and finger dexterity outcomes all round. Thanks for your video.
I was brought up 55 years ago on sustained chromatic long tones from bottom of the range to top as a part of my daily routine. I still do it and find it helps with tone, pitch and stamina.
That's actually really interesting! I was always told (by almost every brass player ever - received wisdom or just Chinese whispers?) to do long notes, almost religiously as part of a practise regime but as you say flow studies, at least for me, highlight imperfections and clunky gear changing in my embouchure that holding a long note doesn't do. Refreshing to have a different perspective on this and thank you for daring to suggest doing something that suits what the player wants to achieve in their own type of playing. Sometimes a lot of practise is habitual and leads to no improvement only a reassurance that we are following the norm and doing what we've been told to do is ''good for us''.
That's pretty interesting. I've been doing long tones almost everyday. They seem to be working for me right now. Last on I'll change them up to not be so monotonous. It'll definitely make it seem less boring. I tend to hop to Clarke studies for the air flow too.
Trent, thanks for giving long tones a new dimension. I practiced Stamp a lot already, but this is more fun.
The circular breathing.. very impressive, don't even understand the technique behind it, to keep the tone steady.
Agreed on his circular breathing. So hard to pull off.
GREAT job on your PTW segment, Trent. The Bill Adam Daily Routine was recommended to me by Chris Botti himself and it's worked wonderfully for me over 4 years. However, I love your flexibility on the horn so I am willing to switch things up and perhaps I'll gain some of your facility all over!
if it ain't broke don't fix it brother!
Hi Trent i dont do long tones either. I dont have very long breath capacity. Due to asthma. But i try to use the clark studied and the chichowitz as flow studies. But i’m only about for years into playing after a forty year hiatus
Interesting, I've never thought of long tones as a simple static note held ad infinitum. I guess I've naturally gravitated to utilizing patterns, sometimes simple Caruso interval patterns to Clark's etc. I suppose the nearest I've ever come to that definition of "long tones" would be something I learned many years ago that I dubbed "touch tones" or "whisper tones" where the player plays a tone, usually a lower one, as softly and as long and steady as possible. That's always helped me clean up my sound and lock in breath support.
What do I think? I think that the red mouthpiece at your 4:00 would take some getting used to for the average player. No sweat for you, of course!
But seriously, your timing for posting this video is uncanny. I just sat down in front of my computer after improvising ways to make long tones more useful. I had been doing the exercise (I don't remember the name of it.) where you start on a note and follow it by going chromatically and alternately up and down, while the intervals get larger and larger, for example: G Ab F# A F Bb E etc. one note at a time. Lately I've been doing three of four of these at a time, followed by Farkas lip slurs, keeping the feel and flow constant. It makes it more interesting and, like you conveyed, more useful. Thank you for your insight and your demonstration.
Interesting perspective and similar to mine - I do a lot of modified clarks etc. . I guess the closest I get to long tones are the vocalise exercises - which I love for developing a singing like tonal quality in my playing. Also the Walter White long tone backing tracks are just great for improvising around for 20 mins or so - but I can't for the life of me stay on a middle G all that time - it would drive me crazy :)
i want to know your technique for high tones Thanks for your videos
Practice!