Thank you SO much for these videos. I am learning unexpected things. For example, normally I spend about 50% of my practice time on trumpet and the other 50% on trombone. But this week I have a performance coming up on tuba. And in playing along with this "simple" exercise I am so surprised at Just.How.Different my breathing needs to be on tuba. I know it will pay dividends on the other instruments.
Thank you! And for your question, the answer is all about consistency. When we breathe through our nose, we keep our corners together and lips intact with the mouthpiece, making it easier to keep the sound. When we breathe through our mouth, whether corners or some other way, the change can cause us to get a bit lost with the feeling of when everything is working. Alternating back and forth allows us to more easily find our way back from breathing through our mouth.
Any tips for air leaking through your corner when getting the really low valve pitches? I'm happy with the sound but would like my embouchure to be more efficient. 😅😅
That’s a great question - and it’s one that really is very individual to the player. If you’re happy with your sound, you are probably at least 90% of the way there, and depending on how much air leakage there is, there might not be much to do about it
Thanks so much for this. In the first video, you recommended doing it every day for some time. Does that mean you'd recommend all 3 sessions each day, or maybe alternating 1 per day?
Ah, great question-and I was asked this elsewhere! The idea is each video is every day for one week, then week 2, then week 3, etc. For any individual, you might want to spend more than one week on a video, but they are consecutive rather than concurrent!
Just my iPhone with no microphone; I found a mic to be challenging to get both the sound of the instrument and my voice, so the iPhone auto levels it. For this purpose it’s perfect.
Just curious- are you tonguing the slurs (like Bb to D), or doing a cross-grain/natural slur? Thanks for doing these, BTW. I find myself being asked to play more bass trombone lately, these are helping a lot. I’m having fun working through the videos.
