In the grind with Arbans

Summer work

I love the summer, you can get really deep in your playing and we tend to have more time to really pull things apart. For me it is more of the same honestly, Arbans, Schlossberg, etc. BUT the fun part… more of it!! Below is my current regime for the AM.

Summer lesson deal. I am also running a deal on online lessons right now Learn more below (it is a pretty solid discount, and limited space) (40% off single lessons, 50% off bookings of 4)

LEARN MORE

The Session

Arbans (any missed note is isolated and attacked 2 times on air and 3 times with tongue)

  • First studies: 1 page a day. (Different keys or pick a key of the day, play in all registers)

  • Flexibility: 16/17/18/19. Down an octave.

  • Syncopation: 1 page a day (Play in all registers)

  • Chromatics: Pick 2 or 3 exercises. Play those in all registers back to back. So you should get one exercise in 3 octaves, rest between each exercise, but not registers.

  • Slurring or legato: no.13, 14, and

  • Intervals: no.1 Pick a few lines, play all variations

  • Double tonguing: Pick 5 or 6 exercises

  • Slur and double tongue: Pick a few exercises (remember you can take them into different registers)

  • The Art of Phrasing - Pick one or two

  • Kopprasch players choice.

That is it. It is a slog, throw on a movie or something if you need to.






Basics session

Back!!

Now that the Ghost Opera has finished I am back to some what of a normal schedule (as much as a freelancer can say) so I am hoping to be back sharing sessions. Below is the basics one I did today after a few days off.

Summer lesson deal. I am also running a deal on online lessons right now Learn more below (it is a pretty solid discount, and limited space) (40% off single lessons, 50% off bookings of 4)

LEARN MORE

The session

The goal: Get back in touch with the buzz and air relationship after time off

  • Breathing exercises - your choice, I did some basic flow work.

  • Buzzing - Sirens and simple songs

  • Buzzing with Incentive Spirometer (in the inverted position)

  • Long tones - 10 beats @ 60BPM, five beats up, five beats down, 5 beats rest between.

    • I did C major, a minor, G whole tone.

  • Lip Flexibility - Pick something easy

    • Remingtons moguls

    • 4 - 5 - 6 -8 - 6 -5 - 4 (All fingering combinations including B horn)

    • 2 - 4 - 8 - 4 -2 (All fingering combinations including B horn)

  • REST

  • Lead pipe buzzing - 4 times, lead pipes second harmonic

  • Clarke no.1 slurred and tongued

  • Clarke no.2 slurred and tongued

  • REST

  • Concone no.1

  • Concone no.2

That is it. This is a simple session, the goal is connecting the air and the buzz after some time off. Shouldn’t be hard, should be nice and focused!

High range session

High range is always a mixed bag for some players. For me, it has always been my biggest struggle as a player, low range came much easier. The routine below is one I have been using a few times a week lately to get ready for the world premiere of a new concertino for amplified horn and bass clarinet with others. This is with my group Timepoint. Though, back to the routine.

High range routine

A quick note, with most high range work, there is more than just high notes in here. All about balance.

For context, this is usually in my second session. I find personally if I do this kind of work in the morning I lose the flexibility I usually have and get more “locked in”. When it is busy it can always be a challenge to have a large scale view of the work we do.

That is it for this week, share, like, comment. Thanks for stopping by!

Gekker and Schlossberg for control and ease

The session today makes use of Chris Gekker’s book Endurance Drills for Performance Skills and the Schlossberg book again. If you don’t have the Gekker book you could find similar approaches in Clarke, Shuebruk, and Nagel. I just really like the Gekker book, it is also a nice way to take a step back from the Clarke book and let that refresh itself.

Once we hit our stride this becomes a back and forth of technical and flow/flex. Also pay close attention to the concepts of the Gekker book and what is being worked on, spoiler, it isn’t speed.

The Routine

  • Breathing exercises - Flow but focusing on expanding the breath (so instead of working to in for 1 out for 1, work your way up to something like in for 16 out for 16 with a metronome at 52 bpm. Great one to use a breathing tube with)

  • Schlossberg no.6 down an octave. This is just so we start on Harmonic 4 instead of 8.

  • Schlossberg no.12 (as written)

  • Schlossberg no.21 and ascending on the Bb horn.

  • Gekker no.1 going as high as can be controlled. No tension or straining in the Gekker exercises.

  • Schlossberg no.15

  • Gekker no.3

  • Schlossberg no.25 (same was as in the Schlossberg session starting on the harm 4 C)

  • Gekker no.7

  • Schlossberg no.52 (following procedures from the Sclossberg session)

  • Gekker no.10

  • Etude of choice, I’d go with Kopprasch or Kling, something focusing on articulation and moving around the horn to reinforce what we worked on.

That is it. It is a focused session and heavy work. If you start losing the ability to keep it in control, jump to the etude after a 5 minute break and call it.

Rehearsal day morning session

So, a reason there haven’t been tons of practice logs this week, I have been busy in rehearsals for a show with Timepoint next week in Edmonton, as well as preparing for giving a masterclass. This all leads to this post. I have a few short routines I like to do really early in the morning, we are talking around 6 or 7am on rehearsal days.

Leave a comment, hit like, or share, enjoy the session below.

The Session

Done best with some caffeine

  • Stretch and breath.

    • The goal here is to jump start in to the day. Focus on air.

  • Adams Simple long tones (you may notice I really like these…)

  • Teuber 7a and 7b

  • Remington slurs, starting at T0 and work down

    • Slurred and tongued

  • Scales (use dice, or another random way to pick scales) About 5 minutes worth.

    • Do lots of different patterns, throw in arpeggios, etc.

    • Lots of different scales, the random choice can be the starting note for pentatonic, limited transpositions, etc.

  • Some kind of power work/loud playing for a few minutes.

    • Stamp Power exercise or Schlossberg no. 17 (in a bunch of diff. articulations) are some of my go to choices.


That’s it, short and sweet, but it gets me locked in. I vary this a bunch, but the elements remain the same.

Happy Horning

A mixed bag session

This session is another one I hit every so often, or version of it. Details below

If you haven’t seen I have started a project related to this one called “practice logs”, it is a project where I am aiming to upload one of my sessions a day. I am trying to make sure those sessions are similar to these. For days like yesterday when I was in rehearsal all day, there may end up not having an upload since no one wants to read a list of rep I worked on with measure numbers. The button below will take you there.


The Session

  • Breathing and light stretching, incorporate breathing exercises into stretching.

  • Bodet Daily Exercises no.1 - Follow instructions, go only as far as is controlled plenty of time to work on the high range.

  • Bodet Daily Exercises no.3 - Follow instructions, max 15 minutes, same thing with range, go only as far as necessary. (I recommend transposing the exercise down a fourth. Or play as written, your call.)

  • Break (5 - 10 minutes)

    • Stretch, setup practice logs for the day, goals, etc. Make the time active.

  • Clarke Setting up drills Group 1

  • Laurie Frink - An Integrated Warm-up - Part I

  • Break (5 minutes)

  • Brass Gym - Lip Flips

  • Brophy - Technical Studies for solving… - Low register exercises 1 - 4

  • Etudes

  • Lead sheet work (couple tunes)

Another short and sweet one. I usually use this one in the morning (or one similar looking) I find it nice and straight forward, and it works well for me.

Happy Horning.

3 duets inspired by Concone and Bordogni
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First session of the day with Plog

Today I am going to share my session out of the Plog books, it was how I started my day and thought it was a good candidate for the blog today.

There is a bit more writing today, since certain aspects need to be explained (exercise no.4b as an example)

About the books, they are broken into sections. For example in Book 1 you will see more than one no.1, BUT it will in a diff grouping of warm up I, or II, etc. I tried to make it clear below, when you see a section show up stay in that section until a new one is mentioned in bold.

The Session

  • Constructive rest (Alexander Technique) (Learn about it here if you haven’t studied Alexander)

  • Breathing Exercises- I did the following ones

    • 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10

    • Inhale therapy - sips - Exhale therapy x 2

      • First time with a total seal, second time with a leak.

  • Bill Adams long tones (not the advanced set) Start on a G in the staff, one tone at a time work your way outwards (G,F#,Ab,F,A,etc..) until G.

  • Plog Bk.1 -Warm up exercises I - 1a/c/e/g

    • Variation - do cells on the B horn only, the f horn only, and normal.

    • Buzz some (On a BERP if you have one)

  • Plog Bk.1 - 2b/d

    • Extend these patterns by repeating the last two notes down the octave

  • Take a short rest, stretch something that is tight.

  • Plog Bk.1 - 4a/b

    • 4a - first 3 notes are lip slurs, start F0 go all the way down through the B horn.

    • 4b - first 5 notes are lip slurs, as are the final 7 (only 1 not isn’t) on the F horn versions. The B horn harmonics don’t work for the same patter once you hit the written F so lip slur what you can but do those all on the B horn.

  • Plog Bk.1 - Warm up exercises II - 1a/b/d

    • All normal fingerings.

  • Plog Bk.1 - Warm up exercises III - 2b/c/d

  • Plog Bk.1 - Warm up Etude no.1

  • Take another short rest, stretch something out.

  • Plog Bk.5 - No.1

    • Use your own judgment how much of this one you do., there are TONS OF PATTERNS, don’t forget about the B horn, transpose some down the octave, they still work. Some of these can get wicked high with the B horn.

      • My usuall approach is play as written startign on 123 and working up and through the B horn all the way to T0. THEN do it down the octave SLOWLY on the F horn.

  • Plog Bk.5 - no.8

    • The third line only.

  • Plog Bk.5 - no.9

    • First line only.

  • Rest

  • Plog Bk.5 - no.9

    • Third line

  • Plog Bk.5 - Flexibility Etude no.4

    • After you get through it, if you don’t need to work on parts of it, repeat the first phrase down the octave

That is it, that is all.

Happy horning.

3 horn duets inspired by Concone and Bordogni

A Schlossberg Session for Flexibility

Coming off of last week, my sharing of sessions continues. I don’t do “routines” I have lots of sessions I like, etc. As well, when I come back to these sessions they may not be exact I may expand on things, swap thing out, etc. Up next is based around Schlossberg, another one of my favourites.

Usual things, metronomes, tuners, etc.

The Session

  • Clarke no.2 - starting on F sharp and expanding outwards (same approach as in the Arbans Session)

  • Schlossberg no.6 - Expand the range down to Low C, and reverse the hair pins so it Cresc - Dim

  • Schlossberg 11 and 11a

For the next chunk use natural harmonics

  • Schlossberg no.31

  • Schlossberg no.14

  • Schlossberg no.21

  • Schlossberg no.23 - Use the B horn for the top note ex. written A On T0 in ms.1. This way we stay on the harmonic series and throw the valve for 1 note)

  • Schlossberg no.25 - Same as no.23 for top notes. Start these below the staff and extend the pattern e-c-e, g-e-g, c-g-c, e-c-e, g-e-g, a-g-e-c-g-e-c-g-c.. etc through the valves.

Go back to normal fingerings.

  • Schlossberg no.45

  • Schlossberg no.52 - Slur in 2 measure groups all Forte.

  • Schlossberg no.71 or 72 pick either A or B

  • Schlossberg no.76

  • Then some etudes.

Happy horning!


3 horn duets inspired by Concone and Bordogni