TromboneChat

Hey folks, I sit in with a lot of bands and 9 times out of 10 I have no idea when they are going to ask me to get up and play. One of the biggest problems I face once I get up there is not having enough time to warm up. Some acts give me 30 seconds or so to warm up but others give me no time to get my chops ready. What is the best way to warm up on the fly. While I am waiting to sit in, I do some deep breathing exercises so my lungs, abs and airways are all warmed up and once I get up there quickly jam in my practice mute, run a few quick scales and that's about it.

If you have an automatic transmission in your car you can buzz on your mouthpiece as you drive to the gig. I do that in my commuter. Or buzz between shifts.

Free buzz while you set up your horn and just do a breathing routine as you wait.

Often times I have enough time to play a Bb to tune. I think Doug Elliott mentioned that he doesn't warm up anymore, but I'm sure that's a product of playing more often than someone like me.

Quote from: Full Pedal Trombonist on Jul 12, 2017, 10:05AM I think Doug Elliott mentioned that he doesn't warm up anymore, but I'm sure that's a product of playing more often than someone like me.

I think he also said he's consciously aware of how his mechanics work, and that makes a difference. 

Buzzing the mouthpiece is what I do when I'm in the car. If I'm in a real hurry I take a few notes to check instrument, air and sound is OK. But I like to have some time before any gig or rehearsal. You told you do some breathing exercise and that's good to do anywhere. It doesn't make any noise.

I think its ok to do some basic now and then if you have time. Not all need so much warm up. Just make sure you dont do anything extreme that hurts in the beginning.

Leif

Here's a warm-up trick I learned from Jeff Reynolds at a master class. It can be used when you haven't had time to warm up and you have to play quickly. He called it the Three Presses. Form your embouchure, and then place the mouthpiece on the embouchure and press firmly but not hard. Use only a little more pressure than you would when playing normally. Press for 1-2 seconds, then remove the mouthpiece. Wait about 10 seconds, and repeat two more times for a total of three times.

This will allow you to feel warmed up even thought you haven't played. Like all tools, you have to try it a couple of times to figure out how it can work best for you.

For me it's more about the warmup time I put in before the rehearsal/gig; if I can put in my regular time before hand I am going to be fairly confident in what's going to happen later in the day, even if it takes a minute or two for the chops to get going again.  I am also a big proponent of mouthpiece buzzing in the car and free buzzing a bit to get things going. 
  One other idea might be to practice playing without the warmup time, recreating the performance situation.  I remember hearing stories about orchestral players who would wake up in the middle of the night, go to their horn and play Bolero or something similar to recreate the experience of sitting and waiting in the orchestra... 

Thanks for all the tips and suggestions! I've started free buzzing, that seems to help and I now keep a mouthpiece in my pocket so I can step outside and warm up real quick for hitting the stage. 

Thanks for all the tips and suggestions! I've started free buzzing, that seems to help and I now keep a mouthpiece in my pocket so I can step outside and warm up real quick for hitting the stage.