Your warm up

[bigbandbone]

My life as a trombonist started in the late 60's playing a small bore tenor straight horn. I had a good warm up routine that worked for me.

Since I started playing bass just a short couple of years ago I haven't found a comfortable warm up routine that really gets my chops ready. Especially when time is limited right before a gig.

What do you do? Looking for ideas!

[ArbanRubank]

Right now, I am exclusively playing a single-trigger bass with a Doug Yeo mouthpiece (finally!). As far as warm-ups and technical skill advancement is concerned: I still like the Davis 15-Minute Warm-Up book. In the morning, I work through it as written, extending parts of it up and/or down and in the evening, I work through it an octave lower. It can be done. Also, in the morning, I work through an Arbans Fantasy with variations as written and then again in the evening one octave lower. I limit myself to about 45 minutes or so each session on this kind of stuff.

Edit: To be perfectly clear, the above is my combined "warm-up" and "build up" routine. Afterwards, I do about an hour to 1 1/2 hours of ballads.

If I was simply warming up prior to a performance, I would do a few flexibilities, a little articulation and then go.

[Burgerbob]

The Michael Davis warmups (10, 15, 20 minutes) are a good starting place if you're looking for something. I used the 15 minute with the play-along exclusively for a few months, and it was great.

[ArbanRubank]

The Michael Davis warmups (10, 15, 20 minutes) are a good starting place if you're looking for something. I used the 15 minute with the play-along exclusively for a few months, and it was great.

They are that. Actually, I believe they could be used as a life-time warm-up b/c no one can ever do them absolutely perfectly every time. I mean, to someone listening, it might sound perfect. But ask the person playing if it was and, if they are being 100% honest, they will tell you that it was not. And if, buy some miracle, a player could execute them flawlessly every time, then the tempos can be increased and/or the range of the exercises can be increased. There is always room for improvement. Take the Davis 15-minute exercise on sixteenth notes. Do them in double-tongue. Increase the speed as technical adeptness increases. Extend the range both up and down, well into the pedals. Is there really any limit?

The Urbie Green warm-up book is another example. It can always be played better, as can Remington or any other exercise material anyone could name.

And that is how I approach them. It really doesn't matter what the warm-up exercises are, as long as the goal is for improvement.

[Bach5G]

In my best Allen Iverson voice: but we’re talking about warmup. Different from working on fundamentals?

[imsevimse]

I don't warm up, or the first notes coming from my horn is the warm up.

I had a routine of 20 minutes before and that wasn't very good, because when I have a gig and arrive at a church I haven't got that much time, and musicians around don't want to hear my scales or my flexibility studies. If I can warm up at home then I can do a routine but since reality isn't like that I have a minimal warm up no longer than a minute. The long warm up is five minutes. Often I do the warm up with a best brass practice mute. The short warmup is a couple of chromatic scales covering the register. The long warmup is to add a follksong or a jazz ballade. If I do that I like to remove the mute, but I could do it with the mute if there are a lot of string players around. I think a ballade is at most what people around could accept. I have friends who play as loud as possible (it seams) when they warm up or play all the licks they can and improvise constantly, mostly saxophone players. Trumpet players might scream as loud as they can as their warmup. I don't want to add to the noise.

/Tom

[ArbanRubank]

A warm-up IS a fundamental thing - for me.

I think it all depends upon what you consider a "warm up" and what you consider a study of "fundamentals". That would vary per individual. On person's warm-up may be another person's challenge. Any time I put my horn up to my face, I am always, always, always continuing to build up my fundamentals - maybe along with other things as well. For example, the Urbie Green book for some may be a mere warm-up, whereas another person might consider it an extremely high goal. I knew a trombone player who could sit down and rattle off about half of the Paul Tanner book in the morning as a "warm up" and then turn around and play a knock-down, drag-out gig in the evening. So...

[Doug Elliott]

A warm-up is anything that gets you ready to play. That can (and should) vary drastically through your development.

[AndrewMeronek]

A warm-up is anything that gets you ready to play. That can (and should) vary drastically through your development.

This definitely has been true for me. When I was much younger, I would get into a fairly typical long tone and flexibility drill, but in the past several years that has grown much less. Quite often, my warm is whatever the first tune happens to be at a gig, as there may not be anywhere to warm up that won't disrupt whatever is going on before we play. My preference, though, is about 30 seconds: a few mega-slurs going from midrange to extreme high and extreme low and a bit of triple-tonguing, then specifically stop for a couple of minutes to let the blood flow stabilize. Ideally, I do this about 3-5 minutes before the gig downbeat, and I'm good to go.

[norbie2018]

If I've got time the complete Stamp warm up out of the Bobo routine book plus some Arban inspired tonguing exercises. Takes about 7 minutes. If very little time an abbreviated version of what I just mentioned. No time? The first tune becomes my warm-up.

[Rusty]

I also like the Michael Davis books, and will usually alternate between the 15 and 20 minute books depending on how I’m feeling, or do some simple Caruso exercises. The Bill Adams routine adapted for trombone is worth a look too.

[BGuttman]

Warmup on a gig? Not much time. I've used the Caruso 6 Notes or Alan Raph's warmup in the trigger register. Working on fundamentals is for the practice room.

[BurckhardtS]

A warm-up is anything that gets you ready to play. That can (and should) vary drastically through your development.

This definitely has been true for me. When I was much younger, I would get into a fairly typical long tone and flexibility drill, but in the past several years that has grown much less. Quite often, my warm is whatever the first tune happens to be at a gig, as there may not be anywhere to warm up that won't disrupt whatever is going on before we play. My preference, though, is about 30 seconds: a few mega-slurs going from midrange to extreme high and extreme low and a bit of triple-tonguing, then specifically stop for a couple of minutes to let the blood flow stabilize. Ideally, I do this about 3-5 minutes before the gig downbeat, and I'm good to go.

This is pretty much what I went through, and what I did now.

I've usually done my fundamentals practice earlier in the day, but if I've had a slow morning or was late for something, I can rely on something quick like that and know I will be just fine.

[hyperbolica]

If I'm practicing, a warm up for me might just be long tones, trying to get the right sound centered in my ear. Maybe a couple crescendi/decrescendi. Followed by low volume lip slurs and glisses. Scales, arpeggios, patterns. Simple tunes with high and low notes. If I'm at a gig or rehearsal with no time for all that, the absolute fastest way to get warmed up is one or two really loud low notes. Don't do that a lot because it's obnoxious, trust me.

Generally, whatever you have to play, warm up doing the opposite. If you have to play high and loud, warm up low and soft. It works for me. Notice you've never seen my name on a bill board, though.

When I was really playing a lot (3-6 hours a day), I didn't need to warm up ever. I just needed to hear the first note. But I haven't played like that in a long time.

[Basbasun]

The first things I do in the playing day is usually as follow.
I sing a short few tones pattern, I free buzz the pattern, I buzz the pattern in the mpc, I play it on the horn.
That is usually the only buzzing I do that day. It was different years ago I did spend more time on buzzing.
Then I do play some scales and broken chords, six note I do every day, most often my own version. A tune, I transpose the tune to other keys.
After that you never know what I am going to practise, it depends on what I think is the most needed.

[Bonearzt]

I begin my "warm-up" with mouthpiece buzzing for a few minutes on the drive to the gig or rehearsal, it's usually enough to get the muscles moving and blood flowing.
At the gig or rehearsal, some gentle, no tongue, long tones followed by some lip slurs.

Usually enough.

But as mentioned, I think you do need to differentiate between "warm-up" and "fundamentals practice".


Eric

[bigbandbone]

Has anyone worked this one? Found it online. Interesting

[BGuttman]

I like playing F-valve notes in the outer positions, especially in higher partials where we normally don't go. It helps the tone on the straight horn. Some notes can be useful if you learn to play them, for example Bb in T3, and A in T4. And being able to play G in T6 (way out on the slide) will make you other notes speak better.