Balancing mouthpiece practice
Posted: Mon Apr 17, 2017 8:40 am
Hey trombrethren 
I've been playing a LOT less trombone than usual, but at leat 4 times a week I like to pick up the horn and do some maintenance for a while so that I don't lose my range or tone.
But every once in a while, when making recordings in the home studio or covering parts in big band, I need to pull out the large bore with a big mouthpiece. At one point, I had a solid pedal F, but that seems to be long since gone. My sound is still there down to a pedal G, and my range hasn't depleted, but my endurance has taken a bit of a beating.
I typically practice trumpet at least an hour daily (I've got time, and progress is both swift and satisfying since I started last winter), so adding in flugel, small bore trombone, and large bore with a 51 and with a Kelly 1.5G, there's a total of five instruments that I play or cover every once in a while - the bulk of it being of course small bore tbn.
So what are some general practice/maintenance tips one can follow to be a successful doubler?
I don't need to be a virtuoso to hold my own on lead trombone, and I'm certainly not looking to be a modern George Roberts on the low end, nor do I play enough flugel to make it a high priority in my schedule.
I've been playing a LOT less trombone than usual, but at leat 4 times a week I like to pick up the horn and do some maintenance for a while so that I don't lose my range or tone.
But every once in a while, when making recordings in the home studio or covering parts in big band, I need to pull out the large bore with a big mouthpiece. At one point, I had a solid pedal F, but that seems to be long since gone. My sound is still there down to a pedal G, and my range hasn't depleted, but my endurance has taken a bit of a beating.
I typically practice trumpet at least an hour daily (I've got time, and progress is both swift and satisfying since I started last winter), so adding in flugel, small bore trombone, and large bore with a 51 and with a Kelly 1.5G, there's a total of five instruments that I play or cover every once in a while - the bulk of it being of course small bore tbn.
So what are some general practice/maintenance tips one can follow to be a successful doubler?
I don't need to be a virtuoso to hold my own on lead trombone, and I'm certainly not looking to be a modern George Roberts on the low end, nor do I play enough flugel to make it a high priority in my schedule.