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The last few days I have raised by my practice time to 4 hours a day. It makes me feel like I am back in my undergraduate days again! It feels good to get in some good solid face time, but I couldn’t be doing this without the strength foundation I laid as I was playing myself back into shape. There is a lot more to playing the trumpet than strength, but without it, you won’t be able to refine your playing to the degree needed to play your best.
As of my last post, my strength was good, but I felt lacking in technique and refinement. Since then, I have focused heavily on etudes from the Charlier and Henri Chavanne books. I’m sure almost all of you are aware of the Charlier, but I imagine the Chavanne is known by very few of you. This book was introduced to me by my wonderful mentor, Ray Crisara. It has been a book I continually come back to in order to address basic playing skills. The book is humbling, but not in its complexity; rather, it simply challenges you with its simplicity. I highly recommend it! The full title is Vingt Cinque (25) Etudes de Virtuosité by H. Chavanne. In the good old days this book was contained in a single volume, but now you have to buy Volumes 1 and 2 to get all 25 etudes. Go figure.
The result of the extensive etude work has been to bring the refinement back into my playing. I have focused on keeping the volume levels down, tempos down, and playing with absolute control. Now I feel like I am back in shape and ready to face whatever may come my way, and that is a very good feeling!
Hi Craig:
I was in my last year of grad school in 1977. My graduate degree work was not in music, but in arts administration. I was required to take an arts elective so signed up for trumpet lessons with the resident teacher, Ray Crisara.
After a few lessons with him I started thinking that maybe I didn’t want to go into administration after all. I will never forget his demonstration of Chalier. It was far beyond what I had conceived of how a trumpet could be played. What a nice man too! He had me up to his home in Scarsdale once. I never thought a musician could live in such a “respectable” fashion.
Thanks for reminding me of Mr. Crisara.
Larry Malin
i must say, if you had time for 4 hrs daily in undergraduate, I am jealous!
I am in undergrad now, and cannot fit more than 3 hours in!!
acutally, I supose I could but then my GPA would fall, and I would have no time for HW or sleep…
I would love to have four hours daily to devote solely to my trumpet…that is simply not the case
trumpetgirl,
Are you a performance major? Most schools I know give a 4 credit block for private lessons for performance majors. That way there is time in their schedule for the amount of practice they need to have, at least in theory. I certainly know how easy it is for a day to get filled with various responsibilities!
Here at Miami, most of my performance students have the time to practice that much, but non-performance majors usually can’t put that kind of time in.
Last year Hakan Hardenberger did a masterclass here and he mentioned that he practiced 8 hours a day during his undergraduate years at the Paris Conservatory. It made my four feel pretty miniscule.
If you can’t find the time for more practice, take heart. Mr. Crisara always used to say, “2-3 hours should be all you need.” There is a lot to be said for efficiency in practicing!
Hmm
well I am an education major hoping to add a double major in composition.
i do however, usually find time for 2-3 hrs, really…
but with all the music classes, ed classes, tech classes, and piano lessons its hard to get 4 hrs in
That makes perfect sense. The education majors are here are more loaded down than a Mexican burro, especially the people that take their playing seriously. I think if you are getting a consistent 2-3 hours, then you should be happy.
oh, i am quit happy with what i get, i only wish there was time for more.
Of course, I always feel I have never practiced enough…and my poor teacher, i fear i disappoint him more often than not.