Long notes

[Savio]

I practice them nearly every day. Among lots of other things. I just like to feel every note, feel there is control. Like up and down in volume, put some vibrato sometimes. Sometimes straight, feel I can start it without to much attack noise, end them like they they still have a way to go out in the room. Or simply let them die out to nothing.

Before I had a routine but sadly as older I get, the routine is more out and instead is what I feel that day. So it's not a must for me to do it everyday. I just think its good sometimes to take the time and feel the notes and how I can control them. Or if I can control them.....

I see some good trombone players here say they dont do it or teach it to their students. Could be ok to listen what all of you think or do? Happy Easter all!

Leif

[ArbanRubank]

They are the second thing I do. The first is a little bit of light mouthpiece buzzing for blood and air flow.

Long tones help to center my sound and to steady it. I had to work hard to get my sound to not waver. It also helps me to re-establish the amount of tension in my embouchure (and for that matter - my whole body). I need just enough to produce the note, but not so much as to constrict it. I can hear my sound open up as I progress.

I do them in time with my foot. That helps initialize my timing and helps to eliminate any hesitancy or initial awkwardness I might feel at the beginning of a note. I also pay close attention to articulation.

When I am doing my long tone warm-up, I try to imagine how - let's say, George Roberts or JJ Johnson might have done them if they had done them. IOW's, I strive to make every note as precise, beautiful and musical as possible.

It doesn't bother me in the slightest if anyone else feels they are a waste of time. I know what they do for me and I'm good with that. To each their own.

[imsevimse]

I play a lot of long tones but not as just long tones. My routine has lately been to play songs by ear. The Swedish folksongs that I start with are melancholic snd do not contain many short notes. I practice very soft and focus on air, efficiency and intonation. I continue this with ballads. Later I play folk songs with more more tonguing. I might pick sheet music and play a couple of Etudes too but since my focus is on learning French horn, tuba, trumpet and flugelhorn at the moment I haven't got that much time. I continue the session to play the other brass instruments. On trombone I personally feel that songs with long legato lines can fill my needs of the usually boring procedure and practice of long tones

/Tom

[WilliamLang]

i do the first schlossberg exercise everyday as the very first part of my warm up. helps me find a centered and resonant sound concept for the day

[Bach5G]

One thing I found particularly helpful recently was in Paul Faulise’s book: long tones on the same note/pitch but in different positions, and, especially, F valve and D 2-valve positions. Match pitch, best sound.

[griffinben]

I once saw an Emory Remington routine written out in the Cheif's own handwriting. He called them "Sustained Tones"

The simple change of a word can make an important psychological difference.

No matter when/where you put long tones in your day, you can think of EVERYTHING you do as a sustained tone. Bordogni/Legato etudes are excellent to think of this way - they're just sustained tones with different pitches. Articulated exercises are sustained tones on different pitches and the transitions more defined.

The air-embouchure support can remain the same in moving and/or articulated pitches. Sometimes (oftentimes?) the addition of moving pitch/embouchure/tongue can obscure hitches in the air support if you are not focused on it.

A focus on sustaining air/pitch in all aspects of playing will carry over to sustained pitches, plus give it a more practical context.

I hope that helps.

[harrisonreed]

I combine long tones with lip slurs. Play any lip slur exercise very slowly and it also becomes a long tone exercise.

Highly effective for me

[Kdanielsen]

I like to think about getting my long tones shorter and shorter. Put another way, i try to play “short” notes like I play long notes. Attack, sustain, release.

[bigbandbone]

Every other day I play a low note study that is a combination of the Allen Ralph and Phil Teelee studies. It is really helping me.
I start on trigger F below the staff and play 20 long tones and then 20 quarter notes on each pitch chromatically down to pedal Eb.