TromboneChat

I thought it might be fun and challenging for all of us to take a single exercise and practice it for a month, and see what our results are. Here's a first one to try. These are major scales and arpeggios up and down, from low Bb to double-high Bb.

Start at the beginning and do as many as you can. Get a good sound on each note. Make sure transitions from one note to the next are smooth. Concentrate on moving the air through the horn to the very end. Breathe when you have to, but don't switch your embouchure. Note the alternate position markings, which are super handy when you start doing them faster.



You can also do these scales in minor keys, or other kinds of scales like half-diminished scales or altered scales. You can practice them slower and faster (for instance sometimes I do them as a brutal long tone routine, and sometimes I practice them double- or doodle-tonguing as fast as I can). And you can practice them soft or loud. I'll tell you from personal experience that playing the low scales soft and slowly doing each one a little louder until you're doing the high scales as loud as you can (assuming you can hit the notes!) is a really useful (and challenging) technique.

Let's all do this every day until July 15th, and report back with results.

Take note of how you do the first time, and on July 15th compare and see if you've made any improvement, and if so, how much. Post if you're having challenges. Chances are some of the rest of us are having those same challenges. Post if you've got a helpful hint. Post if it's just too friggin hard. LOL!

And when this one is over, let's find another fun one that we can all do together. Does this sound like fun? It does to me.

Whaddya think? Are you in? You have nothing to lose and high notes and scales to gain.

I might be interested but right now I'm in New England, nearly 3,000 miles from my trombone, with only a cell phone to do battle with.
Perhaps when I return home in a week I can download and give it a stab.

The additional challenge (for me) is playing from concert pitch treble clef! (of course - since they're "only" scales I shouldn't need the notes right?!). My current limit on this (I already had a copy and actually played through this bit the other day) is the end of the bass clef scales anyways! Fun idea!

drpmorris99 makes a good point in that the exercise also helps us learn concert treble clef. It also helps us learn and memorize major scales in all 12 keys. I know there are some here who need to learn scales. There was a whole thread on that not too long ago. This is a great chance to learn them and get them under your fingers. So if you don't know all your scales and have them memorized fluently, join in!

I look at it like this: By July 18th you'll be a month older. You can either be a month older and know all your scales and increase your range, or you can be a month older and have learned nothing new. You're going to be a month older either way, so might as well gain some knowledge and ability in that time!

I'm going to start today by doing these at exactly the 105 metronome marking. I invite you to join me.

Thanks Dana!

Well, this went pretty much nowhere. Would a different exercise get some response? Or is this just a terrible idea?

This is a very good idea! Thank you for taking the time to put this together. I appreciate your effort.
I practiced this today. Can I reach the very high notes? No. But it’s like you once said in another post “if you want to get the high notes, ya gotta live there”. I’m working on it. This is the good stuff.

tbdana wrote: Fri Jun 20, 2025 6:10 pm Well, this went pretty much nowhere. Would a different exercise get some response? Or is this just a terrible idea?

I expect most of the players who do this for a living won't find time to do this every day. At least that's the case for me, otherwise I would join.

I still plan to join in, although I’ve had to travel for family reasons so today is the first day since this was posted that I’ll be able to work on it!

Will I be able to do it all every day between now and then? Highly unlikely with work and family commitments - after all trombone is essentially just a hobby for me (albeit an important one!), but I’ll do my best and include it in my practice and see what happens!

Paul

Overall not many have time to practice so consistently. I do practice typically between maybe 30 to max 90 minutes a day, but try to cover two or three instruments everyday and vary my exercises. yes, I do cover a similar range plus some more below, but always with different exercises.

Still a great idea, but unfortunately not working for me.

EriKon wrote: Sat Jun 21, 2025 12:06 am

tbdana wrote: Fri Jun 20, 2025 6:10 pm Well, this went pretty much nowhere. Would a different exercise get some response? Or is this just a terrible idea?

I expect most of the players who do this for a living won't find time to do this every day. At least that's the case for me, otherwise I would join.

I just make it part of my warmup every day. I do a few minutes of long tones, and then I go right to this scale exercise.

I had hoped that this major scale and arpeggio exercise would be one that would be fun, challenging, and beneficial for people at every level, from beginner to pro. Obviously, the pros will get farther on it and be able to do it in more ways (like, this morning I did it doodle-tonguing harmonic minor scales; variations are infinite), but this is also an essential exercise for beginners and those at every level trying to improve their playing.

It occurred to me to post a video of me doing the exercise, but I thought that might actually discourage people. Doesn't matter, as it looks like folks come pre-discouraged.

This is part of the M Gilkes daily routine, isn’t it?

I’ve been working on the daily routine, including this section, for a couple of weeks now. Very subtle improvements noted. Maybe.

Marshall has a YouTube video demonstrating his daily routine, including this exercise.

Posaunus wrote: Wed Jun 18, 2025 7:01 pm I might be interested but right now I'm in New England, nearly 3,000 miles from my trombone, with only a cell phone to do battle with.
Perhaps when I return home in a week I can download and give it a stab.

I'm in a similar situation! But I found this great app that lets you play even without your horn. And you can practice scales and stuff. It's been really helpful to let me internalize the scales, so that when I'm a month older I'm also a month much better! It's called TromboneChamp, and you can play on your computer or on your switch.