Building a Solid Foundation of Tone and Technique

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Consider this picture...

Music is the most important thing. However, just as a fine actor needs a solid stage on which to walk, we need a solid foundation to help us achieve our musical goals.

The bottom level of this platform might be referred to as a warm-up or a basic daily routine.
I suggest three categories of "warm-up" playing.

• Flow - Buzzing and playing. Get the air flowing and progress into the extreme high and low registers
• Sostenuto - Long Tones (somehow "sostenuto" sounds nicer)
• Articulation - Various kinds of tonguing exercises.

The upper level of this platform focuses more on exercises which progress with difficulty over time.

• Lip Slurs - Doing slow and fast lip slurs can help in so many ways! I have written an entire book of lip slurs which is available from Ensemble Publications
  (available through Hickey's Music).
• Patterns - A mixture of scale/arpeggio patterns and rhythmic patterns. Just as you learned to read the words on this web page by instant recognition, you also need instant recognition to quickly comprehend melodic and rhythmic patterns.

All these files are in Adobe Acrobat format. You'll need Acrobat reader (free download) to view these files.