Canadian Musician - January / February 2020 | Page 30

BRASS
Paul Baron is one of today’s most highly respected lead and commercial trumpet players. He carries 40 years of experience in a wide range of
musical styles – from jazz to rock, big band to musical theatre, and TV jingles to movie soundtracks – with a distinctly bright and powerful sound.
As well as being a performing artist for XO Jupiter Instruments and Pickett Brass with his signature line of mouthpieces,
Paul is also an author, educator, and clinician. www.paulbaron.net.
By Paul Baron
Warmups for
Brass Players
Part 2: The Morning After Warmup
T
he first warmup I talked about in the previous column is
called “The Morning After Warmup.” This isn’t referring to the
morning after a big party, but rather designed to wipe the
slate clean of the heavy playing schedule from the previous
day. This warmup helps reduce or remove lip swelling due
to overuse and get the chops responding easily and efficiently with the
least amount of effort.
The length of this warmup is the most organic and dictated by the
chops. This can take me anywhere from 15 to 45 minutes depending on
lip swelling and stiffness. I like to say “it takes as long as it takes.”
Before I even start playing on the horn, I do a few things to get my
body warmed up. I start with lip fluttering like making horse noises. I
know this sounds strange but it really helps to get the blood and oxygen
flowing and flush the lactic acid out of stiff chops. I also do a section of
pushups for the same reasons. If pushups don’t suit, you can do them on
your knees to make it easier or do some forward bends just to get the
blood flowing and wake up the body and chops.
Leadpipe Section
The first section is with the mouthpiece in the leadpipe only. I borrowed
this exercise from the Bill Adam routine but unlike what I’ve seen in his
routine, I only play from a bottom-line E down to the double pedal register.
I start by playing three long tones, one per breath, on about a bottom-
line E, listening for the most resonant tone with the least amount of effort
and air. Take your time with this section and move onto the horn only
when things are feeling good.
I start the pitch with a breath attack, no tongue start, and try to “sneak”
in with the air to get the chops responding with a trickle of air. Sometimes
I am able to get the vibration started immediately with very little effort;
other times, especially when I’ve had a strenuous playing schedule in
the days before, my chops don’t respond right away. That’s fine, at least
at the beginning of the day and warmup. This just means that I need to
spend more time fluttering my chops to get the blood flowing, the lactic
acid flushed from my chops, and the muscles loosened up so the chops
respond with a small trickle of air. I will keep playing the E whole notes
until the notes start easily.
Also, pay attention and enjoy the tingling in your chops. This is an
indication that the blood is rushing into the chops to the places with
stiff muscles and built-up lactic acid. Between each of the long tones,
take the horn off your face and feel the tingling. When the tingling sub-
sides, go back to playing another long tone until they start with the least
amount of effort.
When I am able to start the E easily, then I start the next section playing
glissandos down a fifth from E to low B, one gliss per breath. Approach
this in the same manner. Listen for an even vibration from E down to
low B. If you have any hiccups or vibration cutting out, take some time
to flutter your chops. Keep working on the gliss until you feel that the
vibration is even throughout. Then do a few glissandos from E down to
pedal E paying attention to the same things, even vibration throughout
the gliss down. When this feels good, play a few more glissandos down
and back up between bottom-line E and pedal E.
The next part starts on pedal E descending down first to pedal B,
and then, when this feels good and the tingling subsides, a full octave
glissando from pedal E down to double-pedal E.
On to the Horn
The first section with the horn starts on the second-line G. Throughout
this whole warmup I use a breath attack, meaning I’m starting the note or
phrase without tonguing but just thinking “ha” and gently blowing air to
start the note. (I guess it would be better to phrase it “start” than “attack”
the note because everything we’re trying to do is for chop therapy and
is done gently.) It may take a few attempts to get the first G to speak by
“sneaking” in with the breath attack. I do this a few times or more until I
feel the G starting to speak using the least amount of air.
Play these phrases at about pianissimo volume throughout. Once
you’re down in the low and pedal register you might need to blow a
little more, but by this time you’ve really got your chops responding well.
For the sake of brevity, I will just say that I do the same exercises from
second line G down an octave, then starting on middle C, then top-space
E, and finally top-of-the-staff G.
The full explanations and music notation for these warmups are contained in Paul’s new book, Trumpet
Voluntarily: Three Strategically Designed Warmups to Combat the Demands of Today’s Trumpet Player, available
now at www.paulbaron.net.
30 CANADIAN MUSICIAN