A Daily Warm-Up Routine
For Trumpet and Cornet
By Kenny Piatt
Purpose and Goals
Why warm up?
The warm-up is the most important part of any musician’s daily routine, whether the
instrument is trumpet, piano, guitar, drums, etc. Musicians are the athletes of the small
muscles, and without the warm-up, the player cannot perform to his or her full potential
for the day. Every athlete must stretch and slowly begin to work the muscles he or she
uses, otherwise the body cannot function at its highest level and is prone to injury. The
musician’s warm-up achieves three basic things:
1. Warm up the instrument
Without warming up the instrument, the musician cannot keep consistent tuning. To
perform at its best, the instrument must be at the temperature in which it will be played for the
duration of a performance or practice session. An instrument playing at different temperatures at
different times will make tuning very difficult. This part of the warm-up will happen automatically as
the instrument is played and does not require the player to do anything special.
2. Warm up physically
This part of the warm-up commonly gets the most attention. To perform at the highest level,
the player must be warmed up physically. This includes getting blood flowing to the lips, stretching
and calmly using the lip and corner muscles, expanding and using the lungs and abdominal muscles,
and getting the tongue moving and working. If these things are not warmed up, the player’s
endurance and performance will suffer, and the player may damage the embouchure.
3. Warm up mentally
This is the area I believe to be most important, yet I feel it gets the least attention. If the
player is not completely focused upon what is to be achieved for the day, much of it is wasted.
Playing music is a very difficult activity, and it requires both mental and physical awareness to
produce results. For the warm-up, the player should be free from distractions and time constraints to
fully focus on what need to be done. Things on which to focus in the warm-up:
Tone - Is the sound I am producing pleasing and full? Am I being careful not to overblow and spread
the tone? Is my sound even in all registers in which I play? Am I staying relaxed, even in the upper
register?
Breathing - Am I breathing up from the bottom of my lungs? Am I being careful not to let my
shoulders raise? Am I keeping a steady, unwavering stream of air for the duration of the note?
Music - Does everything I play sound beautiful? Am I making music? Are my attacks consistent and
calm? Are my releases tapered and not abrupt?
All of these aspects of the warm-up are imperative to playing your best, whether it is for
a practice session or a full recital. You perform how you practice, and if a warm-up
properly focusing on each of these points is a daily routine, then the results will transfer
to any situation in which you may find yourself.
Mouthpiece
Mouthpiece buzzing helps many aspects of trumpet playing. It can train your ear,
improve tone, and is a great first exercise of the day. For this section, play only on the
mouthpiece. If you have a piano, play the pitches while buzzing to help locate the
pitches, if you don’t have a piano, first play a C blow the staff (actual pitch Bb on a Bb
trumpet) to give yourself a reference point.
When buzzing on the mouthpiece, you should focus on the same musical ideas as when
playing the trumpet. Each note produced should be in tune and centered. Strive to get a
dark, full “quacking” sound with the mouthpiece and try to eliminate any airiness or
breathiness to the sound. The darker the sound is and the more “core” the sound has,
the better it will sound on the trumpet.
All pitches written below should be played down an octave. On the lower pitches, do not
pivot or drop the jaw too much to get the pitch. Pedal tones (F below low F# and down)
are useful only if they are done with the same basic embouchure as the middle register.
The more comfortable you become at producing tones in the low register, the easier and
more full the middle and upper registers become.
8vb ------->
Long Tones and Lip Slurs
Lip slurs and long tones are a very valuable tool for the trumpet player. If done correctly,
they will help improve tone, flexibility within and between registers, increase endurance,
and strengthen and expand comfortable range.
When doing these long tones, first take a deep, full breath, and hold the note for as long
as is comfortable, and release the note with a slight taper. Remember, you are still
playing music! After the cutoff, the scale variations should be played when you are
comfortable in all twelve keys. If long tones are done simply from one note to the next
without movement, the embouchure can stagnate and become stiff, thus negating the
original intent of the warm-up. Keep a steady air stream; the tone should be consistent
for the duration of the note.
With lip slurs, make sure the transition from one note to the next is clean, without any
“blips” or notes in between the slur. Try to keep everything as fluid and effortless as
possible, use your air to your advantage, let it do the work for you. Use more air for the
lower register, and faster air for the upper register, staying calm and relaxed. Do not
pivot your head or the horn to reach notes in the upper or lower register. Keep
everything still and stationary from one register to the next.
If you are straining to hit certain notes, do not attempt to play them. The warm-up is not
a strength training exercise. If any of these notes are out of your comfortable range, skip
the entire exercise and come back to it after you are comfortable playing the previous
one for several weeks. Don’t strain yourself, that is not the point of the warm-up.
If you are not comfortable playing in all twelve keys, play the below long tone exercise.
When you can play in each key without having to think about what notes to play, go
ahead and use the next page as the long tone exercise for your warm-up.
Slowly
1
Slowly
1
Moderately
Moderately
1
Quickly
Quickly
Continued
When playing these open tones, be sure to keep your head and the trumpet still, keeping
from pivoting. The closest to the middle range embouchure you can stay, the more you
will benefit from doing these exercises. These can also double as a brief but effective
warm-down at the end of a day of playing to prevent yourself from becoming stiff the
next day. The exercises are to be played open, and the pitch changes by bending the
notes down from open C.
Ideally, this complete warm-up should take approximately twenty minutes. After some
or all of the warm-up has been completed, take at least a twenty minute rest. The lips
need time to rest and build muscle.
Remember, transfer the feeling of the warm-up into your other music, i.e. deep, calm
breaths, consistent and strong air, pleasant tone, clear attacks, tapered releases, and
above all----
MAKE MUSIC!
© 2007, Kenneth Piatt