PRACTICE TIPS #1:
DRONE STUDY AND THE IMPORTANCE OF (VERY) LONG TONES
In the summer of 2019 I've had the great pleasure and privilege of working with Phill Niblock, a major figure in the field of experimental music and sound art. It was a 30 minute long drone-piece called “Exploratory II” which we performed with the Ensemble Phoenix in Basel and Geneva. There is a vinyl recording and you can also hear it on bandcamp.
To explain the score in the simplest of terms: we each had to hold a single pitch which would get very gradually altered throughout the piece (the original pitch would change by only a ¼ tone during the first 15 minutes or so). Anyway, we rehearsed for a week, playing it through a few times every day (checking the balance, intonation, etc), so from a trumpet player's perspective, I was basically forced (ok, paid) to play long tones for several hours a day.
Now, if you're anything like me, you've been reminded your whole life that long tones are important, and you did (or at least pretended to) include a couple of minutes while warming up or at the end of a day. Maybe you stuck with it for a while and saw some benefits, maybe you were quickly bored and started doing it only every other day, then once a week, then just when you feel bad. It was only after this full week regimen that I finally felt the incredible benefit on almost every aspect of playing (yes, even things like tonguing got better, despite the fact that my tongue practically didn’t even do anything the whole time)
So, I thought I’d share some practicing tips that I implemented after having this experience. What I’ll be focusing on are the “static” long tones, meaning: holding one note for the whole duration of one breath, in a single dynamic (ppp, or the softest dynamic in which you are still able to produce a stable sound). Just to get something out of the way first: I’ve been acquainted with the Vincent Chicowitz method for a long time, and I know that he’d very much disagreed with this and questioned the usefulness of the static long tones, but I believe I’ve figured out a way to do it that actually helps. I still find Cichowitz’ concept of “moving long tones” to be incredibly useful in their own way; these are just two different things; and nothing is preventing us from doing them both.
Slowly inhale a full and relaxed breath (preferably through the nose), play a single note in ppp, hold it as long as possible but stop before it feels forced (Avoid feeling like you'd have to "drain" the last bits of air out of your lungs. I don’t know the exact science behind this, but common sense is telling me that it must be pretty unhealthy to regularly play with almost empty lungs).
Repeat the same note. Take only as much rest as you need in order to be able to take a full relaxed breath again. For me it is usually a few seconds, if you rush it too much you will feel ‘out of breath’ after a while; which isn’t the end of the world but right now we are trying to stay completely calm and aim for the long overall duration of the exercise. Your lips won’t need longer rest than this if you’re playing soft enough.
Stay on the same pitch for a while, there is no need to make chromatic progressions or anything. Just pick a pitch you’re most comfortable with and repeat it several times. If you feel extra fresh and under-challenged, just switch to a higher pitch; likewise if your lips are getting tired, jump to the low register and stay there for a few minutes. I usually spend most of the time around the middle G, with short ventures into the second octave (C to G), and for relaxation I hover somewhere between low G and C.
In many ways this is a sort of a meditation, it’s about observing what your body does, becoming completely calm and focused, which is why I like to remove the distractions such as having a predetermined chromatic scale that you’re going through (where a part of your brain has to keep track where you are). My rule of thumb is: play the highest possible note that you could comfortably hold for a few minutes without feeling any pressure (and if your lips are already busted after a full day of playing, “the highest possible note to play without feeling any pressure” might mean the low C, which is also totally fine)
Important: do this for at least 15 minutes at a time! You can do it at any point during the practice session, although I personally wouldn’t necessarily begin my day with it (it’s better to get some juices flowing first at the start of the day, the aforementioned Chicowitz' “moving long tones” being a very good way to go about it)
As with any form of meditation, the biggest challenge here is the mind, which is usually way too restless and unfocused to keep at it. I usually get my first "crisis" after around 4 minutes, then it goes back and forth, but about 12-15 minutes in I manage to get fully into it, which is why I’m usually doing a 25-30 minute session, because it gives me those last 10-15 minutes in a “flow state” which is where you get the most benefit.
Bonus tips:
-It can be a little bit easier to concentrate if you do this together with a friend (or an enemy, if you’re keeping them closer…) there is also an added benefit where you get to control your intonation. In 2019 I've written a group “drone study” based on these principles, here is the pdf for free.
-If you’re alone you might find it interesting to play along with music recordings, as long as they’re static enough as to not distract you. Unfortunately, most of the music in the world actually is too distracting (either harmonically or rhythmically) so I actually often end up playing along our own Phill Niblock recording
To explain the score in the simplest of terms: we each had to hold a single pitch which would get very gradually altered throughout the piece (the original pitch would change by only a ¼ tone during the first 15 minutes or so). Anyway, we rehearsed for a week, playing it through a few times every day (checking the balance, intonation, etc), so from a trumpet player's perspective, I was basically forced (ok, paid) to play long tones for several hours a day.
Now, if you're anything like me, you've been reminded your whole life that long tones are important, and you did (or at least pretended to) include a couple of minutes while warming up or at the end of a day. Maybe you stuck with it for a while and saw some benefits, maybe you were quickly bored and started doing it only every other day, then once a week, then just when you feel bad. It was only after this full week regimen that I finally felt the incredible benefit on almost every aspect of playing (yes, even things like tonguing got better, despite the fact that my tongue practically didn’t even do anything the whole time)
So, I thought I’d share some practicing tips that I implemented after having this experience. What I’ll be focusing on are the “static” long tones, meaning: holding one note for the whole duration of one breath, in a single dynamic (ppp, or the softest dynamic in which you are still able to produce a stable sound). Just to get something out of the way first: I’ve been acquainted with the Vincent Chicowitz method for a long time, and I know that he’d very much disagreed with this and questioned the usefulness of the static long tones, but I believe I’ve figured out a way to do it that actually helps. I still find Cichowitz’ concept of “moving long tones” to be incredibly useful in their own way; these are just two different things; and nothing is preventing us from doing them both.
Slowly inhale a full and relaxed breath (preferably through the nose), play a single note in ppp, hold it as long as possible but stop before it feels forced (Avoid feeling like you'd have to "drain" the last bits of air out of your lungs. I don’t know the exact science behind this, but common sense is telling me that it must be pretty unhealthy to regularly play with almost empty lungs).
Repeat the same note. Take only as much rest as you need in order to be able to take a full relaxed breath again. For me it is usually a few seconds, if you rush it too much you will feel ‘out of breath’ after a while; which isn’t the end of the world but right now we are trying to stay completely calm and aim for the long overall duration of the exercise. Your lips won’t need longer rest than this if you’re playing soft enough.
Stay on the same pitch for a while, there is no need to make chromatic progressions or anything. Just pick a pitch you’re most comfortable with and repeat it several times. If you feel extra fresh and under-challenged, just switch to a higher pitch; likewise if your lips are getting tired, jump to the low register and stay there for a few minutes. I usually spend most of the time around the middle G, with short ventures into the second octave (C to G), and for relaxation I hover somewhere between low G and C.
In many ways this is a sort of a meditation, it’s about observing what your body does, becoming completely calm and focused, which is why I like to remove the distractions such as having a predetermined chromatic scale that you’re going through (where a part of your brain has to keep track where you are). My rule of thumb is: play the highest possible note that you could comfortably hold for a few minutes without feeling any pressure (and if your lips are already busted after a full day of playing, “the highest possible note to play without feeling any pressure” might mean the low C, which is also totally fine)
Important: do this for at least 15 minutes at a time! You can do it at any point during the practice session, although I personally wouldn’t necessarily begin my day with it (it’s better to get some juices flowing first at the start of the day, the aforementioned Chicowitz' “moving long tones” being a very good way to go about it)
As with any form of meditation, the biggest challenge here is the mind, which is usually way too restless and unfocused to keep at it. I usually get my first "crisis" after around 4 minutes, then it goes back and forth, but about 12-15 minutes in I manage to get fully into it, which is why I’m usually doing a 25-30 minute session, because it gives me those last 10-15 minutes in a “flow state” which is where you get the most benefit.
Bonus tips:
-It can be a little bit easier to concentrate if you do this together with a friend (or an enemy, if you’re keeping them closer…) there is also an added benefit where you get to control your intonation. In 2019 I've written a group “drone study” based on these principles, here is the pdf for free.
-If you’re alone you might find it interesting to play along with music recordings, as long as they’re static enough as to not distract you. Unfortunately, most of the music in the world actually is too distracting (either harmonically or rhythmically) so I actually often end up playing along our own Phill Niblock recording