Azle High School Band

How to Use Practice Room Time

When the band program provides practice time for you during class, it is intended to help make you a better player on your instrument. We want you to improve and develop five basic skills. These skills are all interrelated, and all lead to the #1 goal - improved TONE:

1. Air stream (breathing): Improvement in your ability to take deeper breaths, and sometimes deep quick breaths, develops a fuller tone, better range, better tuning, and the ability to play longer phrases. Strive toward making deep, relaxed breaths an automatic habit. Many performers just take in enough air to "stay alive" (called "normal breathing"), as opposed to deep breaths (called "natural breathing"). Air stream exercises include anything that pushes you to play until every last ounce of air is out of your body (long tones, technique exercises that repeat as long as possible, etc.).

2. Embouchure (face muscles): Stronger face muscles improves endurance, the ability to play very softly and very loudly, and improve tone and tuning.

3. Tonguing: There are two main categories to develop - 1) Speed, and 2) Style - especially legato (smooth, connected) and staccato (short, light). Scales and technical exercises are great for this. Constant tonguing is very tiring, and tonguing exercises also build embouchure.

4. Fingers: There are two main categories to develop - 1) Speed (and strength), and 2) Coordination - evenness and smoothness. Fingers and tonguing work together. Usually one is better than the other. Strive for both to improve.

Practice Time Outline

1.  Warm-up (only if you haven't already done it in class): Play something that makes your muscles feel good and get ready to practice.

2.  All-Region Music:

   1. Play a short section, perhaps 8 measures - with metronome.

   2. Record yourself, if possible, and listen to the recording of that section.

   3. Play the section five more times, resting between each time.

   4. Move on to the next phrase and continue in the same format.

   5. On passages that are particularly difficult, practice over and over, more slowly, and just the measure by itself.

   6. When it is difficult to play two notes perfectly, just play those two notes, slowly, over and over.   

Return to Top