Blowing Ro.
Blowing Ro.
I've been finding practice time hard to find, so have each day gone straight to pieces I am learning or know, rather than start with a session on Ro. Should blowing Ro be my first consideration? Is it better to do long note sessions high and low? Does that improve "stamina" in respect of the embouchure? I know that the thing that sometimes brings my practice to a halt is "tired" embouchure.
1 YES Start with Ro to warm up. Done every time you start, the sound of you ro will show you a lot about your mental condition. 2 YES in kan. 3 Yes long tone sessions in kan improved my emboucher a lot.
It is a universally accepted fact on all wind instruments that long tones are the best way to improve your sound.
When I played another wind instrument, I wasn't "allowed" to do anything else on the instrument until I played an entire page of long tones (different notes in different range) Each note held for 16 counts to a metronome. If I didn't attack the note exactly on the click, I had to start again. Had to end on the click too. Develop embouchure, control, and internalize rhythm. If I didn't make it to the end, I had to start again or speed up the metronome and keep practicing until I could play the entire phrase at the required slow tempo. And I didn't practice long tones until I could hold a small piece of paper against a wall with my breath for a required count. If you don't develop a good sound, strong embouchure and the proper breathing, does it matter what piece you play, how complex, if the sound that the notes ride on is weak?
It takes a great deal of discipline to do this regularly at the beginning because you feel you are loosing out on learning pieces, scales and musical concepts.
Said another way, paint the fence, wax the car before you try the fancy shakuhachi kung fu. Mr. Miyagi knew what he was doing.
What you learn from this discipline will carry over to everything else and you don't have to do it for the rest of your life. On the other hand, A great wind player can take their instrument out without any kind of warm up and wail. It's not ideal but once these things become automatic, it can be done. For some, long tone practice becomes a crutch. They can't play without relying on a long warm up.
You might be surprised how much you can accomplish in a 1/2 hour of focused practice every day. People play an instrument for years often before they decide that they really want to learn how to play and do what it takes. Why waste time.
It takes a great deal of discipline to do this regularly at the beginning because you feel you are loosing out on learning pieces, scales and musical concepts.
Said another way, paint the fence, wax the car before you try the fancy shakuhachi kung fu. Mr. Miyagi knew what he was doing.
What you learn from this discipline will carry over to everything else and you don't have to do it for the rest of your life. On the other hand, A great wind player can take their instrument out without any kind of warm up and wail. It's not ideal but once these things become automatic, it can be done. For some, long tone practice becomes a crutch. They can't play without relying on a long warm up.
You might be surprised how much you can accomplish in a 1/2 hour of focused practice every day. People play an instrument for years often before they decide that they really want to learn how to play and do what it takes. Why waste time.
I love long tones!
Besides some work on long tones daily on my 1.8 as a warmup as suggested here, I also play an hour of long tones on my 2.6 once a week with my shaku pals. I think over time this weekly long tones session on the long flute has added to embouchure's endurance when I play my 1.8.
Besides some work on long tones daily on my 1.8 as a warmup as suggested here, I also play an hour of long tones on my 2.6 once a week with my shaku pals. I think over time this weekly long tones session on the long flute has added to embouchure's endurance when I play my 1.8.
"RimBlown""RimBlown"For some, long tone practice becomes a crutch. They can't play without relying on a long warm up.
Maybe to avoid this, if you are doing long tone practice every day, don't always do it as a warm up, or to start your practice. Try every second day doing the long tone practice at the end of your practice, or in the middle. This may also help develop embouchure in a different way because you will be starting your long tone practice with your embouchure muscles already fatigued from your normal practice.
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