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Warm-Up Routine
Brett Lair
Section 1: Tone
Before you even put your lips to your instrument, you should be sure to engage your whole body
in “warming up”. Take a minute to attend to your posture! Make sure that your body is aligned from head
to toe when standing, with shoulders back and relaxed. Allow ample space in your chest cavity for your
lungs to expand, for if your back is hunched, you WILL hinder your breathing!

Now that your body is ready to play, it’s time to get your lungs ready! Focus on take as deep of
breath as possible, but without any loud or discernable wind noise. This breathing exercise is taken from
Arnold Jacobs and focuses on length of breathing.

1- Arnold Jacobs Breathing

Use the sound “HOE” for both inhalations and exhalations but without actually vocalizing.
Quarter note = 60 for all three exercises
5/4
Inhale - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Exhale - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Repeat three or four times then rest for approximately 20-30 seconds before proceeding.
4/4
Inhale - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Exhale - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Repeat three or four times then rest for approximately 20-30 seconds before proceeding.
3/4
Inhale - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Exhale - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Repeat three or four times then rest for approximately 20-30 seconds before proceeding.

2- Wilkins Buzzing Routine

This second exercise is a mouthpiece buzzing exercise. Start with a proper grip on the
mouthpiece, with your pinkie covering part of the end if needed to add resistance. Play through each
measure individually, in one single breath, and try to play each note in between. This exercise can help to
expand range, as you slowly take away resistance and strengthen the lips.
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The next portion of this warm-up routine focuses on starting with a rich, open sound, and serves
to assist the player with opening up the embouchure and expanding breathing. Take these next two
exercises nice and slow, as to help stretch your breathing and the amount of air you can push.

3- Warm-Up Glissandos

Take time to smear through each note with a good tone. This exercise is meant to smooth the
transition between mouthpiece and horn, so take as much time as necessary.

4- Long Tone Exercise

This next exercise is a long tone exercise. The goal of the exercise is to strengthen breathing, air
flow, and to help the player blow through each note. Take breaths as needed but strive to play full phrases
and smooth the gaps between notes. Play this exercise at a leisurely pace, and make sure to play this in
front of a tuner.

5- Alessi Exercise

This next exercise is taken directly from Joe Alessi’s warm-up series. Play this exercise slow and
take time to check tuning on each fermata. Work to produce a full tone on each note, making each
individual note rich, warm, and open. As always during this first section, USE A TUNER!
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6- Vernon Exercise

The next exercise focuses on having an even tone through each dynamic level. Try to widen your
dynamic range by repeating this exercise while creating a bigger gap between dynamics. Don’t overblow!
Once you feel your tone start to decay, dial your intensity back a notch and work with your new range.

7- Bordogni Excerpt

The next excerpt is from etude #2 from the Bordogni series of etudes. This is a simple exercise
and should serve to help the player keep air moving and strengthen a legato tonguing and to work on
sound quality.
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8- Arban Scale Exercise

This exercise is take from the Arban Method Book, take your time through the exercise, and keep a
consistent tone throughout. Make sure as with all warm-up exercises, that you use a metronome unless
otherwise noted!

9- Alessi Octave Exercise

This exercise is meant to help the player shift through each octave. Check each note, and make sure
that your tone doesn’t suffer. Continue down through the harmonic series as your range allows, all the
while keeping a good sound!
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10- Major Scales

Section 2: Flexibility
1- Wilkins Exercise

This exercise shifts through all 12 major keys and is important in order to work with alternate
slide positions, and the help work on tonguing. Play this exercise at a walking pace and be sure to check
for tuning on alternate or odd positions. This excerpt is taken from Ron Wilkins’ “The All-State Musician”.
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2- Lip Slurs

This first passage is a series of lip slurs, take these one by one, and work through all seven
positions, at a comfortable pace. Make sure each note is pronounced and flows smoothly, try to avoid any
smear in between the slurs.

3- Edwards Exercise

This excerpt is from Brad Edwards Lip Slurs book. “Work on projecting the tone through the end
of the line. Smooth and singing! Notice the unusual sequence of slide positions.” Play this etude slow and
work on smooth transitions between notes and take your time to focus on tone throughout the excerpt.

4- Edwards Exercise

This excerpt focuses on working through slurs in different positions. “Focus on what you want the
pattern to sound like. Make sure the technique follows the musical goal, not the other way around.” One
could extend these arpeggio passages down even further, as to stretch out their playable range, but for a
warm-up, I like to stick to these first arpeggios.
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5- Edwards Exercise

This exercise forces the player into working on slurs in different slide positions. Try not to smear
much in between positions, however, make sure not to tongue anything other than the first note. Start this
exercise slow, and work with a metronome to slowly bump up the tempo.

6- Schlossberg Exercise

This exercise works on intervals through the chromatic scale. Use a staccato tongue, while starting
this exercise slow and increasing tempo. Make sure that all notes carry the same tone and energy as the
others.
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7- Gillis Exercise

This exercise is taken from the Gillis method. Make sure you use the correct slide position for each
low trigger note, and that those notes speak as well as any other note. Work through this exercise with a
metronome to keep the tempo steady. Work towards a consistent tone and energy throughout.

8- Arpeggios Across the Grain

This exercise pushes the player to try slurs through different slide positions. Keep a consistent tone
throughout and work to make the shift between notes smooth.
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9- Kopprasch Study

This etude focuses on playing through larger intervals, up to one octave wide. Start working
through this etude slow, but slowly begin to increase the tempo as you achieve mastery. Make sure that all
notes are pronounced, and not choked off, allow for a full, resonant sound on each note, rather than just
running through the etude.

10- Tuba Mirum

Now it’s time to put flexibility and sound to an actual piece! This excerpt is the Tuba Mirum from
Mozart’s Requiem. Listen to a few reference recordings and try to make this excerpt your own.
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Section 3: Articulation
1- Arban Exercise

This etude focuses on the staccato articulation. Don’t play through the etude super fast, but rather
at more of a walking pace, in sort of a bugle call fashion. Every note should be nice and lifted, but still full
of tone.

2- Scale Articulation Study

This exercise focuses on articulating through your full or most of your range. Try and extend this
exercise through different keys and octaves. For instance, try this on a Bb scale, and try playing it in three
octaves rather than just two. Strive to make each and every note articulation sound the same as the last
and next. When practicing this exercise, listen to a metronome to check for tempo.
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3- Clarke Study

This exercise can be broken into many different articulation patterns, try switching the pattern up
each day. You can also transpose this exercise into any key you feel like, and it might work best to play this
in a different key each day!

4- Schlossberg Study

This exercise is a good way to work on transitioning through multiple tonguing. Double tongue the
16th note pairs, but try and triple tongue the 16th note triplets. Work to keep your tone and energy the
same throughout, while keeping the air moving through the whole exercise.

5- Ride of the Valkyries

This well-known orchestral excerpt is great for working on a precise tonguing pattern. Make sure that
each note lines up in the correct subdivision of the beat. Let the dotted quarter notes remain full and long,
but make sure to put emphasis on the accented notes.
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6- Kopprasch Study

While the tempo marking for this exercise is “Presto”, start slow and work towards a presto tempo. Make
sure not to smear the slurs by keeping the slide quick. Make sure each staccato note carries the same tone
and energy as the notes before it. After getting up to presto try using this exercise to work on double
tonguing.

7- Symphony in D

Another orchestral excerpt, this one focuses on a quick articulation to move forward to the following
note. Carry through energy and velocity between each note.
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8- Arban Triple Tonguing

This exercise is used to warm up the player’s triple-tonguing. Take this tempo at a medium pace but
bump up the tempo as the strength of your triple tongue increases. Make sure that the tone and energy of
each note stays the same throughout!

9- Kopprasch Study

This next etude doesn’t have any articulations written in, so rather than playing everything
tenuto, refer to the articulation patterns listed directly below.
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Practice this etude slow at first but turn the tempo up as you become more familiar with the
etude. Try and see how fast you can play this etude while keeping each note smooth and the articulations
consistent.
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10- Kopprasch Study

Etude #8 from Kopprasch’s 60 Studies, focuses on moving from staccato to a three-note slur. Start
this etude slow, but as you smooth out each slur, continue to bump up the tempo. As always, make sure
tone and energy carries through each note.