Practice Advice

Ask me questions if you need help with practicing your music or about being in band. |Header courtesy of @augmented---fourth|

[colorguardgirl202]

Tips for packing for tour!

1.) Put your clothes in 1gallon zip lock bags. It organizes and makes it easy to find clothing each night/morning

2.) This may be personal preference, but don’t use a clam shell suite case. It just makes you have to sort things more and it’s just over all a hassle.

3.) Pack light! Don’t pack anything extra! Remember YOU have to drag it around at 3 am after you’ve been on a bus for a million hours. 4.) Bring some sort of caddy for your shower stuff so you can move it with you quickly and easily while you race to the showers. 5.) Make sure to pack a brace if you need it! 6.) Pack a small water bottle to use on the bus or for any kind of flavored drink. Trust me you don’t want it in your water jug. 7.). For laundry detergent consider using tide pods or something small and pre packaged thing so you aren’t carrying a gallon of laundry detergent and fabric softener.

7a.) Bring double the tide pods you need for laundry days because your clothes will stink and you will need it!

Vets add any tips!

[tarfiel]

would anyone want to buy commissions from me to help me pay off my drum corps tuition?

i need about 750 to pay off tuition and then about 200-ish to pay off daily necessities. commissions would prolly sit around 20-25 dollars. i dont really have any sample images because i’m super bad at updating my art tag but the drawings on it are essentially what my art looks like. 

yknow since its to pay off my drum corps tuition i’d be happy to draw anyone in their uniform ;)

(if i get a certain amount of people supporting this i’ll draw some sample images loool)

[bandpracticetips]

Drum Corps as Told by Buffy the Vampire Slayer Gifs

When people first start talking about band

When you go into the band room for the first time

When you find out your friend joined band too

When you first get your music

Memorizing music feel like this

Before your first show

When they ask, “Is your corps ready?”

When someone says band isn’t a sport

Once you get really good at your instrument

[bandpracticetips]

ok im in a band at my school and we have midterms and finals that are scale tests and like i know them but i totally freak myself out because you play by yourself in front of 45-50 people :'( any advice on how to control anxiety around that? thanks xx

The first piece of advice that comes to mind is if you’re feeling anxiety, take a few slow, deep breaths. Relax your shoulders, relax your jaw, and spend a moment relaxing each part of your body to relieve the tension.

Once you start performing, rather than look at the audience members’ eyes, look at their foreheads, or at the back of the room. Stay relaxed while you play, remember your breathing. Focus on playing. Remember that you know this, and it’s no different than any other practice.

If you can, get a few friends to perform in front of before the test so you get used to performing solo. It could be an added bonus if they give feedback on your playing.

Good luck!

[bandpracticetips]

I'm a percussionist and I am trying to get better but I don't know what to play/practice to improve do you have any advice on what I could do to get better

Rudiments are a great place to start. You can find a list of them here

Start slow, especially with unfamiliar ones, and then increase the tempo as you get used to it and more comfortable with it. You don’t necessarily need to try every single one at once, pick a couple to work on, then move on. This is a great way to build your skill

Here’s a nice chart of some of them as well:

[bandpracticetips]

uh i'm not in band or anything at school right now, but i'm planning on joining concert band next year. the problem i have is, i went into the band room with a friend once to help her learn music (i used to play piano, and she had just begun learning), but since i'm not a band kid, the band director kicked me out, though she said i should join. but ever since then, i've been really scared of her. can you give me a pep talk to help me be brave enough to ask the director for a transfer slip?

Look, I know it’s scary, but you’re incredibly brave. You’re going to join concert band and have a blast playing your music in front of a crowd! You can do this!

Stand tall and proud, look her in the eye, apologize for being in the band room if that incident happened in the past month or so. Tell her why you were in there, and tell her that you’re interested in joining.

You were also probably kicked out because band directors are extremely territorial. They don’t like strangers going into their band room without a good excuse to be in there. Now, if you’re a student interested in joining, band directors will be the nicest people ever to try to get you to join! Go in there and join!!!

[bandpracticetips]

Hey. I'm a percussionist but starting next week I'm going to start taking trumpet lessons (as soon my band director finally finds a spare trumpet I can use) for concert band next year, and hopefully jazz band eventually. So I was wondering if you hand any tips for me?

So, for trumpet, the first thing you need to do is remember that the first syllable has no relation to Donald Trump and you are safe.

But joking aside, we have a post about trumpet help here. Practice buzzing your lips until you get your trumpet so you’re ready. Also, if you know how to read music you’re off to a good start. You might want to seek a tutor to help make your transition smoother or even try to set up practice times with your band directors.

[bandpracticetips]

Hi, I was wondering if you could give me some advice? I'm a clarinet in high school and want to get my practicing up to two hours a day (for now, probably more in the future) and I'm currently doing 1 to 1 1/2 hours. The problem is that I tend to get stressed a lot about my playing/practicing/future audition, and it prevents me from practicing efficiently (and makes music less enjoyable.) So yeah, do you have any advice for dealing with music-related-stress? Thanks in advance.

Okay, this is hard to do but you benefit greatly from doing it.

What you can do, if you have a recording of what you’re playing, stop what you’re doing and just listen to it once or twice. Then listen to it again but finger along as you go. Then you can go ahead and try playing again.

If you don’t have a recording of your music, you do the same thing, but either humming or singing your music. You only sing or hum your music once or twice and then finger along as you sing/hum when you do it again.

This will give you time to at least take a break from your music and let you cool down while giving you an idea as to what is sounds like.

As well, if you’re getting stressed, there’s no harm in taking a complete break. Go for a walk, drink some water, read a relaxing book, give meditation a try (it can also help regulate your breathing and make you play better). Instead of practicing for two hours straight, take it in shorter chunks. 

As well, set specific goals for yourself, ones you know you can achieve, and treat yourself when you reach them. That can be a great motivator. 

Finally, if you’re getting too stressed, take a day off from practice. Relax, do other things, indulge in something fun. 

[bandpracticetips]

Hellppppppp playing a high a on euphonium is hard and im embarrassed about it. I can hit it but it just sounds awful?????,

There’s nothing to be embarrassed about, it’s okay to not reach high notes. You just have to practice to get there.

You can start of by playing long tones from the A that’s an octave lower than the one you want to play and work your way up the scale to it.

An example of that would be A, B, C, B, C, D, C, D, E, D, E, F, E, F, G, F, G, A (I play treble cleff not bass cleff so pardon my improper note names on your scale)

Or you can do octave jumps long tones.

B to upper B, C to upper C, D to upper D, E to upper E, F to upper F, G to upper G, A to upper A

Hope this helps.

[bandpracticetips]

Fun Band Post

Percussion, brass, woodwinds, directors

Long ago, the four sections lived together in peace and harmony.

Everything changed when the percussion section attacked. Loud noises erupted from the back of the band room not letting the directors instruct the other sections.

Only a wise clinician, master of all four sections can save the band.

[bandpracticetips]

So when I'm practicing my sax my lips get really tired after 30 minutes and I practice everyday and i have to take breaks and switch to my other instrument. So how do I get my lips to stop hurting while I practice?

You might want to take one or two private lessons with your band director or private tutor to make sure your embouchure is set properly.Your bottom lip needs to remain super firm for your mouth to last for a longer time.

If you are also playing a second instrument, that too will tire out your lips and the surrounding muscles. You should try playing just on the sax for a month to build endurance.

[bandpracticetips]

Hi I play tuba I have a really good high range because I switched from euphonium but my low range is so good any tips?

What you can do is first start with the middle register of the tuba around F below the staff. The key is matching pitches to what you know on euphonium. Once you have steadied your tone with long tones in that range, gradually work down to peddle Bb. You can use a fingering chart to help. From that point, work on getting articulation response. Dooh, dah, or doh are good syllables to use to help. After that, continue with range development in both directions.

[bandpracticetips]

Hello! i'm the anon from a few weeks back that is starting as a new clarinet. I just wanted to thank you for your help! i was honestly terrified that i was going to get turned away or laughed at because i had no musical experience but i got my instrument on Thursday and i am starting to learn the basics. I just wanted to come back and thank you and also encourage anyone that is interested in joining to do so because even though it seems intimidating and scary it is completely worth it.

That’s great!!!

I’m glad we were able to help you out. This was my goal when I started this blog, to help out people who had questions about band.

This literally makes me so happy!

[bandpracticetips]

I'm in 7th grade now but next year my BD wants me to march (if the school says yes) I really want to prove to him and my self that I can do you have and tips for practicing or marching

That’s great! You should really do it! I recommend that you begin with the basics.

Most of the time, the way you stand and carry yourself will be very important, and it varies depending on what school you go to. Here at my school your stance is:

heels together

toes apart

stomach in

chest out

shoulder back

chin up

eyes with pride

You can ask your BD to help you with that part.

Another thing you want to do is practice during summer. You need to practice every day from 15 to 30 minutes to keep your lips in top form or at least practice every other day. You can practice on the show music or even on pep band music if either of those are available. If not, you can practice your concert scales or your chromatic scales.

If you need more help, feel free to ask again, we’re here to help you.

[bandpracticetips]

Hey, I want to be in a rock band. Can you help me too?

Unfortunately, this blog is more geared toward concert band/marching band/drum corps. Here’s some better blogs for you to check out:

@brian-may-guitar

@drumlessons

There are also these posts here, here, and here that offer lessons

Best of luck to you!

[bandpracticetips]

I am a seasoned clarinet and I picked up trumpet to play in my schools jazz band/show choir band. What tips can you give me on fluttering and raising my range?

We have another post about flutter tonguing here, and a video on flutter tonguing that’s a little more trumpet-oriented here!

You can greatly improve your range by practicing your long tones. You can warm up on the lower octave (while doing long tones) and work your way up to higher notes in the upper octave.

Once you feel your lips start to grow tired or that they start to go out, you begin your cooling down process by working your way down into the lower octave (while doing long tones).

Another way you can also improve your range, is by removing your tuning slide. It may sound odd, but once you remove your tuning slide, you play a C bellow the staff and try to jump an octave to a C in the staff. You repeat this with other notes going up the scale. At one point or another, even if you try to play a note, nothing will really come out (since you’re only actually using the lead pipe of the trumpet) but if you keep practicing, you will start to reach new notes and that’s how you know your range is increasing!

[bandpracticetips]

Audition Results

To those of you who had auditions or are still waiting for auditions for region or district bands, don’t get discouraged if you don’t make it or if you didn’t make it.

I know it’s tough to put in a lot of work and go to audition and find out that you didn’t make a band or get recommend for the state band. You still got to grow as a musician and develop your music skills because of all of the hard work and dedication you put into your audition music.

This means you have to push yourself more than the last time. Keep improving by practicing and using proper techniques for your music. If you get frustrated, ask your band director for help. They will help you improve if you are willing to really put in the effort to learn