Posted by Greg Crider on June 18, 2001 at 22:35:57:
In Reply to: Warm-Ups posted by Dan Mordhorst on June 18, 2001 at 17:09:51:
Urbie Green, one of the greatest technical masters of jazz trombone, never seemed to need to warm up beyond just honking a couple of notes, but then he played most of the day nearly every day. For those of us who don't put in that much time, warming up can be just as essential as stretching is for a runner. I have an old friend who had to leave his career on the road as a professional trumpet player because he severely damaged his lip muscles; he swears to this day that he permanently injured himself by playing some loud passages above high C at the beginning of a gig without sufficient warmup. It took him twelve years to really get his control back, and he has never regained all of his high range. Of course, the stress on a trumpet player's lip is of another degree from the stress on a tuba player's because of the tiny mouthpieces.
Tongued and slurred scales and arpeggios are a good idea, but also play some fun stuff and some legato work, particularly tone-building exercises in your comfort range. I get a lot of mileage out of some schmaltzy stuff from some bel canto and Blazhevich books, particularly #9 in volume 1. It's hokey and excessively expressive, but I find that it's good for my lip.
That doesn't mean, though, that a warm-up should turn into an endurance contest. Be aware that excessively long warm-ups, especially in extended high range, can wear you out. Being a low bass singer, I've been through high (for me) choral pre-concert warmups that have strained me to the point where I couldn't sing well in the concert. Don't overstress yourself warming up, push yourself after you're warm.