ULTIMATE TECHNICAL EXERCISES

[one.kidney]

So today, i started to arrange the 24 paganini violin caprices for tuba. I hate practicing all of the technique through unmusical etudes, so I will learn everything from real pieces. These pieces have everything. Slurs, tonguing, range, jumps, trills, multiphonics, etc.

[MackBrass]

So today, i started to arrange the 24 paganini violin caprices for tuba. I hate practicing all of the technique through unmusical etudes, so I will learn everything from real pieces. These pieces have everything. Slurs, tonguing, range, jumps, trills, multiphonics, etc.

Unmusical Etudes? What are you referring to? Have most of us been doing it wrong? I do like your thinking out of the box so dont change that at all but here is some food for thought.

Have you mastered the Bordogni, Williams concertos ( both John and V.W are pretty good) or the Hindemith sonata? Those are pretty decent and then there is the Snedecor low etudes that are pretty OK as well.

There is a lesson of, you can't break the rules until you have learnt them first. The above is pretty easy if your just playing the notes but if your studying them then its a whole different story. My suggestion is get the bordogni and start on page 1, study each etude by reading between the lines, hoa do the notes relate to each other, how does each prase relate to each other and how does each group of phrases relate to each other? If you cant play any single phrase by itself and make sence out of it then its not ready for prime time. If you cant put 2 phrases together so they make sense by themselves then it not ready for prime time. If you cant play any group of 4 phrases to make a complete statement or thought then it's still not ready for prime time.

Have you looked at the Arban? Thats decent stuff although the first 100 pages are pretty redundant but there is a reason for that if you can read between the lines.

Here is a question, what does the definition or what does the word "musical" mean? Its something that a lot of us throw around but many can't define well.

There is music and oppertunity to play musical in anything you choose, even that stupid oompa crap in marches make up 4 to 8 br phrases when you do it correctly. Its not how well you play the notes, its what you do with them while you play them that counts.

How many phrases can you make out of a 1 octave ascending and descending major scale? All the paganini playing in the world cant teach you that. Think about it, just an ascending and descending 1 octave scale, cant be too difficult to play about 7 phrases on that, or is it?

Kopprasch is also ok music with some technical stuff, or it is technical stuff with a little music?

I wouldn't mind a copy of some of the paganini when you have it transcribed by the way just dont let it eat up your time when you can spend that time practicing bordogni.

[djb238]

Unmusical Etudes? What are you referring to? Have most of us been doing it wrong? I do like your thinking out of the box so dont change that at all but here is some food for thought.

Have you mastered the Bordogni, Williams concertos ( both John and V.W are pretty good) or the Hindemith sonata? Those are pretty decent and then there is the Snedecor low etudes that are pretty OK as well.

There is a lesson of, you can't break the rules until you have learnt them first. The above is pretty easy if your just playing the notes but if your studying them then its a whole different story. My suggestion is get the bordogni and start on page 1, study each etude by reading between the lines, hoa do the notes relate to each other, how does each prase relate to each other and how does each group of phrases relate to each other? If you cant play any single phrase by itself and make sence out of it then its not ready for prime time. If you cant put 2 phrases together so they make sense by themselves then it not ready for prime time. If you cant play any group of 4 phrases to make a complete statement or thought then it's still not ready for prime time.

Have you looked at the Arban? Thats decent stuff although the first 100 pages are pretty redundant but there is a reason for that if you can read between the lines.

Here is a question, what does the definition or what does the word "musical" mean? Its something that a lot of us throw around but many can't define well.

There is music and oppertunity to play musical in anything you choose, even that stupid oompa crap in marches make up 4 to 8 br phrases when you do it correctly. Its not how well you play the notes, its what you do with them while you play them that counts.

How many phrases can you make out of a 1 octave ascending and descending major scale? All the paganini playing in the world cant teach you that. Think about it, just an ascending and descending 1 octave scale, cant be too difficult to play about 7 phrases on that, or is it?

Kopprasch is also ok music with some technical stuff, or it is technical stuff with a little music?

I wouldn't mind a copy of some of the paganini when you have it transcribed by the way just dont let it eat up your time when you can spend that time practicing bordogni.

Fantastic advice. Even if you can play technically advanced quite brilliantly, it still must be musical. I think as musicians we should always be striving to create music in whatever we do.

[one.kidney]

So today, i started to arrange the 24 paganini violin caprices for tuba. I hate practicing all of the technique through unmusical etudes, so I will learn everything from real pieces. These pieces have everything. Slurs, tonguing, range, jumps, trills, multiphonics, etc.

Unmusical Etudes? What are you referring to? Have most of us been doing it wrong? I do like your thinking out of the box so dont change that at all but here is some food for thought.

Have you mastered the Bordogni, Williams concertos ( both John and V.W are pretty good) or the Hindemith sonata? Those are pretty decent and then there is the Snedecor low etudes that are pretty OK as well.

There is a lesson of, you can't break the rules until you have learnt them first. The above is pretty easy if your just playing the notes but if your studying them then its a whole different story. My suggestion is get the bordogni and start on page 1, study each etude by reading between the lines, hoa do the notes relate to each other, how does each prase relate to each other and how does each group of phrases relate to each other? If you cant play any single phrase by itself and make sence out of it then its not ready for prime time. If you cant put 2 phrases together so they make sense by themselves then it not ready for prime time. If you cant play any group of 4 phrases to make a complete statement or thought then it's still not ready for prime time.

Have you looked at the Arban? Thats decent stuff although the first 100 pages are pretty redundant but there is a reason for that if you can read between the lines.

Here is a question, what does the definition or what does the word "musical" mean? Its something that a lot of us throw around but many can't define well.

There is music and oppertunity to play musical in anything you choose, even that stupid oompa crap in marches make up 4 to 8 br phrases when you do it correctly. Its not how well you play the notes, its what you do with them while you play them that counts.

How many phrases can you make out of a 1 octave ascending and descending major scale? All the paganini playing in the world cant teach you that. Think about it, just an ascending and descending 1 octave scale, cant be too difficult to play about 7 phrases on that, or is it?

Kopprasch is also ok music with some technical stuff, or it is technical stuff with a little music?

I wouldn't mind a copy of some of the paganini when you have it transcribed by the way just dont let it eat up your time when you can spend that time practicing bordogni.

Of course. Etudes I was referring to was like the Tyrell Etudes, Arbans exercises(not the characteristic studies) and stuff like those. Many are just technical stuff, but you should obviously strive to make everything as interesting and musical as possible. I can email you a copy if the caprices when I'm done.

[MackBrass]

Of course. Etudes I was referring to was like the Tyrell Etudes, Arbans exercises(not the characteristic studies) and stuff like those. Many are just technical stuff, but you should obviously strive to make everything as interesting and musical as possible. I can email you a copy if the caprices when I'm done.

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Here is what I am talking about, most, including myself look at the Kopprasch etudes/studies as technical studies but even the most technical studies out there can and should emphasize the musical line written between the notes to create as much interest as possible.

Here is the Kopprasch No. 7 as an example.

https://youtu.be/xtEm6eouMac" target="_blank" target="_blank

It doesn't matter if its an Arban page of 16th note scales or triplets, make the music happen first. There is no such thang as just technical stuff, unless that's the approach you take.

Do you own the Arban, Kopprasch, Tyrell, or Bordogni etude books? If not, check them out as it will take a lifetime to master them, and once you have mastered them you can start all over again and study them again.

Here is another hint, its in most of the titles of these books, the work etude means "study" or "to study".