Buzzing Excercicses

[BopEuph]

Scales, tunes (Mary Had a Little Lamb, etc.), intervals, anything you can think of. The beginning of the Arban's is something I do. Use a tuner and a piano if you can. If at all possible, find a way to take your horn.

Nick

[Gravid]

Sam Pilafian has written a pretty exhaustive buzzing regimen, but I don't know if it's readily available to the general public. I do know that you need to start off w/lots of gliss in your buzz, and always strive for the fullest-sounding buzz that you can produce. This kind of buzzing will pay dividends when it comes to your playing. I'm not so sure that the material matters as much.

[big_blue_tubist]

Try using one of these with whatever you buzz. They can be found at medical supply stores. Plug your mouthpiece into the end of the tube and use it upside down- keep the ball at the top. It's a great indicator of airflow and provides just enough resistance, IMHO. http://www.allegromedical.com/oxygen_th ... er.P190082

[Gravid]

Arnold Jacobs also wrote a mouthpiece routine, and it's published in the Hal Leonard Advanced Band Method (not sure abt the title, but it has an orange cover).

[Scott Sutherland]

Go to a guitar store and buy a $3 guitar-tuning pitch pipe (or one of those $20 round fully-chromatic ones). Take your regular solo/etude material with you on your trip. Do the fingerings with your right hand on the tabletop while holding the mouthpiece in your left hand and controlling the mouthpiece resistance with your left hand pinky finger. Use the pitch pipe to get your starting pitch and to check your pitch every few measures.

For a week before a recent audition, I was on a brass quintet tour, without much, if any, place to practice. I got by without practicing by using my chromatic pitch pipe, mouthpiece, and metronome in the manner described above by Joe. Even did this for about 30 minutes in a corner of Chicago-Midway waiting for a connecting flight. Highly recommended!!

[quinterbourne]

I would suggest going down to your local hardware store and purchase about a foot of plastic cylindrical tubing. It should be fairly thick (such that it is stiff), and bring in your mouthpiece so you can find one with a proper diamater such that your shank fits quite snug within the tube.

When you buzz, stick that tubing onto the shank of your mouthpiece. This will add some resistance which will allow you to buzz lower without covering da hole. This is CHEAP!

[Leland]

You don't need to buzz for very long -- just long enough to feel good & flexible.

Buzz anything. Buzz & finger your audition material, buzz along with the radio, buzz along with the few small instances of tonality that get lost among the banging drums on TV drama soundtracks, whatever.

[Ryan_Beucke]

I'd recommend you work on buzzing without obstructing the end of the shank (with your pinky). Providing more resistance won't make it play like a tuba anyways, and you're working on building your breath support, so you should make it harder for yourself. You'll eventually be able to buzz low, but it's harder at first.