Long Tones #1
I came up with this composition as an exercise in long tones that could be done with the entire band class or in private lessons.
First, open your tuner and select the appropriate level of accuracy. I would suggest to use Wind > Fine tuning. Otherwise, the tuner will say you are in tune but it can error up to 20 cents. You will hear if you are in tune if there are no beats, meaning, the sound doesn’t have a wah-wah sound to it. Try to blend within your section so no one person stands out.
Then, open your sheet music and play along with the recording if you are alone, or the rhythm section if you are with a band class. The rhythm section can play swing, and the chords seem random but are actually interesting. The goal is to keep the sound in tune the entire time, even when you crescendo and decrescendo. As you get louder, the sound will go sharp, so you have to adjust your embouchure and perhaps your tuning slide to stay in tune. Always adhere to the tuner - do not assume you are correct. You have to learn how to play in tune, your instrument will not take care of that for you, especially beginner or intermediate horns.
This exercise is designed to help you develop embouchure in the brass because you want to have a consistent embouchure throughout the entire range of the horn. As you play in the different extremes, try to keep the exact same embouchure and focus on airstream for the high notes.
If you do this a couple times a week in private lessons, or a handful of times within a full big band, you will see an improvement in your tone and and balance as an ensemble, even with the big band.
I always start with this or my major scale workout if I’ve been off the horn for a few days, to remind myself of precise tunings on my horn. I also use this to become familiar with a new horn.
This is a composition named “Velvet Tone”. There is a series of 2 - this is the long one, about 6 minutes, and it covers the entire range of the horn, Velvet Tone #1. The second one is one octave going down from C to C and is great as a warm up, Velvet Tone #2, also available on this website.
