Daily Warmup Routines: How to Build Consistency in Your Trumpet Playing

One of the most common challenges for young trumpet players is day-to-day consistency. Perhaps some days your chops feel great, and you feel like you are free to play whatever you want to play with comfort; however, other days your chops may feel stiff and uncomfortable, and it feels like each note provides a challenge. Fortunately, there is a way to make "bad chop days" far less common and achieve a higher level of consistency in your playing! This is accomplished through an effective daily warmup routine.

Depending on your level of playing, your warmup routine may take anywhere from five minutes to thirty minutes. Generally, a routine should cover the following skills: response, articulation, flexibility, finger technique, and range.

Breakdown of My Daily Warmup Routine

My daily warmup routine can be found at the bottom of this post. It is worth noting that I am a professional trumpet player who has been playing for a long time, so the warmup routine I use daily will not necessarily work for students of all levels. The purpose of the following breakdown is simply to provide an example. Everything in this routine can be made less challenging for younger students, and I have taught many students who I have provided with a simplified version. Even if you don't use my routine, my hope is that you will be able to take concepts from it to help you form one for yourself that fits your needs as a trumpet player. Here is a breakdown of my daily warmup routine:

Measures 1-45

The first part of this routine focuses on the skills of response and articulation. It is not difficult to play the notes and rhythms correctly, but special attention should be given to the consistency of articulation. Does every note begin and end exactly the same? Can you articulate as clearly and with as good of a tone on low F# as you can on second-line G? Most students will be surprised by how difficult it is to achieve consistent perfection on this exercise.

Measures 46-69

This set of lip slurs should be played at a moderately slow tempo. The goal is not to play these quickly; rather, the goal is to play with a beautiful tone and work on moving immediately to the center of each note. When playing lip slurs, there is often some degree of wavering in pitch on the note being moved to. Try to move from center to center without having to adjust when you reach each new note.

Measures 70-127

In contrast to the previous set of lip slurs, these are designed to be played quickly. A good general tempo goal is 160 beats per minute, but students should only go as fast as they can play it while being in control of the slurs. These lip slurs are designed to develop flexibility and control.

Measures 128-247

This section is comprised of one major scale and arpeggio exercise transposed to all twelve keys. Keys expand by half step in both directions, beginning on E-flat. Articulation, flexibility, and finger technique are the skills that are primarily targeted here. The concept of consistent articulation from measures 1-45 applies to the scale portion of these exercises, and the pitch center concept from measures 46-69 applies to the arpeggio portion of these exercises. The notated half steps should be played as lip bends. This will be difficult at first for students who have never practiced it, but it will greatly develop your control of the instrument.

Measures 248-261

These advanced lip slurs are designed to develop flexibility, articulation, and range. This section should be played twice: slurred the first time and articulated the second time. When playing this articulated, ensure that the mechanics to producing tone and moving between partials remain identical to those used when slurring. The tendency is to force a response by articulating especially hard on the high notes. The ultimate goal is for the entire range of the slur to feel free and comfortable.

I would strongly encourage players of all levels to develop a daily warmup routine for themselves (or use mine) to play every day. Developing consistency at the start of each day will lead to an extremely reduced number of "bad chop days," as well as allow you to develop and maintain fundamental trumpet-playing skills regardless of your current level!

Daily Warmup Routine.pdf

Download PDF • 126KB