I’m not a morning person and I suspect most of you aren’t either. It’s a challenge just to get into the bathroom to splash water on my face much less launch into the demands of playing a brass instrument. Are you kidding me?! Do not even try to communicate with me until I’ve had at least one cup of coffee. But some days, the only time we have to get in the fundamentals and feel good about ourselves as brass players are the dreaded morning hours. How do I get a great morning trumpet warm up going? The Breathing Gym.
After sipping at least 1/2 of my coffee, I either pull up the quick 10-min promotional video on YouTube (see below) or put in the DVD and launch into a series of exercises. Just 5-min of the Breathing Gym has me buzzing, awake, feeling more energized and my lips start to almost tingle with anticipation of playing my horn.
Are Patrick Sheridan and Sam Pilafian a couple of goofy guys? Yes. Do know what their doing when it comes to breathing and brass playing? Hell yes! Don’t let their silliness discourage you from benefiting from this great series and achieving effective morning trumpet warm ups.
It goes a little something like this:
1) Loosen your face. While crawling to the bathroom, brushing my teeth, splashing water on my face, I’m puckering my lips, smiling, frowning, opening my mouth wide and in general loosening up the face and lip muscles; flapping my lips loosely like a horsey sound.
2) Coffee.
3) Stretch everything. While cueing up the Breathing Gym, I’m bending over stretching my legs, pulling my head down to stretch the lower back, I’m reaching for the sky – just a bunch of general stretches, twists and turns to loosen everything up.
4) Breathing Gym Following along with the promotional video or do as many sets from the DVD. I guarantee, in 10-minutes or less, you’ll be ready to start properly buzzing your lips, buzzing the mouthpiece and launching into your warm-up/practice routine. Guaranteed to be a great morning trumpet warm-up! Plus, because you’ve done these breathing exercises, you’re feeling wide open, breathing deeper, more efficiently and your routine will be more in tune, more relaxed, more focused and overall better!
Now, I wish I got paid from the Breathing Gym to promote them so well, but what Patrick Sheridan and Sam Pilafian have created is well worth spreading the word gratis. Now, go hit your morning trumpet warm ups with the Breathing Gym and enjoy!
Breathing Gym
This incredible book and video set will guide any wind or vocal performer through exercises designed to enhance performance skills through physical conditioning that focuses on breathing. Stretches, flow studies, breathing patterns, and strength and flexibility exercises are all presented in a fun, clear format that would work equally well in a private lesson situation or group rehearsal setting. Attention to proper breathing, the source of sound for all wind instruments and singing, is simply too important to overlook. You’ll find incorporating the techniques given in this book and video will not only focus your ensemble, but add an element of fun as well!
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