Available for iPhone and iPad at the App Store Available for Android Phones and Tablets at Google Play
You can choose which exercise or indeed which section of an exercise you want to practise.
These Arban Slurring Exercises have probably been one of the ‘go to’ exercise for building stamina for generations of trumpet and cornet players.
The best way to use them is to be patient…what do i mean by that?
I mean ………….if you can only manage to play the very first G to B minim (half note) exercise or even a few bars (measures) KEEP ON playing that section and eventually you will be able to go a little further….
Don’t strain or use too much pressure. Let your lip muscles and diaphragm do the work.
This is a second blog about our Jazz Trumpet Level 1 App:
Available on:
iPhone and iPad from The App Store Android Phones and Tablets from Google Play
Forgive me experienced teachers for explaining what you already know but I hope you can see how your pupils can be helped to practise…especially in between lessons.
Playing Jazz is about ‘feel’, about playing in an appropriate style.
The way you articulate (start) each notes should be different to the way you play, say, an Arban tonguing exercise.
The start the notes should sometimes be less explosive Sometimes a note should be held a little longer..
Of course you need to keep to the beat BUT you need sometimes to give a feeling that you are slightly before or after the beat.
In other words the technique needed to play in this way is every bit needing of practise as the march like fast tonguing of other styles.
eto’s practice tools give you the opportunity of playing along with a recording of the part AND toplay along with Jazz rhythm section.
When you are ready you can switch off the recorded part and you become the soloist …the lead trumpet.
There are three separate pieces to practice; gradually getting more ‘sophisticated’
You practise both swing and straight 8ths (quavers) and more syncopation…the melody is less ‘straightforward taking you ‘off’ the beat.
All in all an ideal introduction to playing in a small jazz combo (band).
Here’s a peep at each of the three pieces. Oh, yes each of them can be practised at three slower speeds and in sections with or without the backing band.
Here’s the opening of Bits and Pieces 1 at it’s performance tempo of 100 beats per minute:
Next is Bits and Pieces 2 …more off the beat syncopation…awkward rhythms.
The performance tempo is 110 ppm but It’s shown hear at 70 bpm to demonstrate how the Beat Counter above the notes can help you keep in time and read the notation. You can practise at 70/ 80/ 90 and 100 to build up to the final speed:
The final example is Bits and Pieces 3 at its performance tempo of 110 bpm.. it has both swing and straight 8ths (quavers). Don’t forget you can practise it much slower to help with the syncopated rhythms :
Hope you get the App and really enjoy practising with it.
iPhone and iPad from The App Store
Android Phones and Tablets from Google Play
Here’s the first, an Introduction, to a series of Blogs onHow to Practise: Carnival of Venice…
Few would argue that Carnival of Venice by Jean Baptiste Arban is one of the Airs and Variations they would like to play. BUT it really does take a lot of work.
This App is designed to give you the practice tools that will make your practice sessions as efficient as possible; so that you make organised , steady progress.
One off the mantras is that to play fast you practise slow. Carnival is certainly the place to put this into practice and this App gives you facilities to practise all the Variations slowly at first and build up to the speeds that are suitable for your ability and your interpretation of the piece.
To help choose the tempi we should include, I analysed recordings of Carnival by Wynton Marsalis, Maurice Andre and the American Navy Band and have included the range of tempi used by them.
For instance Wynton Marsalis takes Variation 4 at 100 bpm. You could aim to practise to……
Maurice Andre 85 bpm …a little slower…perhaps he preferred it musically that speed:
Using the App you can build up to your tempo from 30 bpm:
Why not go through the tempi…here’s 40 bpm:
Don’t move on until you are absolutely in control…here’s 50 bpm:
60bpm next:
70 bpm:
Last one 80 bpm…85 and 1§00 are above remember….oh and the App has 95… at these tempi a slight difference makes for control or uncontrollably….always be in control….and musical.
The volume of your phone or Tablet my not be loud enough . Why not use a set of headphones and just use one ‘ear’.
Having said this you will find that you WILL hear the part you are practising if you play a wrong note….your mistake will be highlighted and stand out from the correct recorded performance.
It’s not only wrong notes that will stand out but also your tuning, your intonation.
If you play out of tune you will notice it, so do your best to adjust.
A good way of practising in these cases is to practise slowly…even though you may be able to play the notes easily. Slower practice will allow you time to adjust your tuning and also strengths you embouchure muscles.
Breathing properly effects your tuning and sound. It’s worth viewing this 8 minute video explanation of ‘how to breathe’ as a trumpet player. It’s by the great Australian player James Morrison.
have fun with practise and see links to our current trumpet apps as below:
Developing your Triple Tonguing technique takes a great deal of hard work…..a great deal of hard physical effort…OK not as painful as working toward a 26+ mile marathon or weight lifting but similar in many ways.
You’ll need to be consistent in your practice and don’t expect quick results…
It would be foolish to attempt or expect to run anywhere near the 26 miles on day one ..or even month one.
You don’t start by lifting the heaviest weight you can!
Build up your distance and lifts with sensible, planned repetitive routines.
Even with the physical demands of running and weight lifting there are some vital subtle techniques that are to be recognised and adhered to. It’s not all wam bam...let’s get as strong as wecan.
The VITAL subtlety when Triple Tonguing is practised is that with each of the three tonguing motions…the triples…MUST be of the same length and crispness.
The ONLY way this can be achieved is by practising slowly and only moving on to a faster tempo when each one of the triple tongues sound as if it is a controlled single tongue.
This is where the eto App can really help. The app presents numbers 1 to 4 of the Arban Cornet Method Triple Tonguing Exercises. ALL the exercises can be heard at tempi from 50 to 240 beats a minute and the ‘printed’ music can be seen with a realtime Beat Counter ‘moving’ in perfect sync above the notation acting as your personal conductor.
I’m now going to create and publish a few demo videos to show how this would work.
First of all, as suggested, start very slowly making sure each element of the triplet is even and crisp…. This is playing at 60 beats per minute…you could start at 50bpm.
You could then , when absolutely ready..move on to 70 bpm:
Then 80 bpm:
The tempi rise in increments of 10 beats per minute :
Here’s 150bpm:
and 190bpm:
The tempi available are 50 to 240 bpm inclusive…
You can start and finish according to your needs and experience….but plenty to keep you practising for quite a while:)
You will probably already own an Arban Cornet Method but in case you do not, there is a link to a pdf of Exercises 1 – 4 within the App.
This app is also contained within two further discount app bundles description on the iTunes page. Enjoy!
I shall occasionally be sharing some extra tips about this App and hope to eventually have a full series of How to Practice ….for all eto Music Practice Apps.
If you have any questions or comments or suggestions for the Trumpet/ cornet repertoire you might like to practise via our Apps, please let us know via the comment box at the bottom of this post.
Thank you for getting in touch!
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Why use eto apps to practise?
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eto Music Practice apps are not designed to dilute the value of and need for lessons with a teacher.
We are ourselves, musicians, music teachers and music technology experts with a history of playing and performing music.
We produce and publish as musicians; the technology is second to the music!
We are absolutely not detracting from the value of music lessons…we encourage teachers to use our apps and experience for themselves the way our apps motivate and help practice.!
The primary intention of the apps is to motivate and enable students to practise between lessons. whatever age level of ability.
Our apps provide the music notation, a beat counter and control over practice speeds, as well as the ability to repeat bars or sections.
We welcome and invite suggestions for new music to include.
Here are our current apps : https://itunes.apple.com/gb/developer/eto-music-practice-ltd/id624151291
Let us know what you think:
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Helping Hearing Impaired to Practise a Musical Instrument
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Eto music practice ltd is a small private producer and publisher of music practice apps based in Llandysul, Ceredigion, Wales. The apps are used in some 35 countries and our school choir apps have been used by some 3,000 schools in England and up to 150,000 school children.
Helping hearing impaired with music practice
I was thrilled when my colleague Robert Winter copied me into an email thread about a news piece he had watched on ITV Wales News.
It concerned a young lady of 16 who played the clarinet…very well. Amazingly well considering she is profoundly deaf.
She expanded in her interview how she hears/ senses the music she plays through her fingers and vibrations and a link to her hearing support.
I immediately felt a sense of almost guilt at the time….when younger…I avoided practising my trumpet!
The outcome was/ is that Robert has written to an organisation called Fixers who help Poppy and others in similar circumstances. He offered Poppy an opportunity to choose..if she wanted…our eto Music Practice Apps to work with and to see if they help or aid and have advantages over sheet music. The audio on each app is correct for all music notation, whatever the instrument, will certainly help students to understand the hearing and feeling of the ‘correct’ notes as well as learn to read music notation.
We also produce a range of practise/ rehearsal school choir songs, and our belief is that these will considerably help those hearing impaired children singing with their school choir.
From what I understand, and I am hoping, is that our Apps on iPad or iPhone, with full audio, synced to the Beat Counter above the music notation, can be ‘plugged’ into a variety of different hearing devices and would indeed enhance Poppy’s practice sessions. The app functionality also allows students to have control over their practise tempi/ speed. This allows the student to learn at their own pace up to performance tempi and repeat any bars, as they wish, in order to practise. We also believe our music player could be developed and we are open to ideas and suggestions?
We hope that the eto music player has a key advantage as it also provides audio and accompaniments, unlike sheet music. This obviously has some enourmous advantages for the hearing impaired. We at least hope it adds a little extra help!
If it does indeed help, we at eto will be thrilled and would certainly love to work with others in this field, so please, just let us know on the contact form below.
We don’t know yet how well this will work and how many benefits this will offer…let’s wait and see…fingers crossed….(but not when you are practising:) !
Eto music practice apps: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/developer/eto-music-practice-ltd/id624151291
Poppy’s story : http://www.fixers.org.uk/news/15784-11226/deaf-stereotypes.php
Apps for hearing impaired and deaf young people: http://www.ndcs.org.uk/family_support/technology_and_products/apps_for_deaf_young_people/apps_for_deaf_young_people/index.html
Direct Links to the App Store and Google Play:
Available as an App for iPhone and iPad.
Available as an App for Android Phones and Tablets.
This is so ‘singable’.
Perhaps a silly simplistic description but it really is a joy to perform this composition and arrangement by Donna Mawrick O’Brien..
For those lucky enough to be taking part in the August 18th One Big Voice concert at Perth, Australia, this App will help you learn your parts…….and I’m sure Donna, your Music Director will help you learn the parts the way she wants them to sound.
BUT..this song/ arrangement although the ‘anthem’ for the One Big Voice event, is suitable to be performed by all and any young people’s choir wherever you are!
After a full Band Introduction the first Chorus is sung in Unison:
This is followed by Verse 1 where the choir splits into two parts.
Part 2 ‘answers’ Part 1. You can easily alter the volume balance of the individual Parts and Band by using the faders provided.
The song continues in this way with Part 2 answering Part 1 through Verse 2 and a third Chorus..ending with a Unison 3rd Chorus.
Therefore you can choose which Part to sing; Choose which section you want to rehearse and be confident that whenever you have a full rehearsal you will know your part and confidently really enjoy yourself.
For those who haven’t got a choir within easy reach you can still enjoy practising with this App….
Direct Links to the App Store and Google Play: Available as an App for iPhone and iPad.
Available as an App for Android Phones and Tablets.
There is a link to a pdf of a score of the song within the App.
We all know that there are some quite unique and brilliant music archives all across the globe, covering every genre and age of music. Some are very large National Collections and some private smaller archives, preserving their music for future generations. They give us the music that we listen to and enjoy and tell us even more about the composers and performers that we admire.
My concern here is that many of these great pieces of work never get to see the light of day. Perhaps more importantly, many are not known to us, the music fans, performers and teachers.
Often these pieces of gold are just simply residing on printed music sheets, resting on the shelves waiting to be discovered.
To hear and inspire….
For most of us, the hearing of a piece of music can inspire. Maybe this leads us on to learn to play the piece, or perform, or simply listen and enjoy and then seek out further works by the same composer or artist.
There are for me two worrying facets to such archives simply residing on archive shelves. If it has previously been performed it may not be by an artist or orchestra that we are aware of, or knew had recorded the piece. Secondly, If it has not been performed and recorded recently, it may only exist on sheet music. It may take a long time to be heard and performed again, or even lost to the contemporary world swamped by what’s popular and what is not.
eto Music Practice Ltd fully understands the need for protection and preservation of composers and publishers rights. But we also understand the need to make all music, not just great music accessible to all, and in many cases, to an all NEW audience!
Copyright protection…
Our music player has unique properties. Yes it shows the music notation and arrangements in full. However this music notation cannot be downloaded or copied. ( so NO photocopying of the sheet Músic!)
Our unique beat counter and facility to listen to the different parts in any arrangement as well as hear and see the music at various practice tempi, simply brings the music alive. This encourages music practise, performance practise and rehearsal or even simply enjoy playing along at home.
The eto music player has been designed to operate as a desktop player, for apps on iTunes and as android Google apps and for tablets and phones, not just PC’s.
There is an easy option here that the sheet music, traditionally sold by most publishers can be included in the app, or not included, but added as an additional in-app purchase. The customer benefits from having the eto player play the music that they can hear and practise to, at their own learning tempi, as well as provide all parts and fully bring alive the sheet music.
For the school, workshop and at home….
The eto music player can be used on whiteboards in school, or in a music workshop or at an orchestra rehearsal. The music can be practised on tablet or phone or PC so the next rehearsal is indeed just that, not just hearing all the players learning their part in rehearsal, which can waste time for everyone.
If the thought of having your valuable music published on apps and globally available makes you shudder, then think of two aspects.
Firstly the eto music player makes the music much more widely accessible and available globally. Secondly, the use of the music can be much more strictly controlled to single users. Indeed, with the new limited online music licence now available from PRS/MCPS eto can provide a music player for you which can only be accessed by single user subscriptions. This means globally available via your website, but all rights protected and all music protected by the eto music player. So much more secure than sheet music! ( although as we said, this can be added in, or as an extra purchase, so no loss of income for sheet music sales !)
We are happy to advise and provide guidance on the management and control of your copyright content and how we can make this accessible to a new global audience.
Alongside the production and publishing of the music content, all in-house, in all formats, we also provide global marketing and PR for the music to ensure you reach a global audience. It is in both of our interests to see your music widely heard and used!
Most of the what you can do is very obvious. There are a few which are handy to use but not so obvious. Please try things you won’t do any damage:) However don’t hesitate to ask questions via the comments box.
Tap Play: the Menu slides to the side and the Music Plays from Bar 1 until the end of the study.
Swipe the screen and the Menu and the Notation toggles back and fore.
Double Tap the Notation Screen and the Music Pauses
Double Tap again and the Music Starts from where it Paused
Tap the Play Button when the music is playing and the music will pause
Tap the Pause Sign and the music will start again
The Pause Button
When the Pause Button is clicked the button will change to Play and white text will appear as a prompt to remind you that you are in Pause mode.
If the Play button is clicked again the song will play from that exact position (no fade up).
To return to Bar 1 or your chosen Start Bar click the Back Button (the smaller button to the left of the Play button.)
Before you can Choose another song you must ‘un-pause’ the music by tapping the Back Button.
Setting Start and End Bars: choose a section of the song to practise over and over until correct
Each Bar of music has a number.
On the screen the numbers are displayed for every Bar.
They are the same as the printed music in the 2017 Pack
If you need to refer to the separate Rehearsal Instructions for a detailed explanation of how to navigate a score. That is how to follow musical signs such as Repeats, Del Segno, Coda etc.
When you first Press Play the Song will play from Bar 1 to the very end.
To Play from a particular Bar enter that Bar number as a Start Bar.
Press Play and the Song will play from your chosen Bar to the very end of the song.
Choosing to Repeat a Bar or Section of the Music
If you want to choose a section or a single Bar to practise over and over again you can enter an End bar as well as a Start Bar.
Click on the Black Repeat icon and it will turn White.
Press Play and the song will fade up during the Bar before your chosen Start bar. This will lead you in, give you an introduction, in time and in pitch.
The song will continue to play until the end of your chosen End Bar, fade down through the next bar and then return to your Start Bar and Repeat…until you click the Pause Button (the Play Button which has changed to Pause.
Practising at different tempi (speeds):
Tap on the + or – icons to change the tempo at which the music is played.
The tempi will increase or decrease in increments of 10 beats per minute…even to half speed without any change in quality.
As explained in the How to Practice Blogs practising slowly is very important…or put another way do not be tempted to move on to a faster speed until you are in total control at a particular tempo. At least the App will ‘keep you company’ whilst you do the hard work…it will pay dividends
Part Mixer:
If an App has an accompaniment and/ or other parts of an ensemble. separate faders will be made available for separate audio parts. You can adjust the volumes to suite your practice needs.
Some studies or technical exercises have no accompaniment but you have the option of lowering / turning off the solo part and playing on your own with the Beat Counter helping to keep you in time.
