Mark Inouye
Practice Suggestions
Mark Inouye is a student of :
- Wynton Marsalis
- Vince Pinzarella
- William Vacchiano
- Phil Smith
- Chris Gekker
- Michael Sachse
- Mel Broiles
- Mark Gould
- Ray Mase
- (Masters Degree:Juilliard)
Equipment:
- Bach Stradivarius (Bb Trumpet, 3rd
valve heavy weight cap) #37
- Yamaha Xeno C trumpet (no lacquer)
- Schilke E3L D/Eb Trumpet (tuneable
bell)
- Schilke P5-4 Piccolo Trumpet
- Bach C (Standard leadpipe 229
bell)-previous
- Bach C (Herseth leadpipe, 239
bell, 3rd valve heavy weight cap)-previous
- Bach D/Eb Trumpet
(longbell)-previous
- Bach 1C mouthpiece (#23 throat, #24
backbore)-for Bb
- Bach 1 1/4 C mouthpiece (#23 throat
#24 backbore)-for Eb
- Reeves (Bach 7C equivilent)
mouthpiece-for piccolo
Fundamentals:
- a Warm-up is 5-15 minutes
- Mouthpiece Buzzing (using a mouthpiece
with the cup cut out or buzzarella)
- Slow Flexibilities (Schlossberg)
- Scales (gently-across the range of the
horn)
- Expanding Flexibility (Colin Advanced
Lip Flexibilities)
- Fast Flexibilities ("How Brass
Players Do It")
- Ray Mase 10 Week Program (which includes 1-3 minutes on each
item-1 key a day?)
- Clarke Technical Studies (fingers,
articulation)
- Schlossberg Daily Drills and Exercises
(flexibilities across the register, scales)
- Schuebruk Graded Lip Trainers (Vol. 2,
3) (accuracy, intervals, dynamics)
- Arbans Complete Conservatory Method
for Trumpet (tonguing, articulation, scales)
- Nagle Speed Studies (fingers)
Suggested Etudes:
- Snedecor Lyrical Studies
- Snedecor Low Note Etudes
- Goldman Practical Studies
- Charlier Etudes Transendentes
- Julian Falk Atonus
- Arbans Art of Phrasing
- Lyrical Studies (of any type)
Fundamental Suggestions:
- Keep 2 things running while practicing
at all times-a metronome and a tuner.
- Don't move (over-adjust) the
embouchure once you begin to play.
- Rely on the lungs (they don't get
tired and don't know you've been resting a long time
before an entrance.
- Write a list of your weaknesses
(subcategorize) and get to work on them (there is your
practice routine).
- Stick to the Ray Mase practice routine
for 2 years then change the weekly rotation to a daily
rotation.
- Don't be afraid to alter the practice
routine to suit your needs.
- Squeeze as much music (dynamics,
vibrato, etc.) as you can out of the lyrical studies.
- Exaggerate dynamics.
- If you practice nothing else that day,
be sure to follow the routine with at least a lyrical
study.
- Work on the extremes of your playing
(that is where the progress will be).
- Find your breaking point (in the low
register for example) and work in that area (that is
where the progress will be.
- Use the metronome to chart your
progress.
- Slur everything first, then add
articulations
- Use minimum tongue movement (no more
than needed).
- When practicing, make sure the rhythm
begins on the first beat (not after).
- When slurring down think of the same
(upper) note twice.
- When slurring up blow into the lower
note before moving.
- When you miss, it is usually due to
the fact that you moved (embouchure) just before you
missed.
- When you miss, the problem is not with
the "kacked" note but the one just before it.
- Exaggerate dynamics etc. to the point
of absurdity (to reach the desired result and capture the
listener).
- You should be making progress in the
first 10 minutes of playing.
- Create subdivisions for rhythms and
play them with the metronome to improve rhythmic
accuracy.
- The character of a piece is reflected
in how the player interprets 8th notes.
- It is not necessary to breathe during
every rest (if breath is not needed simply stop air for
that period).
- Hold the embouchure in place during a
rest to avoid shifting and possibly missing the next
entrance.
- To check intonation of the low Db,
play the note an 8ve above and match it to the 123
fingering (with slide).
- Use the 1st valve slide on F (on top
of the staff).
- Slow pieces require slow ornaments and
slow vibrato (visa versa).
- Practice passages without vibrato and
the add it in.
- Consider holding back a bit on tempo
when dynamics become louder (visa versa).
- Hold dynamics one note beyond where a
decrescendo is marked before reducing volume.
- Decrescendo as evenly as you crescendo
(visa versa). Take care not to decrescendo too rapidly
- Listen to releases of notes. Be
rhythmically precise on releases.
- If you are altering page markings for
the sake of personal interpretation, give your
interpretation twice and the written version the 3rd
time.
- In a cadenza, keep dynamics and
accelerandos even (no drastic changes). Follow through
your established idea to its logical conclusion.
- Interpretation within a cadenza should
mirror the interpretation of the opening statements.
- In trills, blow the higher note all
the way through. Crescendo towards the downbeat (through
a trill).
- Blow through notes that precede
ornaments.
- Consider using the upper neighbor tone
only at a cadence point (not in the middle of a phrase).
- Time trills so that they stop on a
convenient 8th note and the grace notes out of a trill
are measured 32nds (in time).
- Consider performing the Neruda and
Haydn on Eb trumpet. The sound is lighter (more
appropriate to the style) and the fingerings for
ornaments are much easier.
- Even when performing these works on Bb
strive to play with the Eb sound (lighter and more
focused).
- Drive 16th notes toward the downbeat.
- Baroque solos need to be on the bright
side tempo wise.
- When practicing transposition, finger
through the material at least twice as much as you play
(while resting).
- Find urtext versions of solos whenever
possible and work from them when developing phrasing,
articulation, dynamics, and ornaments.
- Be efficient in your practice. Isolate
problems and work only on them.
- Rhythm should remain constant (even
when you chip a note).
- On C trumpet, always use 23 for Eb and
12 for E
- Do not use 13 for D or high G
- (Always opt for a higher pitch and use
slides to move it down.)
- A single valve should be in tune with
itself.
- Problems arise when more than 1 valve
is put down simultaneously
- The tubing then becomes an improper
length and must be corrected with slides
- Use the range exercise 12345-135135 or
12345 (8va)-54321 (8vb) to open up the upper register
- Do not let off on air when climbing
higher
- No dips in the air even on small
intervals
- Practice mouthpiece buzzing into and
out of the low register
- Use the nose breath to avoid unseating
the embouchure
- practice varying tempo with the
metronome running (divorce yourself temporarily from
tempo and rejoin at the barline)-rubato transfer this
idea to the application of long trills
- practice centering notes on Eb (listen
to tone quality-hear it)
- pre-hear (sing in your head) the first
few measures before playing-you are just joining in
- rely on the other parts in the
orchestra (imagine you are playing along)
- squeeze the maximum amount of
expression out of each phrase and note
- don't get stuck in a narrow range of
expression box
- listen/play/listen to the Phil Smith
excerpts cd
- imitate exactly-record this
imitation-don't be satisfied until it sounds the same
on "Promenade":
on "Lenore #2"
on "Lenore #3"
on Petroushka (ballerina's dance):
on Pines of Rome (lyrical solo)
on Carmen
on Mahler #3
on Mahler #5 (opening)
on Tchaikowski #5
on Albinoni in Bb (for piccolo)
on Haydn in Eb
on Hummel in Eb
on Snedecor 17
on Snedecor 18
on Snedecor 19
on Snedecor 20
on Atonus 1
on Atonus 2