Trumpet Switchbacks
Trumpet Solo - Digital Sheet Music

Trumpet Solo - Level 3 - Digital Download

SKU: A0.750213

Composed by Eddie Lewis. Instructional. Individual part. 32 pages. Tiger Music #2966959. Published by Tiger Music (A0.750213).

Trumpet Switchbacks

Trumpet Switchbacks is a comprehensive collection of lip slur exercises for trumpet. Although this book is only now being published in 2013, I wrote these exercises (in my own personal shorthand) in the mid 1980's. It was from this original collection of lip slurs that I selected the lip slurs for my Physical Trumpet Pyramid and Daily Routines books.

Not a Method

Trumpet Switchbacks is not a lip slur method. Instead, think of it as a reference book. Use the exercises in any way you would like and in any order. Yes, these lip slurs are in a specific order, but that is for cataloguing purposes only.

In terms of the overall organization, the lip slurs in this book are identical to those which I wrote for myself to practice twenty five years ago. The only difference is that these lip slurs begin in the middle of the finger pattern, starting in fourth position, ascending and returning to fourth position. The second half of the exercise descends to seventh position in the same manner. The original lip slurs began on first position and descended to seventh.

There are two reasons for this modification. The first reason is because I typically don't like to start exercises on high notes. The new fingerings for the Trumpet Switchbacks exercises eases the trumpeter into the top range more slowly than the original exercises. The second reason for the modification is for the sake of breathing. It was never my intention for anyone to play the original lip slurs in one breath. But the breath marks were never written and there was no way for anyone to know the proper method of practicing them. This new fingering gives the trumpeter a naturally occurring opportunity to breathe.

Everything In Moderation

There are 108 lip slurs in this book. It is not a good idea to try to play all of them in one sitting. Don't even try to do half of them. Lip slurs are good exercises for you to practice, but there is no extra benefit to practicing them excessively.

Lip slurs are only part of a complete trumpet player's practice diet. No more than one tenth of your practice day should be spent practicing them. The benefit of practicing lip slurs becomes meaningless when you neglect other important areas of technique and musicianship.

I feel compelled to warn you about over practice simply because this is a large collection of lip slur exercises. I do not want to give the impression that I think it is okay to spend hours practicing lip slurs every day.