Long note practice

• Basic Long Notes
  Try to keep the note as straight and steady as possible, no wobbles, hiccups or vibrato. Use a keyboard or tuner to check intonation if you like.
  1. Play a B (1st finger left hand lower register) and hold as long as possible without losing the note or getting out of breath
  2. Repeat on the next note down chromatically until you get to low Bb (or the lowest note you have learnt)
  3. Go back to the B and repeat the process up to top F (or the highest note you have learnt), or higher if to practice altissimo.
  If you have not yet learnt all the fingerings for the chromatic scale you can use a major or minor scale. If you don't have enough time on your practice session you can use a whole tone scale, in which case the next time you practice start on a Bb.
• Long Notes with dynamics
  This is the same as above except that the notes start quietly, increase in loudness then decrease, or else you can start loud, get quiet, then loud again. If you like, use a slow count to make sure that the crescendo and decrescendo are even.
  It’s important to concentrate on the tuning; there is a tendency to blow flat as you get louder.