He feels that it is especially important to keep practicing while on tour in order to maintain both technique and assurance. I just practice the trombone as an instrument" (Tomkins, p. "But that doesn't mean I practice these things-I never do. "I practice to be able to do the things that come to my mind when I play," he says. Mangelsdorf also says that practice is the sine qua non.
Lindberg recalls that when he first studied trombone (with Sven-Erik Eriksson of the Royal Stockholm Opera Orchestra), he practiced three twenty-minute periods a day. "That way your mind doesn't lose its focus," he says, "and more realistic as far as the demands on a professional trombone player are concerned" (Driscoll, p. He advocates practicing in short segments of ten to twenty minutes.
Sauer has trouble finding much more than an hour a day to practice, but he religiously finds that time. When Pryor's administrative duties kept him from the two hours daily practice which he considered minimal, he would ask his conducting assistant, euphoniumist Simone Mantia, to fill in for him as soloist. Johnson's thoughts are echoed by Arthur Pryor, Ralph Sauer, Christian Lindberg, Albert Mangelsdorf, and others. "Don't practice to the point where you're beating it to death and your lips are aching," he warns (Everett, p. He feels that the "no pain, no gain" method is unwise. Johnson nevertheless recommends some moderation. "There won't come a time when you won't have to practice anymore (Baker, p. "I've tried to drive the point home to young players that they have got to practice," he once told an interviewer. Johnson cannot say the word "practice" enough. To those trombonists who aspire to a career, J.J. Beyond scales, lip slurs, and mouthpieces, they also have much to say about the mental and spiritual aspects of musical performance.
Their advice is a wonderful blend of what to do and what not to do. The secrets of success are both surprising and predictable, as revealed by a dozen or so of the top twentieth-century trombone soloists. How much should one practice? Is perseverance more important than luck? Or is it simply a matter of knowing the right people? The proverbial New York City tourist who asked how to get to Carnegie Hall was told to "practice, practice, practice," but most of us want more detailed directions.
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