Brass Athletes? A New Approach to Teaching Brass Instruments

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I began playing brass instruments over 15 years ago and have been giving brass lessons for about 8 years now.  In that time I also became active in the military and interested in physical fitness.  I still remember the day when sitting through a trombone lesson, I realized certain similarities between physical exercises and brass training.  Soon thereafter I began  to research how principles of physical fitness training could be applied to teaching and learning brass instruments. 

What I have found is that the mechanics of playing a brass instrument – any brass instrument - are strictly physical and can be improved by approaching them as athletes would approach their training.  Runners training to compete in the 100 meter do not simply go outside every day and run 100 meters as fast as they can.  Rather, they vary their workouts to include long distance running, weight training, sprinting, agility exercises, incline running, etc.  This variation is what professionals call muscle confusion and is the backbone of some of the current popular commercial exercise methods.  I noticed, however, there was a complete disconnect between this and how we traditionally teach brass students to develop their muscles.

As brass musicians we are commonly told to do the same routine every time we practice.  While there is definitely something to be said about the value of a routine, it does not parallel good muscle and endurance development.  I have started working on my own brass method and have begun testing it on my private brass lesson students.  The results have, so far, spoken for themselves.  Every private student I have had has met their goals.  I hope to soon publish my method and in turn change the world of brass education.

Andrew Lynn, Brass Instructor and Assistant Manager

YOUniversity of Music and Arts