Patrick O'Brien Trombone

Here’s a little buzzing exercise I like to do to get my air moving when I warm up in the morning! It is simply a descending, two-octave scale on my mouthpiece! While I’m playing this, I’m thinking about connecting each note with a smooth glissando and maintaining a solid airstream all the way to the end of the scale. As I get lower in my register, you can hear how much air is required to allow those notes to speak on the mouthpiece. This is a good visualizer for how much air is required to play those notes in the horn as well!
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‘ Lil late night practice session never hurt nobody (except the people who live above me 🥸)! Here is my sight read from the second movement of the David Concertino! I’ll be preparing this for festival auditions this summer 😁
Are you guys planning to audition for any festivals? Anyone going to STS/ITF? 🎶
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Hey guys! Here’s a process recommended to me by my buddy to work on slurs!
1. Buss the exercise to ensure you are blowing constant air the entire time.
2. Articulate the exercise to ensure you are centering each pitch AND blowing through the same way you did on the mouthpiece.
3. Slur the exercise.
This still isn’t perfect by any means, but it’s a good way to practice slurs. Thanks, Jonathan!
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Those of you who know me personally probably know that I am a Lord of the Rings FANATIC... As in I’m currently reading the Silmarilion type beat. So when came to the trombone choir with LotR arrangements, I could hardly contain my excitement. Here is a snap the I sent to my sister two years ago now (apologize for the audio clipping). Enjoy a snippet of “The Lighting of the Beacons” from LotR: Return of the King! 🤴🏼⚔️🔥
Might consider multi tracking some Howard Shore in the future! 👀
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Hey guys! Here’s a great flow exercise for opening up the trigger/middle register, once again from the warm-up routine (really enjoying this so far!). I enjoy this routine because the focus is on ease of tone production and effective use of the air. I find that my playing has been much more relaxed this week because I am letting the air do the work rather than my embouchure. I’m excited to see how these skills progress!
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Working on some high range flexibility tonight. Definitely need to work on my intonation and note connection, but those will both come when I’m REALLY using the proper volume of air at the proper speed.
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It’s Christmas Eve y’all! I hope your Christmas Trees are ✨shimmering✨
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Here’s a little Saturday night tune for you all, Moon River by Henry Mancini. I love this song very much, and sometimes it feels good to play songs that mean a lot to you. I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy! Much love ❤️

Tuba Mirum! I decided to have a little fun for my Mozart practice today and record the bass solo alongside the trombone solo. It really helped me to focus on the singing style of this excerpt! Before I played I’d think, “How would an operatic bass sing this?”
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Understanding everything that is happening around you is paramount to successfully performing an orchestra excerpt. If you don’t consider the rest of the ensemble, it will simply sound like an etude, and you won’t be able to express to the audience that you have a deep knowledge of the piece.