Practice Aids

Resources

Blog Posts – Occasionally, I post articles about practice tips and miscellaneous tools.

Online Metronome – A free, online metronome.

Musictheory.net – Understanding music theory is vital for anybody looking to excel at their instrument. This site offers valuable lessons, exercises, and tools that all musicians should take advantage of.

Practice Sightreading – Often overlooked, sightreading plays an important part in the development of all musicians. This resource is great for K-12 students of varying levels and can generate all sorts of rhythmic and melodic exercises. More advanced musicians are often better off just reading a lot more music!

Tuning Drones – Drones are wonderful for intonation practice. This is a good, accessible option. Try playing underneath scales, buzzing, or while playing simple melodies. You could also try cello drones or getting into the drone features on the Tonal Energy/Tunable apps.

Accessories

Trombone Stands –  These stands have been unbelievably helpful to myself and many of my students. Simply having your instrument visible and ready to go at all times is so helpful in squeezing in practice sessions that might not happen otherwise (out of sight, out of mind!). I like them so much, I ended up writing an entire blog post comparing the different ones I’ve used.

Tuner/Metronome Combo – Having both of these devices is necessary for a musician, and a single device that handles both is very convenient. There are also a lot of good tuner and metronome apps for smartphones but, because of the temptation for distraction, battery life, and some functionality, I often recommend a dedicated device like the Korg TM-60 tuner. A relatively cheap device will do fine for most situations, just make sure it isn’t a guitar/bass tuner unless it also specifies that it’s a “chromatic” tuner. A contact/clip-on microphone (or even a clip-on tuner) is not necessary, but can be handy if you’re always practicing in a noisy environment (e.g. music school with thin walls, etc.).

Maintenance – Consistent care for your instrument is an important part of being a musician. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve commented on a mistake made by a student only to find it was a direct result of a sticky slide, etc. A well lubricated handslide, tuning slide and, if applicable, valve, are not luxuries… they are necessities! I have a post about slide maintenance that details the products I use.

Apps

Tuner/Metronome

Tonal Energy – This app is very impressive but, to be honest, it borders on having too many features. If you’re an advanced musician who is really nitpicky about using just intonation, could use audio/video recording with pitch analysis along the way, etc., then this is the app for you.

Tunable – Another good option with a slightly simpler interface than Tonal Energy.

Bandmate Chromatic Tuner – This is a fantastic, simple tuner app that I recommend to all younger students who may need a little extra visual reinforcement of the pitch being played.

Other

forScore – In my opinion, the best iPad app for working with digital sheet music.