Daily Routines

Developed From
The Physical Trumpet Pyramid

The first edition of Daily Routines was written in 1990. It is my second book of seven and is based on the first book called "The Physical Trumpet Pyramid". It is by far my best selling book, having sold over five hundred copies so far. Just recently, I finished the second edition of Daily Routines which changes very little except the notation. In the first edition, all music was written in hand and all text was done on a type writer. The second edition has text done in Microsoft Word and music written in Coda's Finale. It is to date my best, most involved Finale work.

Daily Routines is my best deal that I have going. It consists of over one hundred pages of exercises (almost three thousand measures), all for ten dollars.

The exercises in the book are grouped according to physical difficulty. There are seven such groups, the easiest being easy enough for absolute beginners and the seventh, most difficult group being difficult enough for professionals. The groups progress smoothly, allowing the player to graduate from one group to the next without being overwhelmed.

Each "Group" is an actual routine which consists of Lip Buzz, Mouthpiece Buzz, Long Tones, Lip Slurs, Articulation Studies, Multiple Tongue Studies and an added bonus of specialized scale studies that I call "Tonalization Studies". Also included are three reminders; one tells you when to rest, another reminds you to do air exercises before you practice and the other reminds you to do pedal tones (which I recommend doing after the Lip Slurs).

The Lip Buzz, Mouth Piece Buzz and Long Tones are basically "flow" study long tones. My Lip Slurs are different from most. I've written them in a way which gives you the most benefit without overworking the lip. The Articulation and Multiple Tonguing studies are again, "flow" studies. The "Tonalization Studies" are very comprehensive scale studies to be done in every key. These scale studies are tailor made to fit each group of exercises in terms of physical difficulty.

What makes this book different from other books of its type is the way the book is organized. I've found that doing rudiments in this specific order (as outlined in the Physical Trumpet Pyramid) fosters a more secured growth, rooted strongly in the traditional rudiments of brass playing. It is possible to use this order without buying the Daily Routines book, but it would require you to do all the research that I've already done and it would require you to work out of as many as thirty different books to get anything near the materials included in my book. Also, there is material in my book that I couldn't find in anyone else's books. Being set up to help players of seven different difficulty levels, you could see why it might be hard to find exercises that fit one difficulty level "just right".

Also, I believe that rest (days off) is a main factor in my own physical progress. Just like working with any other group of muscles in the body, it's the time of rest, after a work out, during which muscles "rebuild", causing them to be stronger. The trouble is that most of us trumpet players get a little weird about taking entire days off. So, with Daily Routines, since it has seven different levels of physical difficulty, you can play a group that is below your level in stead of taking a day off. For example, if group six is your most difficult group, then on a "light" day, you can do group three and it will feel like you haven't even warmed up yet.

To buy Daily Routines, simply send a check for $16 to:

  Houston Musical Resources
  PO Box 34027
  Houston, TX
  77234-4027

Include with the check, a little note telling me which book you are purchasing and what address you want the book to be mailed to. The $10 is for the book and $6 for postage. To receive a catalog you can ask for the ASCII version which I will attach to an email to you. You can request a physical catalog by emailing me with your address and making it clear that you want the physical version of my catalog. OR, you can print the catalog from my web page at:

EddieLewis.com