Carmine Caruso Exercises Caruso’s teaching has been very influential. At one time his ideas were very controversial; today they are part of the mainstream of brass pedagogy. Perform the exercises standing up. Do all exercises involving long setting in private, whenever possible, in order to minimize distractions and interruptions. 1. Long Setting – Keep the same mouthpiece placement from the beginning until the end of an exercise. 2. Nose Breathing – It’s necessary to accomplish the above. 3. Foot Tapping – This will help synchronize moving/changing parts. Tap four preparatory beats. Use toe tapping if foot tapping is too disruptive. 4. Breath Attacks – This is simply beginning a note without the tongue. Use the syllable, “hah.” For the “sls” and “lsl” exercises, notes last twelve beats and rests last four or six. Perform the loudest and softest parts of the exercises with complete abandon. Increase air velocity to crescendo; decrease it to diminuendo. Intervals The “intervals” of the Carmine Caruso system won’t be assigned the same way to every student. The concept of “balance” is important. How many intervals you do a day, or how many days you wait before doing another, depends on a number of factors. After a few lessons, I’ll suggest a “prescription” for you. Week Regular SLS LSL 1 2nds 2 3rds 6 notes 3 4ths 2nds 4 5ths 3rds 6 notes 5 6ths 4ths 2nds 6 m7ths 5ths 3rds 7 M7ths 6ths 4ths 8 8vas m7ths 5ths 9 daily review M7ths 6ths 10 daily review 8vas m7ths 11 daily review daily review M7ths 12 daily review daily review 8vas 13 begin daily chart begin daily chart begin daily chart
Carmine Caruso Exercises Carusos teaching has been very
influential. At one time his ideas were very controversial; today
they are part of the mainstream of brass pedagogy. Perform the
exercises standing up. Do all exercises involving long setting in
private, whenever possible, in order to minimize distractions and
interruptions. 1. Long Setting Keep the same mouthpiece placement
from the beginning until the end of an exercise. 2. Nose Breathing
Its necessary to accomplish the above. 3. Foot Tapping This will
help synchronize moving/changing parts. Tap four preparatory beats.
Use toe tapping if foot tapping is too disruptive. 4. Breath
Attacks This is simply beginning a note without the tongue. Use the
syllable, hah. For the sls and lsl exercises, notes last twelve
beats and rests last four or six. Perform the loudest and softest
parts of the exercises with complete abandon. Increase air velocity
to crescendo; decrease it to diminuendo.
Intervals The intervals of the Carmine Caruso system wont be
assigned the same way to every student. The concept of balance is
important. How many intervals you do a day, or how many days you
wait before doing another, depends on a number of factors. After a
few lessons, Ill suggest a prescription for you. Week Regular SLS
LSL 1 2nds 2 3rds 6 notes 3 4ths 2nds 4 5ths 3rds 6 notes 5 6ths
4ths 2nds 6 m7ths 5ths 3rds 7 M7ths 6ths 4ths 8 8vas m7ths 5ths 9
daily review M7ths 6ths 10 daily review 8vas m7ths 11 daily review
daily review M7ths 12 daily review daily review 8vas 13 begin daily
chart begin daily chart begin daily chart
Notes on Caruso Cycles Carmine Caruso suggested that eight
intervals (seconds, thirds, fourths, fifths, sixths, minor
sevenths, major sevenths, and octaves) be practiced three ways
regular, soft-loud-soft, and loud-soft-loud. After spending about
three months practicing each version for a week, he would have the
student progress to a cycle that took one week to complete (see
Seven Day Caruso Chart). I felt that the seventh day, Sunday, was
too strenuous, with six intervals all three versions of major
sevenths and all three versions of octaves. So, I developed an
eight-day cycle, never doing more than three intervals (one
regular, one soft-loud-soft, and one loud-soft-loud) each day. The
first day of this cycle is an A day, the second is a B day, etc.
Since Im very methodical and I notate the exercises that I practice
in a daily log, keeping track of cycles, which arent seven days in
length, is not a problem.
Day Reg SLS LSL A 2 5 M7 B 5 M7 3 C M7 3 6 D 3 6 8 E 6 8 4 F 8 4
m7 G 4 m7 2 H m7 2 5
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Thirteen Notes (Eight Beat Cycle)
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Thirds
Seconds
Here is an alternative rhythm for any of the interval exercises
(note that it also starts higher):
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Lips/Mouthpiece/Horn
Recovery Aid
Bends
Repeat as many times as necessary.
Do not change fingering for middle note.
Do the exercise in this sequence: 1) Buzz all pitches without
the mouthpiece (free buzz). 2) Buzz all pitches with the
mouthpiece. 3) Play all of the notes on the horn.
If comfortable, continue the exercise lower.
Text14: Caruso Studies for HornText15: repeatText16: Lips -
Mouthpiece - PlayText17: 6 Magic NotesText18: 14 Notes: play #2
once then continue...Text19: Text20: Spider Web (breath
attack)Text21: continue as high as possibleText22: continue as high
as possibleText23: Seconds (also may be articulated as #2)Text24:
ThirdsText26: Caruso Studies (cont.) Low Range WorkText27: Extra
control:Text28: 2 - 8 may be done with p < FF > p slurred and
articulated as #2Text29: Power & Volume:Text30: Range
Extension:Text31: - don't move mouthpiece off lips - don't relax
lips - keep lip configuration & pressure constant - jaw motion
should be minimal - breathe through the nose RULES FOR CARUSO
STUDIES1. steady tempo (quarter=60) tap foot/use metronome;
subdivide last beat into sixteenth notes before changing notes or
rearticulating2. keep mouthpiece in contact with lips through
entire study. Mouthpiece pressure is consitant as well as your
muscular embouchure setting during the duration of the exercise.3.
keep the blow steady (think 'solid tubes of air')4. breathe only
through the nose* Do not be concerned with pitch, control or tone.
These are specialty strengthening exercises. The benefits will
automatically seep into your playing. Benefits include: -more power
-increased depth of tone -more resonance of sound -increased
endurance -improved rangeText25: - extremely slow
(quarter=60)-breath gone at the end of each measure/ loud as
possible/ move air!-slur, tongue on repeat (over articulate,
crisp)-go through exercises again (quarter=120+)-breath as
needed-slur, tongue on repeat (very crisp articulation)-pp 2st
time, then FF on repeat. vary as desired-play backward-slur,
tongue
