Endurance Drills for Performance Skills

This book is subtitled: Scale & chord studies intended for the development of the most basic skills: A smooth & relaxed air flow, a compact efficient tongue stroke, and a responsive aperture framed by a strong, stable embouchure (plus 5 Bach transcriptions).

Chris Gekker’s Endurance Drills for Performance Skills has a simple mandate – not unlike Herbert L Clarke’s Technical Studies – to play with ease in all registers, keeping the embouchure fresh and pliable. Clarke called endurance “90% of cornet playing” and you can see here that Gekker agrees. His attention to detail in his own practice comes out in these studies and he even quotes the great flutist Julius Baker who quipped “If I never make a mistake, I’ll never make a mistake.” Very true, and if you have heard Gekker perform or have listened to his recordings, you can tell he strives for this perfection every day.

This book is subtitled: Scale & chord studies intended for the development of the most basic skills: A smooth, relaxed air flow, a compact, efficient tongue stroke, and a responsive aperture framed by a strong, stable embouchure (plus 5 Bach transcriptions).