Scales, again?

So why, exactly, should we practice our scales?

We all do it.  Run through our scales as fast as we possibly can so we can check them off of our list of things to do, like a household chore.  We play them because our teachers tell us to.  We play them out of a sick sense of guilt that occurs if we don't. We play them because that's the way we have always warmed up.  It's a shame, really, because our scales provide us with the ideal vessel for perfecting so many different aspects of performance.

Probably the most obvious thing to work on is tone.  Take time with your scales.  Play them as long tones and never move on to the next note before achieving the most perfect, pure tone imaginable.  Keep in mind that practicing your scales does not mean that you have to play all of them.  Just accounting for majors and all 3 forms of minors you have 48 to choose from.  Select a handful to focus on each day.  If you have trouble keeping your tone consistent between the low, mid, and high registers, slowly play them the full range of the instrument, making each note tonally perfect through the entire range before moving on.

Practice them in different rhythmic patterns and at different speeds.  When you have your scales memorized, and I mean truly memorized, you can focus entirely on your rhythm without the notes themselves getting in the way.  Note accuracy should not be an issue, so do more than just play them as straight eighth notes.  Throw in varying articulations while you're at it.  Staccato, accents, marcato, slurs, legato, and so on.  Use this as an opportunity to practice making a distinct difference between the different articulations we are required to use.  Practice your multiple tonguing.  Work them faster and faster until you can no longer control the rhythm precisely.  Switch things up by playing a jazz rhythm/style.  We horn players are notoriously "square," so take the time to work on your swing patterns every now and again.  You may surprise your fellow orchestra members at your next Pops concert.

Dynamics.  Oh how easily we forget to actually practice these.  Start soft and crescendo as you ascend.  Start loud and decrescendo as you descend.  Start loud, decrescendo halfway through, and crescendo again as you reach the top of the scale.  Start soft, crescendo halfway through, and decrescendo as you reach the top.  Play all of them as soft and controlled as humanly possible.  Play them all as big (with focused and controlled tone of course) as possible, pushing your dynamic limits to their max.

Use them as part of your warm-down routine at the end of the day.  Soft, slow, descending scales are a perfect way to pull an abused embouchure back into the proper shape again.  Keep your focus on controlling your corners and bring the very center of your embouchure back into control.  Get rid of any gravel that may have appeared in your sound and eliminate any occurrence of a double buzz that can appear when we've played heavily.

We seem to always be looking for that perfect exercise or etude to fix all of our playing problems.  You already have the perfect tool that you can modify in any way you want to fix any problem you may have.  Never forget how to effectively use them.