Hogwarts March on Trumpet

So in this post I will be taking you on a journey through my rehearsal stages of Hogwarts March that I will be playing on my Trumpet.

Hogwarts March

This is a song from the blockbuster film Harry Potter and the goblet if fire the song appears when Hogwarts are welcoming the other schools to the tri-wizards tournament. This song is quite difficult and challenging as it changes tempo and also includes quavers, semiquavers,demi-semi-quavers and slurs as well as a few trills and a range of dynamics including the use of crescendos and 

diminuendos.

Here is an example of the song from the actual film.

Week 1 of Hogwarts March

First, I need to do is warm up for the technique I use to warm up please visit my warm up post.

Okay so for week one I will be learning the first three line of Hogwarts March first without any type of backing meaning I will be putting my sight reading skills to the test then I will do it with the demo to see if the rhythm I am playing is correct I will play it with the demo a couple of times so that I can get use to the tempo of the music and also make sure I am playing the lines at the right time.. so let's begin.

Before I learn to play any of this song the first thing I am going to do is listen to the whole piece of music a couple of times so I know what the song sounds like making it easier for me to learn as I will know whether I am playing it right or wrong as I will Know how the song is meant to sound.

The first Three lines of Hogwarts March looks like this,

So I can get use to the rhythm of what I need to play I am going to play the first three lines at a nice slow tempo a couple of times to start off with, then I will play it at the original tempo before playing it together with the help of the demo. To me, these first three lines look the easiest compared to the rest of the song and are repeated four times throughout the song meaning once I can play these three lines I have learned a good quarter of the song. 

Video of me practising the first three lines of Hogwarts March

Okay so above is a video of me attempting these first three lines however they didn't go as well as I hoped and it is clear that these three lines need a little bit more practice especially when it comes to adding in the slurs and  also need more work on improving my playing range. I will do this by revisiting my warm-up videos and working on playing the higher notes that are needed in this song such as the high F and high G I will do this by playing a low G then going to the octave G and blowing it for as long as I can, I will repeat this technique several times so that my lips can adapt to playing the high note and then I will repeat the exercise with the High F, After that I will have a go at the first three lines again with the demo to see how I have improved.

Below is a video of me playing the first three lines. Before this video,I played these three lines a couple of times each day to make sure I was playing in time to the music. 

Hogwarts March with Demo video,

Well, that is it for week one I am happy with the way everything turned out and what I have learned so far. I have learned to play the first three lines of Hogwarts March to a decent standard for this stage by first playing the lines at a slow tempo then playing it at the original tempo before putting it together with the demo I think this worked really well as I could see what parts needed more practice such as the high notes and also which parts I did well helping me progress as I knew exactly what sections I needed to concentrate on and improve on to help me play the song correctly. 

Week 2  - Hogwarts March

for week two I will be learning the next three lines of Hogwarts March for these I will be using the same technique as I used in week one where I will play the lines by myself without any demo or backing track just so I can get to grips with what these lines entail and how they are played.  Once I am confident with how the lines are played and what it should sound like, then just like the first three lines  I will play the lines with the demo over and over again until I am playing in time to the music.

Below is the next three lines to Hogwarts March,

Okay so just like I did with the first three lines I am first going to play the three line at a nice steady tempo to start with then I will hopefully move on to playing the lines with the demo.

Video me practising the next three line with no demo

 above is a video of me attempting the next three lines of Hogwarts march I did it at a slow tempo so that I could get to grips the notes and the way it is meant to be played, however when playing these three lines I came across a little problem. I found fitting in all the notes in where there is a semi-quaver quite challenging and so I decided to concentrate on the sections separately so that I could get use to them and learn to play them probably I started by playing the section slowly so that I made sure I was playing all the notes and also to get use to what valves I need to press before playing the section a bit quicker. I played these sections over and over and over again till I was happy with them before playing all three lines togeather again.

Below there are two videos of me attempting the semi-quavers,

Semiquavers video,

Okay so know my problem of semiquavers is no longer the next thing I am going to do is play the three lines over and over again because after all practice makes perfect. 

Okay so know I am confident with playing these three lines it is now time to put it together with the demo. The good thing about playing the lines with the demo is that it gives the chance to make sure you are playing each section correctly and also makes sure you are in time with the music getting you ready for playing the song with just the backing. I will play the lines with the demo a couple of times each day of this week to make sure what I am playing is correct and is in time with the backing. 

Video of me playing the next three lines or lines 4,5 and 6 with the demo.

As lines 7 8 and 9 are a repeat of the first three lines I can put them togeather with the other lines I have learned so far and play with the demo.

The first 9 lines all togeather with the demo

Overall I think I have made really good progress in week 2 I have learned the next three lines of the song and overcome problems that I have come across. I then managed to put all the lines I have learned so far togeather and play them reasonably okay with the demo. There is still some work that needs doing on this section of the song such as I am still having problems fitting in the semi-quavers in time with the demo and so I will need to practice that section again ready in time for next week where I will be moving on to the easiest section of the song. I also need to add in slurs and dynamics into the first section as well but these will be added when I have learned the whole song.  

Week three of Hogwarts March

So in week three I will be moving on to what I think is the easiest part of the song apart from the fact in this section the song changes key from Bb or G minor to G major and so I have to be careful I play the right key signature.  For week three I am going to be learning the last section of the Song first by doing it the same I have learned the other lines to play it at a slow tempo first to get use to it then play at the original speed before putting it togeather with the rest of the song and the demo. 

Below is an image of the last three lines,

As you can see from the image above this section is repeated and then when I get where it says D.S at coda I need to go back to the sign which is location, where I first come it at the start of the song and then play till it says fine and then the song is complete. As you can tell by looking at the image above this section is pretty easy and so shouldn't take me long to get to grips with it meaning this week will mainly be concentration on adding in the slurs and dynamics that help bring the piece to live. 

Video of me practising lines 10 to 14  

Okay so now that I know the whole song it is now time to add in the slurs and the dynamics. For this song the dynamics are easy as it is mainly mf  throughout the song apart from lines 4 5 6 and 9 where  there is a crescendo from p to f  before going back to mf . In the last section where the piece changes key the song is moderately soft at mp. 

Okay so the next thing I need to do to make this song sound professional is to add in the dynamic However before I do this I need to know how to change dynamics on the trumpet and so I researched it where I came a Cross this website http://www.bbtrumpet.com/windplayer.html which told me that for trumpet player changing dynamic depend on how much air you are blowing through, your trumpet, for example, to play a loud note more needs to be blown through the trumpet. It also told me that in order to change dynamics you have to blow from right from the diaphragm in order to get a loud crisp sound to play quietly less air is needed to pass through the trumpet meaning you don't have to blow as hard put you still need to blow from the diaphragm.

Below is a video of me adding dynamics to Hogwarts March

Adding dynamics to the whole song with the demo.

So now all I have to do is to add in slurs these are quite simple for me so I won't have to do much practice, for the slurs as slurs are just playing different notes but instead of tonguing them you join them togeather so you basically blow continuously while playing different notes. In this song, slurs feature mainly in the last section where it changes key and so this is the section I will be concentrating.

Okay so Know I have learned the song it is now time to do the song with just the backing track with no demo and also make sure that I am in time with the backing track as I have been practicing the song step by step with the demo where I should come in and where I stop should be clear but to make sure of this I will do it with the backing track over and over again until I feel I am ready,

Time to play all of the song, with just the backing track lets give it a go,

Okay so there is still some tweaks I need to do before my recital such as making sure I am breathing in the right place and adding dynamics but other then that I feel I am ready for my recital but we will soon see.

All I need to do is to Practise this song at least one every day.

In my next post I will be taking you on a journey through my Halleujah singing rehearsal.