
Mr. Graham A. Leftwich
Band & Orchestra Director
Roxbury & Stark Schools
Stamford, CT



Home of The
"Stamford Rockestra"
-An exceptional group comprised of band & string players
-performing legendary songs of our time-

-MyBandRules is a site dedicated to Music Education, Music Lessons, Music Appreciation and Instrumental/Vocal Music Instruction-
MENU
Improvising Solo Tips:
-An improvised solo is best created using pieces of the melody.
-Come up with a catchy rhythm to drop your melody into.
-Inventing a couple of simple catchy rhythms brings the listener in.
-More notes or faster notes do not make a better solo.
-Including a few rests (silence) in your melody adds to frame your musical ideas
-Try 'trading 2s' with a friend. Each person takes a 2 measure solo, one right after the other!
​
Warm-Ups:
-For all Wind Instruments Long tones are fantastic for building strength and endurance.
-Slow chromatic scales are great for fingering dexterity and they helps build a base with which to improvise a solo.
-Try the 'Long-Note' contest. With one breath see how many seconds you can play a good sounding note on your instrument!
-I warm-up my voice by singing a 'softer, easier song' or what I call a 'stressless' song. This is one that's comfortably in your vocal range and that you can sing lightly sometimes maybe incorporating your 'head-voice'.
-Singing pure straight tones with no vibrato builds your pitch center and control for when you do decide to use vibrato.