There are thousands of trumpet students out there right now who are getting ready for scale proficiencies at their schools. They will have to play their scales dozens of times (or hundreds) before they will be ready.

They also have to work on other tasks: long tones and buzzing. Slur exercises, slot placement, vibrato. Don’t forget timing drills, articulation practice, soft playing, loud playing, and high notes.

There are thousands of trumpet fundamental and technique books to help with these other tasks, but we probably can’t afford to buy them all (although I would like to). But we can adapt our tasks to basic patterns we learn in our scales. Instead of just going up and down those scales the same way, why can’t we change things up a little? Here’s what you can do with scales:

1. Use different speeds. Using a very slow tempo basically makes a scale exercise into a long tone study. And I hope it goes without saying, please use your metronome as much as possible.
2. Use different dynamics (especially soft).
3. Use different basic articulations. Slur, legato tongue, marcato, and staccato. If you single tongue every note many times, then you really refine your basic articulation.
4. Have you tried “forte-piano” attacks? How about sforzando?
5. Use “pooh” attacks.
6. Using a metronome, play each successive note on beat one of a 4/4 measure. Rest in between. Time your breathing.
7. Play your scales with triple tongue (perhaps one or two triple-tongues per note). Use different degrees of crispness/smoothness.
8. Play your scales with double tongue (one, two or four double-tongues per note). Use different degrees of crispness/smoothness.
9. Try bending each note (or the top and bottom notes) down 1/2 step and then back up–each time trying to come back to the most optimal slot of each note.
10. Try singing your scale (use a drone set to the pitch of the scale). Finger the notes on your valves while you singe. Think about your vocal tone quality. Try different articulations.
11. Try putting your mouthpiece in a B.E.R.P., and then set a drone to the pitch of your scale. Then buzz your scale while playing the fingerings. Try this will all of your articulations.
12. Try playing all of your scales two octaves. Can you play some three octaves? Remember that it’s okay to “squeak”!
13. Use vibrato.
14. Lip trill every note.
15. Flutter tongue.
16. Play your scales in thirds. Fourths. Fifths. Sixths. Sevenths.
17. Play the scale for one octave, but on each note, slur up an octave and then back down.
18. Play your scales “upside down” (start on the high note, go down and then back to high note).
19. Push in your tuning slide, but try to still play in tune.
20. Pull out your tuning slide, but try to still play in tune.
21. Play with different vowel sounds.
22. Play all of the church modes.

I’m sure there are more things than these. And remember that this concept applies to arpeggios, Clarke studies and any basic kinds of patterns. Use your imagination!