My Practice Sessions: Daniel Coffman

Daniel Coffman is a trombonist with the United States Naval Academy Band.

What time do you begin your first practice session?
Usually, before 11 am.

What is your daily warm-up routine?
I like to start with some easy playing in the middle and low register, and then gradually expand into the upper register. I always like to play the entire range of the horn in my first practice session. I don’t have a naturally strong high range and I’ve noticed that if I don’t actively play up there in the mornings, it’ll be a lot weaker the rest of the day.

How long is your warm-up routine?
Generally, my first practice session of the day is about 45-60 minutes. It’s hard for me to focus much longer than that.

What part of your warm-up do you look forward to the most?
I really enjoy working on easy and effortless playing. I tend to play with a lot of tension so a lot of my warmup is focused on trying to establish good habits when it comes to playing efficiently.

What time of day do you generally practice?
It depends on my workload for the day, but I usually do a warmup in the morning, and then practice sessions in the afternoon and evening if I’m not too tired.

How many practice sessions do you typically have a day?
Usually, 3 or 4 if I have the time and endurance.

How does your partner’s and/or family’s schedule fit into your practice sessions?
My wife works from home so when I’m practicing during the day I need to be flexible to her job’s needs as well.

After your last practice session of the day, do you do anything the night before to prepare for the next day’s sessions?
Just try to get a good night’s sleep.

Do you have any non-music related routines such as meditation or exercise to help prepare you for your daily warm-up?
I’ve started doing basic yoga exercises in the morning that have really helped with relaxed breathing and removing tension from my body. I’ve also been running fairly consistently for about 5 years now and it’s helped my breathing and stamina a ton. People sometimes forget that playing the trombone is a physical activity and being out of shape can really affect our abilities.

What apps or products do you use to aid in your practice sessions?
Tonal Energy. I love using drones for intonation practice.

If you fail to not get in a solid warm-up, do you do anything different for the rest of your practice sessions?
Sometimes I’ll try to do some playing meant for a “traditional warmup” later in the day. My former teacher, Larry Zalkind, talked about how he’d purposely come to orchestra rehearsal without warming up just to make sure he could still do it. I took that to heart to ensure I don’t become dependent on my own warmup routine. If you can’t feel normal the rest of the day without your specifically cultivated warmup, you won’t be able to deal with all the variables that occur on a daily basis.

When you are on tour or traveling, how are you able to adapt your practicing to fit in with the given circumstances?
Just by doing the best I can. When I’m traveling with the Naval Academy Band, I try to use efficient air and not think about the inconsistent practice or rehearsal time, and instead just try to maintain good habits. When I’m on vacation, I try to enjoy that time away from the horn. It’s easy at our job to become fatigued due to playing in different types of weather, different settings, inconsistent schedules, etc., and the time off is incredibly important for me. I always come back with fresh muscles and a renewed sense of drive to keep improving.

Is there anything else you would like to add that would be beneficial to other musicians?
Never feel afraid to take a day off once in a while. There were many times in school where I would practice even when I desperately needed a day off and it did way more harm than good.