My Practice Sessions: Raquel Samayoa

Raquel Samayoa is the Assistant Professor of Trumpet at the University of North Texas and a member of Seraph Brass.

What time do you begin your first practice session?
I try to get in my routine in the morning around 8 am – 9 am.

What is your daily warm-up routine?
I practice exercises that focus on sound, flexibility, finger dexterity, articulation, and range. The stuff I do may not always be the same exercises but I always cover these same 5 concepts.

How long has this warm-up been a part of your practice sessions?
Since I was a student (2004).

How long is your warm-up routine?
My routine is flexible, it can range from 15 minutes to an hour depending on how much time I have that morning.

What part of your warm-up do you look forward to the most?
The beginning which focuses on sound and flexibility (slurs).

What different elements have you changed (or removed) from your warm-up routine over the recent years?
I alternate Caruso exercises and lip bends in my routine. These exercises give me a lot of strength but I have to be careful not to overdo them and injure myself.

What time of day do you generally practice?
The evenings are usually when I work on repertoire.

How many practice sessions do you typically have a day?
3-5

Do you have a strict time limit to each practice session?
Yes, after my warm-up routine (15 min to an hour), the remaining sessions are short (15 minutes).

How does your partner’s and/or family’s schedule fit into your practice sessions?
The short answer is that it is a tough balance. I am still trying to figure this out.

What apps or products do you use to aid in your practice sessions?
TonalEnergy and forScore are my main tools.

If you fail to not get in a solid warm-up, do you do anything different for the rest of your practice sessions?
I will usually practice with students in their lessons while they do fundamentals.

When you are on tour or traveling, how are you able to adapt your practicing to fit in with the given circumstances?
I just rely on the short versions of my warm-up which focuses on Cichowicz flow tones, Clarke studies, and Vizzutti Book 1 slurs.

Is there anything else you would like to add that would be beneficial to other musicians?
Play by what you hear rather than what you feel!