My Practice Sessions: Nick Platoff

Nick Platoff is the Assistant Principal Trombonist with the San Francisco Symphony.

What is your daily warm-up routine?
Meditate, stretch, breathing exercises (whatever it takes to get my breath flowing easily), some buzzing, breath attacks. High range expansion, fast single tongue training. but that is specific to my playing needs. The important thing here for each musician is to find WHAT THEY NEED. Copying someone else’s warm-up/practice routine is like eating someone else’s diet or wearing someone else’s wardrobe.

The important kernel here is that these are things I’ve found over YEARS of experimentation.

Students should EXPERIMENT with different elements and routines and find what makes them feel and sound the best.

How long has this warm-up been a part of your practice sessions?
A few months.

What part of your warm-up do you look forward to the most?
Stretching and breathing. 

What different elements have you changed (or removed) from your warm-up routine over the recent years?
Meditation, stretch/breathe.

Do you have a strict time limit to each practice session?
Nope, that’s never worked for me. Again – everyone is different. Some people really benefit from this type of thing!

After your last practice session of the day, do you do anything the night before to prepare for the next day’s sessions?
Lots of listening and study.

Do you have any non-music related routines such as meditation or exercise to help prepare you for your daily warm-up?
Yes  plus exercising daily keeps my whole system sharp.

What apps or products do you use to aid in your practice sessions?
Modacity! Highly recommended.

When you are on tour or traveling, how are you able to adapt your practicing to fit in with the given circumstances?
There will be social pressure to go to the bar, skip your practice. it’s not easy to stick to your practice priorities, but good friends will respect your need to stay on task.

Is there anything else you would like to add that would be beneficial to other musicians?
Make friends with musicians who are better than you. Strive to improve. Listen VORACIOUSLY to all the music you possibly can. There’s a lot we can learn from jazz/pop/hip-hop/etc. musicians. Don’t get stuck in the classical box- there are a lot of very closed-minded people there. #sorrynotsorry