This week’s Kopprasch is a study in flexibility, primarily through slurred patterns in the low and middle register.  Suggested tempo is quarter note=100-104, although I think it’s a good idea to practice this one much slower.  Here are some random ideas to help make this deceptively challenging etude more manageable.  1) For the compound leaps (over an octave), try taking the lower note up an octave until you have the intervals firmly in your ear. 2) Let air speed, along with an efficient pivot in and out of the low register, do the work. 3) Practice the big slurs by slurring up and down the harmonic series until you arrive at the goal note. 4) For more helpful exercises, check out Randy Gardner’s fabulous book Mastering the Horn’s Low Register.