Review

Kevin Sanders and Marcus Wiggins
The Hollywood Warm Up: A Knight’s Tale:

Memphis, TN, United States
Publisher: Ensemble Essentials Publications
Date of Publication: 2011

31 pages plus audio compact disc

Primary Genre: Study Material - method
Secondary Genre: Study Material - etude

The Hollywood Warm Up is a polished presentation of a clever idea. In a product that appears mostly targeted at younger students, Sanders and Wiggins have put together a sequence of warm-up exercises with an accompaniment composed by Kevin McKenzie.  The twenty-minute routine follows a familiar warm-up path including long tones, flow studies, lip slurs, articulation, scales and a warm down. Different exercises have thematic titles such as “The Journey Begins” (long tones) and “The Dream” (one of the lip slur studies). The real star of all this are the recordings composed by McKenzie. They are far better than other play along tracks I’ve heard. It is these tracks that really give the routine its Hollywood flair. The subtitle, ‘A Knight’s Tale,’ makes me wonder if perhaps other “soundtracks” are eventually intended for the same warm up exercises; I would welcome such variety. As good as these recordings are, new ‘soundtracks’ would help to keep things fresh for students. Students can access the practice recordings either via the compact disc that comes with the book or through the website, hollywoodwarmup.com, which conveniently provides free downloads of the practice tracks. The first 11 tracks align with the 11 exercises of the book while 25 additional tracks provide the accompaniments at different tempos. Each exercise is accompanied by a “helpful hints” section, which provides solid pedagogical advice such as “Try singing this exercise along with the recording,” and “Think about moving your air ‘through’ the slur.” The authors also suggest variations such as changing the articulation or dynamics.

Any criticism I have is fairly mild. Given that this is a method intended for a variety of instruments, some of the exercises will be beyond the lung capacity of younger players at the “initial track” tempo. Faster tracks help with this but also increase the degree of difficulty. On my first run through with the recording, the harmonies were somewhat confusing to follow. I can imagine younger players getting lost without clearer audio landmarks to follow. At times the tonic note of the pattern seems to be harmonized with something other than a tonic chord. This felt a bit odd, harmonically, but maybe that’s the idea. In the introductory text, the authors state, “The music in the soundtrack reflects the exercise you are playing.” This isn’t always true but it isn’t a big problem either. The book is a bit lean at 31 pages. I would have liked to have seen the inclusion of a more advanced warm-up that goes along with the same practice tracks.

The Hollywood Warm Up is a good product providing an energetic, polished soundtrack to accompany a basic warm-up routine. If your younger students need some help sticking with a fundamentals routine, this might provide the spark. 

-Brad Edwards
University of South Carolina