Sheet Music for Trumpet- Free

Budgets are tight and still we need material to practice. I have been searching the Internet for some time and have collected a large source of sites which offer free music for the trumpet. Some are good and most are a waist of time. I have selected my top thirteen sources for free music written for, or adaptable for trumpet use. If, after reading this post you have additional sites to suggest, please send your information to me and I will update my listings on a later post. These listings are from the best to the less valuable, indicated with…

Be Careful What You Ask For!

In our last post I invited comments on the subject “Why Brass at Christmas Time” and I did get a question. But it wasn’t what I expected. I thought I would have comments such as “What’s so bad about woodwind quartets”? or “You’re an idiot”, you know the usual responses. What I recieved was something quite different. The question- “What are you most popular arrangements”? As with most comments, I will respond as best I can. My top 20 most popular brass arrangements during the Christmas season are the following starting with the most popular. 1. Mary Did You Know-…

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Christmas = Brass

This morning while lying in bed and looking out our bedroom sliding doors at the sun coming up over Table Rock Lake, I began to wonder why the Christmas season is most often celebrated with brass instruments. Why do we hear more brass ensembles during this time of the year than woodwind quartets or string ensembles? Why are brass instruments more seasonal than all other instruments? Throughout the day I pondered this question and finally decided to sit down and discuss this question with myself. Brass instruments were not always used during the Christmas season just as they were not…

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The Sound Check

Every commercial musician has gone through this ritual before a show and no one has ever portrayed this tedious practice better than this. Thanks Paul for the heads up. Enjoy!

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the Branson Trumpet Ensemble

The History The Branson Trumpet Ensemble began performing in the Branson area in 2005 and has amassed a library of over 1,000 arrangements ranging from Bach to Rock. Its performances have included weddings, private parties, concerts, conventions, church services as well as special music for many different occasions. The Original Members John Casebourn graduated from McMinnville Senior High School in McMinnville, Oregon. He earned his BS degree in 1987 from the College of the Ozarks, in Branson Missouri. John was the band director at the following communities- Plato, Missouri from 1987 until 1988; Blue Eye, Missouri 1988-1998; Spokane, MO 1998-2006…

The Correct Embouchure- “Why we teach it incorrectly”

Why do we spend so much time and energy teaching the technical side of trumpet playing instead of the musical application of the trumpet? We, as musicians, write and lecture on every possible issue related to the technique of trumpet playing. Thousands of dollars are spent monthly on “the perfect mouthpiece”. Fortunes are spent annually in the search for the perfect trumpet. Unfortunately little attention is ever given to the real issue when striving to become a better  player. This one factor is more important to fine trumpet playing than anything else and that element is “sound”. You may refer…

The Most Overlooked Note Value In The World

Many performers pay close attention to the note values in the middle of the range, i.e. quarter, half, whole notes but when playing the other note values, we tend to get sloppy. The notes I am speaking of are the sixteenths and the whole notes. The problem with whole notes is usually because of laziness. “Who cares if the whole not has four complete beats? When I hit beat four, I stop playing”. Unfortunately a whole note is supposed to get four complete beats, not three and one-half. The other value which has been slighted is the sixteenth value. Just…

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A Musician Must Be Flexible- Part 2

Flexibility in your surroundings Being flexible in your surroundings or environment refers to your interaction with the situation and people around you. Musicians at times can be moody, prideful, insecure as well as stubborn and arrogant. This is not a trait of all musicians but is true of many. When you are performing in an ensemble or performing on stage as a soloist, you are more on display than say someone working in a factory or fixing a leaky water pipes. Learning to be more patient and understanding can be very important to your musical success. Trumpet players have a…

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A Musician Must Be Flexible- Part 1

Flexibility when performing Whether you play regularly in an orchestra or a jazz combo, each performing medium has its own playing expectations. If you are playing lead in a big band, you will be expected to play at the upper dynamic levels as well as in the upper range of the instrument. If you perform regularly on a third cornet part in a concert band, you will be required to play low parts at lower dynamic levels. No matter what part you play regularly, you will need to compensate for these narrow playing expectations. Flash back time again- I distinctly…

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I ran into an old friend today….

While rummaging through my files today, I discovered a long lost friend from my past… The name of my old friend was Vassily Brandt “Etudes for Trumpet (Orchestra Etudes and Last Etudes), Edited by William Vacchiano. Not only are these excellent exercises to learn some of the most recognized orchestral excerpts, but when you get back to the “Last Etudes” section, hold on to your eyeballs for this had to be written by the most vicious practitioner of the instrument. Just when you get used to a pattern, he changes directions and you fingers feel as if they were bent…