Last Day for Gigantic Price Blowout!!!!

With the Fall Season just around the corner (remember the Christmas season begins on Labor Day in Branson), our sister site trumpetensemblemusic.com will be offering all of their arrangements posted from September 1 through September 30 for only $5.00 each. This will the best time to stock up on your music needs for the remainder of the year. Every new arrangement posted from the September 1st through September 30th will be priced at only $5.00. Be sure to check every day for the arrangement you need and stock up for the Holidays. Not only that! If you have something special…

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Put A Spring In Your Playing

With all the advances in trumpet materials and design, you would think someone would do something to improve our valve springs. There is one thing that you can do yourself to possibly improve the performance of your instrument. And the answer is inside your valve casings. Valves are made to go up and down when we perform and in most situations, they work well. Sometimes they stick and in most cases a good cleaning will solve that problem. But if a nice warm bath and cleaning has not improved your valve action you might consider changing your valve springs. After…

How A Soda Straw Can Improve Your Playing

In our last post we talked about the use of a modified, plastic, water bottle to improve your air intake and today we will be using another simple and readily available gadget to improve the air flow out of your body and through your instrument. Many have pondered exactly how we produce the correct air stream when playing a brass/wind instrument and in most cases, the concept has been grossly misunderstood. Here are just a few of the comments I have heard- 1. Tighten your stomach- WRONG! 2. Tighten your diaphragm- WRONG! 3. Firm up your stomach- WRONG 4. Blow…

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How A Water Bottle Can Improve Your Breathing

Taking in a sufficient amount of air before playing trumpet is a very simple yet confusing action. Some say that “you take air in as if you are coming up for the last time when drowning”. I never did understand that one. Some say “lift your shoulders and fill your lungs from the bottom up”. Still others tell their students to “breath low”. I wish I had a dollar for every time I have heard that one. Some encourage the player to “take a long, slow breath through the nose”. That person must have very large nostrils and a long…

An Interesting Dilemma Revisited

Problem Solved. After going through the arsenal of trumpet mouthpieces I have collected through several decades, I finally stumbled upon one which has been shelved for more years than I can remember; my old Purviance 5*K4. Today I played the first half of the show on my usual Bobby Shew Jazz mouthpiece and the second half on my old 5*K4 and my old standby saved the day again. Every note in the middle range which was covered by the lead trumpet playing in his high range finally cut enough to make balancing the two parts perfectly. Tonight I will now…

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An Interesting Dilemma

I pride myself as a very competent second chair trumpet player. Making this confession does not come easily for declaring that you are comfortable being a “second chair player” is against all trumpet player’s egos. But, as I told Mr. Bobby Shew one day, “we are the players that make you guys sound good”. Be sure to read my earlier post entitled “How To Become A Better Second Chair Trumpet Player”. Last season I was playing the lead chair in our show

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