Sections of major orchestral works which are written for a particular instrument are called excerpts. When performing a major piece in an orchestra, you may have to count measures rest for many minutes and eventually get to the “meat” of the part far down the road. These short, yet vitally important fragments of a composition can be extracted for easier viewing and practicing and this collection is call an Orchestral Excerpt Book. A very helpful post on the Internet can be found at this location.. Orchestral Excerpts for Trumpet Not only are you able to print off the musical example,…

I happened to run across this wonderful performance of one of my arrangements on Youtube today and wanted to share it with you. Thanks for your support “Generations Brass” and a free arrangement will be coming your way. Please send me your E Mail address and I will get it off to you.

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-…

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…