What is the most important transposition to learn?

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When asking a symphony player to single out the most important transposition for a trumpet, I am sure you would get many suggestions. Transposing trumpet parts in a symphony is a way of life. Some transpositions are easy and some are extremely difficult. Transposing in a show usually begins with the vocalists request to lower her/his key one half-steps because of the singer’s cold. Transposing on a combo job where you are playing from a fake book means that whatever you see, you will have to transpose it into your trumpet’s key which is up a full step. When considering…

Shakes

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Download exercise sheet- Shake exercise sheet Download audio instructions- Shakes The similarity between the lip (tongue) trill and the shake are remarkable. Everything that we had practiced to produce a tongue trill will now be applied to the technique of playing shakes. The only difference between the two is that in a lip (tongue) trill, you are changing notes through the use of the slight arch of your tongue, and in a shake; the notes are changed through the slight movement of the hand on your instrument. I began this series explaining the effect of the hand’s movement on the instrument…

How can I play higher? Part 2

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Know your enemy- 1. Excessive mouthpiece pressure One element which can limit your playing in the upper register is excessive mouthpiece pressure. The lip needs to continuously vibrate when playing and an excess of mouthpiece pressure can limit and even stop the lips vibration when playing high notes. One trick which will reduce mouthpiece pressure would be to change how you hold your horn. Check out these previously posted articles on the subject- How to Identify and Deal with Excessive Mouthpiece Pressure- Part 1 How to Identify and Deal with Excessive Mouthpiece Pressure- Part 2

How can I play higher? Part 1

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This is the most often question trumpet teachers are asked. Why is this such a problem? Seldom are students concerned on how fast they can play or how they can improve their tone. It always comes back to high-range playing. To answer this question, we must first step back and consider the most accepted methods when improving other areas of a player’s development. How do we improve speed in fingering rapid passages? 1. Begin the passage slow and gradually increase the tempo. 2. Do not increase the tempo until you are able to perform the passage correctly every time you…

Vibrato, Lip trills and Shakes made easy!

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You might wonder why these three techniques are grouped together. The reason I am discussing them as a group is because they are all three related. The shake is just an extension of a vibrato and the proper use of lip trills (tongue trills) is the bridge between an applied hand vibrato and a shake. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU READ EACH OF MY INSTRUCTIONS IN THE ORDER THEY HAVE BEEN POSTED. Introduction to the application and use of vibrato Performing a solo without vibrato is similar to eating a perfect steak without seasoning. Even the best steak will…

Update on “Clocking Trumpet Mouthpieces”

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I contacted my AI source (openai.com) to establish the top twenty most popular mouthpiece manufactures at that time. From the list of twenty manufacturers, I was able to locate nineteen who are listed below- Bach Yamaha Schilke Warburton Monette Denis Wick Curry GR Mouthpieces Marcinkiewicz Pickett Brass Stork Custom Mouthpieces Kanstul Jet Tone Giardinelli Reeves JK Mouthpieces ACB (Austin Custom Brass) CarolBrass Doug Elliott Mouthpieces   From the list of twenty, I received five responses- Home – Stork Custom Mouthpieces grmouthpieces.com Bob Reeves Brass Mouthpieces Mouthpieces – Brass & Woodwinds – Musical Instruments – Products – Yamaha USA Mouthpieces |…

20 Minute Warm-up (Version 2)

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No one ever said that I was fast. After decades of teaching the same 20-minute warm-up, I have recently found something even better to add to my practice routine. I now play the same recording as before but have found added benefits to this routine by changing the tempo (doubling the speed) and form (playing the scales twice) of the original exercise. Included below is a copy of the updated exercise. The benefit of the original 20-minute warm-up was achieved by gradually increasing to higher notes as well as including lower notes to keep the lip flexible. By performing these…

The Trumpet Warm-up Part I

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I will begin by saying that this information is about the practice and philosophy of warming up, not the actual material used which will be included in a later section covering music to practice. I will discuss the benefits as well as the techniques used to get the trumpet player ready for his/her daily practice period. Even though there might be a few players out there that do nothing to warm up before serious playing, they are far in the minority. It could be that the ones who practiced this life style eventually decided to quit trumpet playing. For the…

Guidelines When Including a Trumpet In Your Wedding Ceremony

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In order for the wedding planner, bride, mother of the bride and/or musicians to save time, important terms and their definitions which will be used are listed below and should be helpful to lessen the potential of any misunderstanding. Terms used when discussing music concerns for a wedding- Music- Any compositions played by an instrument or sung by a voice. Song- Any musical composition with words and performed with the voice. Prelude music- Music to entertain guests as they enter hall and find their seats. Processional music-  Music performed to indicate the entrance of important people and the wedding party.…

Springs have sprung

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To make sure your valves come back up after you press them down, manufacturers have furnished us with a set of springs which work very well for most of the time. Sometimes we are faced with valves which seem to hang up every so often and it usually happens at the worst time. Hesitant valves can be a real headache as I remember when I was in fifth grade and performing cornet solos with the Moline Boys Choir, of which I was a member. I had two solos to alternately perform in our concerts. It was usually when we had…