Vibrato

written by Bruce Chidester on October 10, 2026

Download exercise sheet Trumpet Vibrato Basics I mentioned in my previous post that I feel the best vibrato for trumpet playing is the hand vibrato. Some of the reasons I feel strongly about this form of vibrato over other techniques are- 1. It does not interfere with the basic sound of the note. 2. It is easier to control. 3. It can be turned on and off much easier than other methods. 4. Even though it might not be the best technique for other brass instruments, in my opinion, it is the best technique for the trumpet.…

Outstanding !!!!!!!!

written by Bruce Chidester

What You Should Know Before Buying A Flugelhorn

written by Bruce Chidester

To many people, the flugelhorn is a unique and interesting instrument. It looks bigger than a trumpet and in some ways it is bigger. It is heavier and has a larger bell. But when stretched out to its full length, a Bb flugelhorn is exactly the same length as a…

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Many Thanks to Our Readers

written by Bruce Chidester

We, at thetrumpetblog.com wish to thank our readers for their patients during the past three month. Due to the decline in my wife’s (Karen) health, I have been slow at posting new material on our site. Now that all the issues dealing with her death have been completed and I…

Check Out This Young Man

written by Bruce Chidester

What a nice cornet sound…..

David Mason and Penny Lane

written by Bruce Chidester

thanks Warren

A Night Off

written by Bruce Chidester

What do you do when you have finished a great week playing a show and you have nothing to do all evening? Well, what I did this evening was to play with one of my old toys from more than a half century back. I’m speaking of a little contraption…

To Plunge Or Not To Plunge, That Was The Question…

written by Bruce Chidester

What looks good on a score sometimes does not work as well as one might anticipate as this situation illustrates. I ran into a challenge recently which made me look for a nontraditional solution. On one of my parts was the example below- At first glance, I thought it to…

Packing Your Essentials For A Job

written by Bruce Chidester

Some gigs require your horn and a mouthpiece while others require planning and forethought. My present job has special requirements which I will address in this post. The “All Hands on Deck Show” is all-new to Branson, fresh off a national tour. Themed as an All-American 1942 Roadshow, audiences are…

Using Technology to Improve Your Trumpet Playing- Using an oscilloscope

written by Bruce Chidester

Visualizing Your Sound Many times I am asked , “Who do you think has the best trumpet sound?” Some would say Clifford Brown, some would offer the name Maurice André, Bud Herseth or “Bix” Beiderbecke. Everyone has an opinion but the real question should be, “Why do they have the…

The Trumpet Player’s Octave Key

written by Bruce Chidester

Have you ever watched enviously as woodwind players sail up and down through their wide range by only depressing their octave key? With the slightest movement of the thumb of their left hand, clarinet players are able to jump octaves with ease and sax players effortlessly negotiate eight and sixteen…

Brass Players Obsession for “The Sound” Part 3- What Does A Full, Rich Sound Look Like?

written by Bruce Chidester

When trying to describe a tone produced by any vibratory agent, one needs to graphically represent its elements in a way everyone can see and compare. To do this, I will record three different trumpet pitches and compared each as it is represented on a computer screen. As some of…

Brass Players Obsession for “The Sound” Part 2

written by Bruce Chidester

What Is The Perfect Tone? If you ask a dozen trumpet players this question you will get many different descriptions for each player has been influenced by their past likes and dislikes. To a die-hard cool jazz musician, his/her leanings would be more toward the darker side illustrated by the…

Brass Players Obsession To Find And Keep “The Sound”

written by Bruce Chidester

We will begin by replacing the word “sound” with the definitions “tone quality/color” or “timbre”. When approaching something as complex as a brass player’s concept of his/her “sound” we must first set accurate parameters for this discussion. Wikipedia “In music, timbre (/ˈtæmbər/ TAM-bər, also known as tone color or tone…