A Playable, Wooden Trumpet
When you think you have seen everything, along comes something new. In this case it is a trumpet made entirely of wood. When I say entirely, I mean just that as even the valve springs are fabricated from wood.
Careers In Music Part 2
Now that we have recovered from the last post pertaining to many different areas in which one can make a living in music, it is time to focus our attention on two of the most common was to support yourself. Establishing and sustaining yourself in these musical areas- Teaching Teaching…
So You Want A Career in Music? Part 1
So You Want A Career in Music? Part 1 So do tens-of-thousands of other people. Wanting something does not necessarily make it happen. Even with all the “If you want it badly enough, it will happen” believers propagating all their wonderful and deceptive rantings. In order to focus on a…
Selecting the Best Music School- Part 3
What to Expect from Your Teacher When you visit your local physician with an ailment, you expect to leave with a solution to your problem. If you visit your dentist with a tooth ache, you expect to leave his/her office with relief, but too often trumpet students leave a trumpet…
Selecting the Best Music School- Part 2
The first part of this post dealt with issues related to terms and your direction in your musical career. This post will focus on an area that I know well and that would be the study of an instrument (in my case the trumpet). No matter what your area of…
Selecting the Best Music School- Part 1
Many are currently considering a career in music and wondering which school would be best to attend. This is a very important decision and choosing the best school to attend will affect your life in many ways. After more than fifty years teaching and attending colleges and universities around the…
Who Has More Air- Trumpet Players or Trombone Players?
To my knowledge, this question has never been addressed, and some may wonder what difference does it make anyway? As some of you may know already, your host has been performing regularly on trombone. In fact more on trombone than on trumpet this month. As a new member of the…
Guess Who’s Stealing Our Gigs Now?
Once upon a time in a land far away, lived a very talented musician who longed for the opportunity to play his instrument and actually get paid to do so. Oh what visions of grandeur passed through his/her head as he/she dedicated his/her every waking hour to practicing his/her favorite…
Copy Cat Trumpets
One of our readers brought up an interesting issue which I thought would be helpful to other readers and that was the quality (or lack of) of many imported trumpets on the market. As the unaware shopper begins to search for the perfect instrument for their kids or themselves, the…
Random Thoughts on Improvisation- A Little History
Now that we have covered a few of the elements used to build a cohesive and interesting improvised solo, I felt it necessary to establish a little of the history behind jass (original spelling). I found this yesterday and believe this is the only video I have found which actually…