How to Play in Tune

written by Bruce Chidester on April 29, 2024

Before we get to the “How Do I’s”, I need to address a few questions which are seldom asked but are equally important: Why is it important to play in tune? Playing “out of tune hurts”. It doesn’t hurt the player but it certainly hurts the listener. If you watch television programs such as “American Idol” or “So You Think You’ve Got Talent” or some equally popular show, you have experienced the horror of amateur singers trying to make it big. When they land on an out of tune note for any length of time, we all seem to have…

Sleep apnea – What they don’t tell you! (Part 7)

written by Bruce Chidester

Short but helpful suggestions: Handling the hose- To keep from being strangled to death with your hose, run it from your machine over the back of the headboard and down to your pillow. In this way it is controlled and you will not fight it all night as you move…

Sleep apnea – What they don’t tell you! (Part 6)

written by Bruce Chidester

Do you have to use your machine every night? NO! Knowing that involuntary habits can actually be retrained made me wonder if the Bipap/Cpap therapy is something that needs to be continued indefinitely. My answer to that question (in my case) is an emphatic No! I began my test to…

Sleep apnea – What they don’t tell you! (Part 5)

written by Bruce Chidester

#1 Complaint- Dry mouth After visiting with other sufferers of Sleep Apnea, the most consistent complaint seemed to be dry mouth. The dryness in my mouth each morning was so severe that I eventually developed a lesion in the back of my throat which progressed into a serious problem. After…

The Transitional A/Bb Cornets- Did They Play In Tune?

written by Bruce Chidester

Shortly after posting my article Why Did The Cornet Become a Second Rate Citizen?, I became more interested in the Cornet and one of the questions which kept me up at night was this- “did the transitional cornets (cornets manufactured as a fundamentally A pitched instrument but converted to play…

Why did the Cornet become a second rate citizen?

written by Bruce Chidester

First I need to apologize to the uninitiated followers of trumpet history. This will not be an entertaining document. This might be boring to the casual reader but for the rest of us who are deeply interested in how our trumpet/cornet history has been developing, I think this is worth…

Absolutely Nothing To Do With Trumpet- But “Whale” Worth Watching

written by Bruce Chidester

Our hats are of to these courageous conservationists.

Trumpet Tips

Perfect Pitch – Is it possible?

written by Bruce Chidester

The terms “perfect pitch” or “absolute pitch” are well know to most musicians and are looked upon as great attributes possessed by only a select few. In reality, “it isn’t all that great”! As a member of this so called select few, I can speak from experience that, although at…

Personal Embouchure Training Device Review

written by Bruce Chidester

The concept promoted by the Personal Embouchure Training Exerciser is not new for we have known of the basic concept for a long time. This exercise was first shared with me by an old circus cornet player many years ago. Years later it was shared again when I played under Merle…

Select Your Practice Room Carefully

written by Bruce Chidester

Where do you do most of your practicing? Is it in a band room? Do you slave away every day in a practice room? Is most of your time practicing spent in a small room, a big room, a room with drapes and heavy carpet? Where you practice regularly will…

Why Doesn’t The Air Go Out My Nose?

written by Bruce Chidester

I have been asked through the years, “Why, when I play a note on a brass instrument, doesn’t the air come out my nose”? Rather than explain the function of the flexible pallet, it is much easier to use an visual illustration and for that reason, please view the following…

Winner(s) of video question, Why Does This Happen?

written by Bruce Chidester

Thanks to all who participated in this thought provoking exercise. At last count, we had approximately fifty entries, and over 2,000 downloads concerning this question. Some of your answers were very close and some were way off. I have listed two who will be receiving “free” arrangements of their choice…

Why Does This Happen?

written by Bruce Chidester

Submit the best reason for this to happen and win a Free Trumpet Ensemble Arrangement Of Your Choice! Selection of best reason will be made on June 1, 2014.

Inside The World Of A Cup Mouthpiece

written by Bruce Chidester

In our never ending quest for scientifically proof of what goes on in our trumpet playing world, we find yet another bit of information to confuse and delight our readers. Here is a video showing what actually happens in the cup of a trumpet mouthpiece as it is being played.…