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…
Trumpet – Brass or Silver Finish?
Should I get a silver or brass finish on my trumpet? This decision is not the same as deciding on a color for your new car. Color and finish are two different issues when deciding on the surface of your new trumpet. Many people decide on the silver because it…
Revisiting VALVE SLIDE CONVERSION RINGS- THE SOLUTION TO LOW D & C# INTONATION ADJUSTMENTS
I have continued to test and evaluate the merits of this approach to better intonation and have some additional information for my readers. I have been playing every day with the ring inserts and have become convinced that the rings help intonation problems and I’m still fine tuning the lengths…
Musician’s Eye Chart
While visiting my doctor today, I noticed the eye chart hanging on his wall and decided to modify it for our use. I hope you all can read it and for all you jazzers out there, just add a lowered 5th and raised 9th and you will be fine.
“One way” to Clean Your Trumpet
In the preceding post, I featured what I considered to be one of the worst instructional videos I had viewed. This can be very risky but, as one of advanced age, I felt my duty to expose this atrocity. Some times such actions can turn around and bite you on…
The Worst Instructional Video On The Internet
Continuing in my limited series of disturbing videos I have selected this gem. YouTube has an ever increasing library of self help videos which strive to inform our world on various subjects. Many of these are very helpful and in some cases, they can be very destructive as in the…
How I Practice- Playing Etudes
I try to allot time each day for playing new material and because of the unlimited amount of etudes available today, we will never need to be without material. The internet is one source of quality etude material and no one can use the excuse that they can’t afford to…
How I Practice- Finger Flexibility and Coordination Exercises
Clean breaks between notes require fast and coordinated valve action and for that reason you should practice finger or valve exercises daily. I have included a few exercises which will help increase this area of your performance. Playing fast material will hide many fingering faults where slow material will quickly…
How I practice- Lip Slurs for Improved Tone And Flexibility
In our previous post we directed our attention to the chromatic warm-up and this post explains the benefit of lip slurs to improve flexibility as well as improving your tone. The more strength you developed in your embouchure, the more lip slurs will be needed to keep your flexibility in…
How I practice- The Warm-up
The importance of warming up before hard playing cannot be over stated. Just as an athlete stretches, a ball player throws easy at first; the trumpet player is very similar in that a sudden blast of a high note may work for some but the more intelligent of the masses…
How And What I Practice
I have had a few readers ask what they need to practice to be a better player. Without hearing or visiting with these people, it would be impossible to suggesting what might work best for them. The best I can do is to share a typical hour practice session which…