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…
Valve Slide Conversion Rings- The solution to Low D & C# Intonation Adjustments
An Alternate Fix for Low D and C# We all know that low D and its neighboring C# are sharp and we all know that to play in tune, we are told to push either or both the third slide and or the first slide out in order to solve…
How/Why Early School Stage Bands Ruined Many Fine Trumpet Players
Only through a careful look at past history are we able to understand what we do and the reasons we do them. This is especially true when trying to understand mistakes we have made in music education. I will try to explain my thinking as one who was there and…
How To Make Upper Slurs Smoother
Many trumpet players find it difficult to perform upward slurs smoothly without catching all the notes between the bottom and top note. Most feel it necessary to crescendo into the top note when in fact, “it is easier to slur up using a decrescendo”. This seems contrary to nature and…
How to Become a Great Trumpet Player for only $184.40 plus tax
Becoming excellent in any field requires a great deal of time and effort and becoming a great trumpet player is no exception. Contrary to many opinions found today in the media; to only have the desire to succeed is many times not enough to accomplish your goal. I will address…
WHY DO WE MAKE MISSTAKES? PART #9
Errors in Sight Reading Sight reading can frighten players due to the uncertainty of the unknown. I tend to enjoy sight reading new shows live because of the rush of adrenaline and the uncertainty of what might happen. You should also know that I enjoy catching five foot long snakes,…
WHY DO WE MAKE MISSTAKES? PART #8
Nervousness I would list nervousness as the most difficult condition to overcome when striving for perfection in your performances. Some people thrive on the added excitement while others fold under the pressure. Between these two extremes we find most of us constantly testing our limits. Playing in a nervous condition…