Opening The 42nd Annual Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Festival
Some jobs are taken for the money, some are taken for the prestige and still others are played only because they are fun and that’s what the past week was all about. A very good friend invited me to play with his Dixieland band at the opening of the Bix…
Improved Long Tones- Part III
Now that the dust has settled and we have heard from a reasonable number of readers about the importance of Long tones, I think it is time to review our material as I see it. My original statements regarding the three elements of long tones- 1.Boring, 2. Adds to stiffness,…
What Causes Stage Fright and How Can it be Overcome?
The lights go down, the audience begins their applause and you walk out from behind the curtains to perform your solo. As you reach your spot next to the piano, you notice the shaking in your legs and the extreme dryness in your mouth. As you acknowledge your accompanist you…
Improved Long Tones Part II
So far no one has offered any comments about my last post. Surely someone will step up and defend the common and accepted practice of lone tones (either 1. I have no following, 2. everyone takes my word for it or 3. no one will stick their neck out and…
Three Good Reasons Why You Should NOT Practice Long Tones!
Three Good Reasons Why You Should NOT Practice Long Tones! 1. They are boring. 2. They tend to build stiffness in your chops. 3. No one ever pays to hear long tones. Now that I have angered most of the trumpet players reading this post, I need to explain my…
The Kids of Cateura and their “Recycled” Orchestra
The Kids of Cateura and their “Recycled” Orchestra After you have viewed the video, I think you will get their message. And we complain about not being able to get another trumpet.
“Hi-Yo, Silver! Away!”
To most people my age, and there still are a few left, this cry from the masked man mounted on his pure white horse named silver, brings back fond memories of earlier times. To the younger people, it means there is a new motion picture in town and many may…
Please Welcome to Our Stage “Trombamania”
Once again I have showcased an exceptional trumpet ensemble from France. Please welcome the wonderfully talented trumpet ensemble “Trombamania”. The following information was translated from their web site…. For nearly 15 years Trombamania has created his own vision of chamber music. As confirmed by all the awards at international competitions,…
Testing A Possible New Way To Tune A Trumpet- Part 2
After doing my own tests on this theory, I came to this conclusion- Matching the pitch of both the bell vibrations and the pitch of the air passing through the lead pipe and tuning slide did make a difference in how the instrument sounded and responded. The only problem with…
Testing A Possible New Way To Tune A Trumpet
This was a recent post on one of the more active trumpet bulletin boards and caught my inquisitive eye. After careful reading I decided to test the good Doctor’s theory. I will reserve my conclusions until our next post so that you will not be biased in any way when…