CT Trumpet Lessons, Performing Artist, Badollet Ensemble

When focusing on the inner workings of the trumpet, technique, air, tongue, rhythm, sound, etc..the one thing I don't find discussed enough is instinct response. Huh??  You may say...Well, I teach about this a lot!  This, to a certain extent, can apply to all musical instruments, but for the trumpet it is a vital discussion.  While talking recently with my trumpet mentor, Charlie Schlueter, he said something to me that I say all the time to my students, "there's nothing natural about playing the trumpet" .  I had to laugh because he was reminding me of all the gems of wisdom that came out of my 3 years of studying with him. Instincts serve us well for the most part in everyday life.  Unfortunately, certain instincts and body function instincts are the opposite of what a trumpet player needs to be able to count on to play well. This will be an ongoing discussion here.  So, I will begin with some basics. The most basic instinct we have is the fear/flig...

I will address many instinct response issues ongoing.  Next, let's talk about multi-tasking.  It's a BIG asset for musicians.  Whether you are a natural or not there are things you can do to improve your abilities in this arena. Assigning the task of rhythm solely (pun intended!) to the foot is vital for the trumpeter for two reasons.  Tapping your foot rhythmically and coordinatingyour release of the tongue together calms the instinct responses and allows the brain to focus better on other tasks.  What does that mean?  I'll do my best to explain because we will get into territory that is somewhat unexplainable to the sceptic because it is not tangible to the efact seeker. Tap your foot to a consistent rhythm of about quarter equals 80.  Make sure you keep your heel locked to the floor and only move the first 1/4th to 1/2 of your upper foot.  The problem I find with most is the emphasis is too much on hanging the foot up in mid air too plong be...

Continuing on my teaching concepts to retrain instinct responses I will focus this post on gravity.  Huh????  What does gravity have to do with air flow?  A heck of a lot!  I like to use the term gravity because I have found that students relate better to the understanding of gravity more than talking just about air flow alone.  There are many ways to approach this and it's individual for each teacher/student. If you think about how you begin a note on the trumpet, say middle g for a whole note, what happens to your air after starting the note (as described in my previous post about set up)?  The support drops dramatically.  The higher the note the more dramatic the drop.  This is where instinct is a problem. Our subconscious focuses on starting but not on ending or as Jim Wilt of the LA Phil says "pinning the line".  I like the word "energize". Think of jumping on a trampoline.  Similarly, once you bounce you float until you start to ...

My career has been predominantly as a freelancer and private teacher.   While there is no glory is saying that, there is a lot to be proud of despite our industry not giving us much recognition.  Freelancers have no benefits, no paid time off, if we're sick we have to most always find our own replacements all while quite probably loosing that gig connection or moving down the call list.  You have to be in top form at all times because you just don't know when that phone will ring.  Vacations are usually with you horn in tow.  This is the career most of us end up with, and at least in the past, we were not prepared for this reality!  Personally, I have been called to play a live broadcast of a Boston Pops concert to replace someone ill, but had to turn it down because I just had my gall bladder removed two days before.  Believe me, I was trying to think of any way I could maneuver myself on stage to play.  Then reality said, What!  You must b...

My goal as a teacher and coach is to reduce the process to as few steps as possible. Playing a brass instrument can be daunting, mainly because the process of controlling your air and your tongue is not something that comes naturally to the majority of us. We won’t even talk about the coordination of the valves and rhythm! Let’s just address getting things started. When we are in total control of our air speed and tongue position there is not much more that we need to do. While this may sound simple, believe me it is not! BUT, the first step is to understand the process, and then work on applying it with absolute consistency. There are many camps of thought on how to simulate a thought process that will help you achieve the same result. Most of my teachers used some form of “vowel” syllables to aid the tongue in finding its way. Samuel Krauss used a variety of syllables for different sounds and registers. Early on in my training I found his process a bit overwhelming and ad...