Many talented brass players have problems in high note playing which seem inexplicable. Often there is no obvious reason. These days the general standard of teaching and playing sophistication at a professional level is at an all-time high, but there are, of course, many amateurs who have not had access to the best teaching.
If there is one thing most brass players dread, it’s giving a lesson to a beginner. No, it's not because we don’t want to see the next generation enjoying music the way we do, but it's because we have NO CLUE how to fill 30 minutes of time for a student that may or may not have her horn correctly assembled.
Mouthpiece trials can be a dangerous sport! While we don’t suggest wearing a helmet, there are some steps you can take that will protect the sensitive area of your lips and muscles from damage. Follow the steps below and you should be able to walk out of your trial session unscathed and hopefully with a new mouthpiece!
What is winning, and how do I get it? The most appreciated parts of winning tend to be the beginning inspiration and the prize at the end, but what do you call all the stuff that make up the middle? In the end it tends to be all those middle parts which define winning more than the prize. Here is some great advice from Aaron Tindall on how to navigate your road to winning.
Are you a musician? Your New Year's resolution might include practice disciplines, range goals, technique goals, career goals, etc. Resolution planning can be tricky; too easy and you feel like you cheated, too lofty and half-way through the year you feel like a failure. If only there was one thing that you could resolve to do that would keep you busy the whole year while improving everything. And there is!
A manufacturer's website is probably one of your first visits when you search for a new mouthpiece. You want to know how they are made, the mouthpiece specifications, and what those specifications will do for you. Though it is not with the intent to mislead or harm you, most manufacturers will not include these 3 facts about their provided information that can impact your choice.
Playing by ear and working in groups form the foundations of both my teaching and practice. In this article I look to explain why I think it holds so much value and how I think anyone can improve their enjoyment of playing with some time spent playing without music each week, with even more success if you can find others to play with too.
Getting the first sound on your trumpet is not the hardest part. The hardship comes when you try to recreate that sound and make it better each time! The Mouthpiece makes a big difference in how successful a beginner a beginner, student, or professional makes sound. In this interview, Denis Wick artist Chris O'Hara explains what makes a quality beginner mouthpiece, and how to get your student set up on their new mouthpiece.
My long-suffering wife said, “You’re just never satisfied!”. Many a true word is spoken in exasperation. I had tentatively suggested, in about 1969, that somebody ought to design mutes that actually played in tune and worked in every register. We had been recording film music with Bernard Herrmann, who had helped to make all those Hitchcock films such a success. He was contemptuous of the old fibre mutes that I and my LSO trombone section were using. He called them "psychological mutes” and we knew what he meant.
The Heritage mouthpiece for Trumpet is Denis wick's newest installment to a long list of amazing tone-producing products for trumpet players. Both the HeavyTop and Heritage utilize additional mass to provide focus to the sound, but in much different ways.