When finding a new mouthpiece, our advice at Denis Wick is to always let your best sound lead your choice. Denis Wick artist Christopher Bill follows this advice, but it is not fool proof! Learn about his journey to the product he currently uses in this recent interview.

A great band director is the start to a great music education. However every great band director knows a great private teacher will lead their students to the next level. These private teachers are carefully chosen by band directors because they can mold the future success of each of their students and encourage the growth of their band programs. 

So what is a band director looking for in a great private teacher?

In his web series Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, Jerry Seinfeld says of performing: “I don’t accept the judging of process. It doesn’t matter [how you prepare]. We’re all trying to get to the same island. Whether you, swim, fly, surf, or skydive in, it doesn’t matter. What matters is when the red light comes on.”

We followed up with Band Director Justin Antos, Director of Bands at Dwight Eisenhower High School, after he switched his full marching band section from their stock mouthpieces to Denis Wick Mouthpieces. Learn about the struggles that lead up to this switch, and what differences they experienced when the whole brass section was playing on new mouthpeices in this interview with Justin.

"Is a trumpet or trombone mute more than it's shape?" Logically the answer is yes. However in the manufacturing world, it is a bit more of a gray area. Low-priced student mutes have become as numerous as flavors of ice cream these days. So how do you define quality? How do you differentiate between mute functioned and mute shaped?

Get to Know the Women of the Denis Wick Young Ambassador Group in the UK

When do I need to find a new mouthpiece?

After a student has learned how to make a sound on their new brass instrument, and make it consistently, their next focus is on improving that sound. Since sound starts with the mouthpiece, your first upgrade should logically be the mouthpiece. But when and how do you find the right one? Use these tips to understand the process and help you student take their fist steps to expanding their sound and skills.

The inspiration of our peers and those who have gone before us are so important to our future as musicians. Students need a sound concept and musicians to look up to, and current or aspiring professional musicians thrive in communities of peers where ideas, struggles, and experiences are shared.