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!

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.

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.

How I became a Mute Maker, By Denis Wick

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.

 A PRACTICAL AID TO A BEAUTIFUL SOUND, by Denis Wick    
 

As every teacher knows, a good tone on any brass instrument needs a properly set-up embouchure; a good teacher will spare no effort to ensure that the student's embouchure is as efficient as possible. These days one may assume that the young player will have a reasonable instrument and a sensible mouthpiece. To this one must add what many teachers would regard as the most important of all - good breath control.

Your mouthpiece is a relationship of measurements, joined together to support you. Understanding the terminology and relationship is key to finding the right mouthpiece.