There is a well known stereotype of  the gear-happy trumpet player buying too many mouthpiece, guitar players with huge guitar collections, but how many tuba collectors do you know? Daniel Ridder has been slowly building his collections of tubas from all around the world and shares them in this interview with Denis Wick artist manager, Brett Baker.

Everybody wants a quick fix to their playing issue, but do they exist? The safe answer is no. You must work diligently every day to establish good playing habits and learn your music. But what if you are doing that and there are still issues? Here are some thoughts that might be the quick fix to your problem.

Steven Mead has forged a path as euphonium soloist, educator, mouthpiece designer, and more. He's the inspiration to many of the best euphonium soloists today. This sounds like the definition of a legacy, but Steven Mead is still creating and perfecting all his crafts. Enjoy this interview with Steven as he discusses the history of his mouthpieces and progression of his designs from the classic Steven Mead mouthpiece to our newest Ultra model.

Every single musician in the world has to practice. It’s just, something you have to do if you want to get better, and like practicing for anything else there are good and bad ways to do it. If you practice daily and don’t see results there could be a fundamental issue with your embouchure, but it could just be that the way you practice is not productive and you’re wasting time.

In part 1, we established two major things about tuning; that it is by definition a comparison, and that having a consistent quality of tone is important before tuning.  Now we can use those ideas to clarify some other areas of tuning and provide a guide to address some common problems.

Tuning is one of the few areas of music that is binary; something is in tune or it is not.  However, even though most everyone would agree with this statement, the subject of tuning and its pedagogy get surprisingly muddled especially within the world of marching band.  While there are still many ways to address tuning, keeping in mind the following concepts will help guide you to success and diagnose problems you may encounter.

In the last 10 years the quantity of mute options has exploded in a way few brass accessories have. This makes a simple Amazon or online search a little more interesting than it used to! Your next step might have been to read a couple product descriptions, but that is where it gets really strange! "Where did all these mutes come from, and what does it all mean?" We can help. Use these product description red flags to separate out the quality from the imposters.

You have your aluminum straight with 3 different bottom options (brass, copper, and aluminum), your synthetic mute... why do you need a wooden mute? Like a painter with a palette of glorious colors, as brass players we need an arsenal of options that bring us glorious sound in all different colors. Enter the wooden mute.

Founding member of Bella Tromba and Denis Wick artist Jo Harris has a wide and varied career as a professional trumpet performer in the UK. Use these tips to enjoy effortless mute performance and always be prepared for your next gig.

Do you wish you accomplished more in your practice sessions? Do you struggle with having fatigued or beat-up chops? Do you even know what you should be doing to reach the next level? If you would like to learn some ideas borrowed from fitness that will help you with these questions, read on!