Trumpet Matters

What would you like audition committee members to be jotting down as they listen to you play? We want to keep their job easy. No need to ma...

Driving somewhere this summer? Or maybe just vegging out on your deck, or lingering way too long at Starbucks? Here's a way to ease yo...

Two key components to your success are you and your horn. Taking good care of business requires consistent maintenance of both. We often p...

Match the song or lyric with the classical work: 1 . Ring ringa - linga o. 2 . My beer is Rheingold , the dry beer m. 3 . Boom, wha...

Look outside. This is a great time to NOT play the trumpet! How about a nice long break? Don't even think about the trumpet, and don...

Here's a suggestion for the summer. If no trumpet guru is available or within driving distance, don't put improvement on hold until...

How big is your window of usable playing? You might be quite capable of some first-class work, but chances are that few listeners will be ar...

It's better to drive than to be driven. There is no need to stress and obsess. No one wants to listen to a flurry of frantic frenzy inc...

Butch: "Hey, man, I'm getting a blistering high C and I want it NOW!" Bart: "Wow, my new picc just arrived! See ya late...

Vacations, summer break and down times are just around the corner. Packing light for your travels? Make sure to stuff in your luggage the ...

Why pay for that which you can get for free? Avoid writing that pricey lesson check and the hassles of traveling to the big city. There is...

Jeremy finished his first year of grad school at USC. He is pictured with members of the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet just after his recital ...

Welcome to F sharp major and a good lung flush! (Or G flat major if you prefer.) The ending of the Tannhauser Overture is on the stand. O...

The Shostakovich Concerto for Trumpet (with piano) has one of the all-time most beautiful slow movements in the repertoire. You have to lo...

Weary of wimping out at auditions? "I was fine until I walked on stage." Or, "I was feeling great until I heard everyone el...

No, this is not about growing old. Save that for another day. This is about a classy disappearing act. Most brass players are by nature goo...

Ding dong. It's the UPS man. You dash to the door to find your package, your very own dancing Ballerina! As you rip open the box you not...

Does life behind the mouthpiece sometimes feel like there's a camera on the front of your bell, and you're on a high speed bobsled g...

It was 1971 and James Levine was conducting Mahler 5 with the CIM orchestra. As students it was our first fifth! It was to be a big deal,...

Nervous excitement is in the air this week as dozens of the world's finest trumpeters are gathered in Cincinnati to compete for the gol...