Monthly Archives: February 2021

Trumpet Artist Profile : Jason Lewis

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Jason Lewis has been Associate Principal Trumpet with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra since 2019, having previously been principal Trumpet with Scottish Opera. I am grateful for his time to speak to us here, about all things ‘trumpet’ including his new Adams A2 that he has been playing:

What first drew you to the trumpet?

My first memory of trumpet playing was at my primary school in Aberystwyth (Wales), I must have been about eight years old and I listened to the school band one lunch time and that was me hooked. I think I went home asking for trumpet lessons and that’s how it all started…..

Can you talk a little about your early influences and inspirations?

My memory isn’t the best… but I certainly remember my first trumpet teacher very well, Mr Alan Philips who was the local peripatetic brass teacher. He was a fabulous teacher and a great inspiration to so many brass players from that part of Wales. At the age of about fourteen I also started having lessons in South Wales with Philippe Schartz who is the Principal Trumpet at the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. Philippe was also a great influence on me, and I remember that after lessons I would immediately want to go and practise… My greatest takeaway from lessons with Philippe was to always listen. I must have listened to the old Chicago recording of the Mahler symphonies with Solti many many times over. 

What styles and genres of music were you into as a child?

As a child I listened to so many different genres of music. I’m sure I went through a phase of most genres, from Jazz, Soul, RnB, HipHop to Classical, but I must admit trumpet playing was at the forefront of it all, mostly Maurice Andre, Wynton Marsalis and Reinhold Friedrich. 

And now? Who are your biggest influences?

Now, I still listen to a lot of classical music, Mahler, Strauss and Bruckner. I was lucky enough to do a fair amount of opera work between freelancing and I held the Principal Trumpet seat with Scottish Opera for a while – I really love listening to opera, I think it’s fantastic music and I have many great memories. My favourite would have to be Ariadne Auf Naxos. 

When did you realise that you wanted to play the trumpet for a career?

To be honest, I have always loved playing the trumpet and from a young age I loved practising too, and so I guess I always worked hard at it, although I don’t think it ever felt like work…and it still doesn’t! It wasn’t actually until I started my undergraduate course at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff that I really focused on orchestral playing and working on auditions. I was lucky to continue studying with Philippe Schartz at the RWCMD so this was straight into hard work as we had already developed a good teacher/student relationship. I started to get some freelance work with the local orchestras in Cardiff (BBC NOW and Welsh National Opera) and this is when I realised maybe making a living from playing the trumpet might actually be possible….

Do you have set, regular practice routines that work for you? Do these play a big part when you are teaching too?

I really like having a set routine and I always have. The exercises change every few weeks as I like to try and keep it fresh, but the outline of the routine stays the same. I basically do some sound work to start with, anything from Chicovitz, Stamp or Claude Rippas (these are just long notes to concentrate on my sound), I then do some lip flexibility, this can be Bai Lin, Charles Colin or Arban. Following that I’ll do some tonguing exercises from the Arban, Clarke or any study from Brant etc.. I think it’s important for me to touch on everything a little each day. I know so many amazing trumpet players who don’t have a routine at all and I admire this, but that doesn’t work for me personally. I find my routine rather therapeutic in a strange way. I always advise students to have some sort of routine to cover all these fundamentals of brass playing daily.

What advice can you offer to aspiring young players, just hopefully starting out on a professional career?

I know its a difficult time at the moment with such little work about for musicians but I’m hopeful that things will get better soon, so my advice is to not lose hope and to continue to work hard, use the time you’ve got now to get the practice done and get to know the orchestral rep you’ll be needing for auditions. Apply for every opportunity that presents itself, every little bit of orchestral playing is experience in your bank and that all becomes very useful when you start freelancing or trialing in different places. If you’re playing a excerpt in a audition that you’ve already played in its entirety somewhere, for me the excerpt makes much more sense and becomes less stressful to play. 

Can you talk a little about the your relationship with Adams and Fultone Brass, and the process of selecting your horn?

Neil Fulton has been absolutely great, I used the time last summer to ask Neil to send up a few Adams Bb trumpets as I had some time to really decide what I wanted…. Obviously I was awkward and wanted something in between what Neil had sent up, but Adams where straight on it and offered to make a trumpet for me. So I’m lucky enough to be playing on a Adams A2 0.50, with a Silver plated body and a raw brass bell. I love it!!I have been in touch with Neil about a C trumpet and am looking forward to trying one out in the coming months…. 

The Adams A2 Bb Trumpet

How has the COVID lockdown affected you and your work? Have there been any positives that you can take at all from this?

As for everybody in the world it’s been a strange, strange year. Unfortunately the orchestra wasn’t able to do any concerts from the end of March last year until September, but luckily for me the RSNO have a media team for recording concerts and so once restrictions were lifted we were able to put a season of online concerts together, going out each Friday evening. This new recording/filming schedule consisted of about half of the workload we are use to, as we normally do a couple of concerts each week across Scotland. I’m very exited to get back to a full schedule as soon as it is safe to do so. Throughout lockdown I’ve used the time to concentrate on my personal practice, I’ve done some form of fitness each day and tried to get out on my motorcycle as much as I am allowed to. I’m sure everyone feels the same but some days feel better than others, but I’m trying to keep positive for better days ahead. 

What are your plans and ambitions for the future?

Plans for the future… I’d like to continue to try and improve my trumpet playing, I think thats always going to be on my list, as is working on being a better orchestral musician. As far as hobbies, I’d like to tour as much of Europe and the UK on my motorcycle. I’ve just applied to become a volunteer biker with Scotservs which is a transport charity for the NHS, so I’m hoping to use some of my days off to help transport essential equipment/blood for the NHS whilst getting to ride my bike.

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Trumpet Headquarters : Estela Aragon

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Education is a lifelong journey, and a journey that often starts in schools around the world that suffer from a lack of funding in music. It is more important than ever to find good quality and reliable resources to help children on their musical journey, as well as adults and advanced learners too. Trumpet Headquarters is a wonderful resource set up by Estela Aragon who was kind enough to talk to me here.

Can you give a little background to your relationship with the trumpet and your professional background?

Do I have a story for you! I began playing trumpet in 6th grade entirely by accident. Back then we had “the wheel” which was a system in which first semester 6th grade students would try an elective for two weeks at a time and then decide which one they wanted to continue for their second semester and on. I tried band for a couple of weeks and during that time we all got trumpets, because it was just to try music, but I thought that meant I had been assigned the trumpet.

See, I didn’t speak English yet as I had recently moved to the United States from my home country Peru, and I was under the impression that I had to play the trumpet! Now, the tryout went great and I was the only student who was able to make a sound on the first try. So, I took that and rolled with it. It was the first time I felt comfortable anywhere, like I belonged, especially in a country where I felt lost due to a language barrier.

That small moment eventually grew into an obsession and passion, which of course became a life-long learning experience. Fast-forward 10ish years and like most musicians in school, I performed as many gigs as possible, and started teaching private lessons in my first year of undergrad. I had a lot of very fulfilling playing experiences from orchestras to weddings to even country music gigs, locally and abroad. It wasn’t until my master’s degree that I decided to focus on private and non-institutional trumpet education. That led me to found my private studio MusicFit Academy, through which I continue to teach full-time today and of course, TrumpetHeadquarters.com, or THQ, was founded shortly after.

What prompted you to setup Trumpet Headquarters?

About 5 years ago I was a in a place of innovation having just wrapped up my master’s degree. I found myself teaching a lot, figuring out life outside of school, and as I grew my private studio I began to run out of times to teach. More and more often I was turning down perfectly good candidates due to time constraints. That’s when I had the “aha” moment to setup some sort of online trumpet lessons course where my prospective students could learn the ropes while they waited for a slot to open.

I also wanted to provide professional and reliable information to counter the massive amount of erroneous guidance floating on the internet. Thus, as the idea was refined, it eventually morphed into not only the trumpet course, but also into an open educational resource for trumpet rated topics. THQ provides a great amount of information for anyone willing to learn.

It’s worth noting that all the resources outside of the trumpet course are free of charge. Want to know about trumpet cases? Mouthpieces? Books for musicians? Best apps for practicing? Notable trumpet players? I have provided all of that information and more. My goal was and will continue to be to educate.

Who is it aimed at?

Simply put; anyone with a trumpet and a hunger to learn how to play it! I approach the course like I approach my private lessons…no fuss, no complications, just simple and easy to understand explanations. I made sure to present the content in a very step-by-step manner.

Absolute beginners will see helpful lessons in posture, breathing, trumpet anatomy and other basics. There is also an introduction to reading sheet music and all the basic techniques and tips for novices, such as how to clearly articulate, slur and change notes evenly. The course goes on to cover intermediate topics such as dexterity, multiple tonguing, range, pitch bending…etc, and of course the advanced lessons delve into even deeper concepts like musicality, lip trills and more.

I have students ranging from ages 9 to 70+, so I think it’s safe to say that the course is well-suited for all ages and skill levels.

What are the key elements that readers should know about it, that sets it apart from other platforms?

As I mentioned, my approach is very simplistic and that alone is an important factor in why the course works. Twisted and over-complicated teaching result in a frustrating learning experience. I also provide a student- only forum where I answer daily questions from them and tend to their needs. They can post pictures and videos of their progress and I reply promptly with my feedback. They really love being able to get that one-on- one attention since naturally, that is a huge setback in self-paced learning.

I have also written over 100 pages of original sheet music with drills and exercises for the course, and I provide other helpful resources such as a fingering chart with all the alternate fingerings; something I haven’t found anywhere else online. Each video features a bullet point list of what I call “Pro Tips”, video chapters, picture-in-picture capabilities and speed change settings. At the bottom of each lesson page, I also provide 3 suggestions for related topics throughout the rest of the website which could be blog entries, a resource page or even a link to another lesson that covers a similar concept.

The bells and whistles are everywhere to ensure a smooth experience for the students as well as an environment to focus on learning. No distractions!

Are there any elements of music education generally that you feel are genuinely lacking at the moment? What can we do to help with this?

Right now, trumpet students all over the world are doing their band classes on Zoom, which of course causes a myriad of drawbacks on its own, but it also highlights the problems in music education that were already there before Covid.

In my professional experience, it is simply impossible for a single band teacher to shape and look after each student. When it comes to brass, and naturally other instruments, we know how important the early few months are. During that time the player will inevitably form habits for the rest of their lives, and if those are bad habits, now you’ve got a player who is struggling, working much harder than they need to and likely will continue to have that experience until they finish high school. Due to the lack of personal attention, students end up with problems such as: incorrectly placed mouthpieces, air control issues, severe tension problems, a lack of tone concept, efficiency and endurance problems, and many more. But what can we really do about it?

It is simply not realistic to expect band teachers to know the in and outs of every instrument, or to know how to precisely diagnose problems and even if they did, there is not enough time for them to guide 80+ students individually. For this reason I advocate bringing specialized artists into the classroom and now that we are so accustomed to Zoom, there is really no barrier for who you can bring in your student’s radar. Bringing in artists helps more than just the students; it also lightens the load for the band director and contributes to the flow of jobs for musicians.

I do understand that there is a cost involved and not all band programs have the means, so that is a hoop that some have to jump through and find creative solutions for. At THQ I also offer a hefty discount for band programs who want to get all of their trumpet players on the same page by signing up for the course as a section. This could also be a more cost- effective solution for when hiring an artist to teach weekly masterclasses is not possible.

While this is a big gap in music education, and solutions are difficult to afford, we can all work together to come up with affordable options. So if you’re an artist, I encourage you to come up with a group class blueprint, put an attainable price tag on it and pitch it to schools. It’s a great way to make an impact and an income.

What new developments are you currently working on?

I have so many plans for this year I don’t even know where to begin! I just finished adding 18 beginner duets in response to a poll from my students asking for play-along material. I now plan on adding duet content for the intermediate and advanced levels as well. We can learn so much from playing duets of course, so I’m excited to provide this layer of education to the course.

Naturally, more content is coming for all levels. As I come across topics in my private lessons and with colleagues I write them down to bring them into the course as tutorials on many different concepts from playing, to practicing to mental preparation. Prospective students can certainly look forward to a growing a library of trumpet lessons.

I do have something big in the works for this year…and I mean big. I can’t give away too many details, but I will say that it will provide a solution to the greatest setbacks self-taught trumpet players have; accountability and overwhelm of what to practice. This will be part of the course later this year and I’ll be back to talk about it when it’s almost out of the oven!

Thanks for your time Estela. Is there anything else that you would like to add?

I’d like to welcome trumpet players, from beginners to pros, to come visit TrumpetHeadquarters.com. The site provides a lot of useful content for teachers, curated lists of books, apps and so much more I can’t list here. It really is the headquarters of all things trumpet and I love to share it with everyone.

For those interested in learning, just sign-up for the course! If you have any questions feel free to email me directly at trumpetheadquarters@gmail.com, and if you just want to keep in touch or wait for the next big sale make sure you sign up for the free newsletter on the homepage.

Thanks for this fun interview John!

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The Journey to Victory! : Melvin Quinones

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At the recent 2021 NAMM show I was fortunate to spend some (virtual) time with Melvin Quinones, founder of Victory Music Instruments based in Port Saint Lucie, Florida. He was kind enough to talk me through the Victory trumpet range and has also shared his fascinating story in this article:

I was born in Brooklyn NY but my parents moved to Puerto Rico when I was seven. At the age of twelve I started studying saxophone with the only intention to someday play in church. Three years after I started playing in local Christian music bands and quickly got recognition in Western Puerto Rico. At 18 I started working professionally with Wilkins, a popular pop artist in the 90’s and toured with him for 2 years. I also studied Music Education at the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico. 

In 1991 I joined the US Army as a quartermasters specialist, then transferred to an Army national guard band based in Puerto Rico where I played for 7 years. In the mid 90’s I was very attracted to computer recording, before there was even a Pro Tools interface. I started recording with Ensoniq Paris, and became very fluent in working with computers. This opened the doors for me to work with Microsoft where I then transitioned to a Full Time information technology career. During this time I also studied Quality Control engineering. 

After nearly 10 years in IT I explored opportunities again in the music field, working as a producer for Univision reality show. In 2009 I used my technical knowledge to create a musicians social network called mymusictalk. It quickly gained popularity among musicians and this network had members in over 100 countries. During this time I was able to connect with thousands of musicians, suppliers, distributors, at the center of all. Having my own brand of musical instrument was always a dream that I never thought would be possible, but all of the experiences of the past provided me with enough knowledge about the industry, logistics and design of musical instruments based on actual feedback from the members of my network. Many of the top musicians that were a part of mymusictalk quickly endorsed my instruments and within only 3 years we have supporters and dealers in over 20 countries. 

The first musical instrument created was called “The Growling Sax”. This instrument was designed with very high specifications but would easily cost about 30% lower than all of the top instruments it competed against. This first prototype was named the Origin Series, and it’s still our #1 selling saxophone. After designing 3 series of saxophones I started working on a trumpet prototype, with the guidance of Osvaldo Fleites, one of the most respected trumpeters in Latinamerica, known for his work with Gloria Estefan and Andrea Bocelli, just to name a few names. This prototype became the Revelation Series, a very appropriate name considering it’s a new brand that is quickly turning heads around. This is when the Victory brand was born. 

The name Victory is only appropriate considering the process that led me to create this company. I won’t be talking about my struggles or sacrifices, but everything that I have accomplished has been through hard work, faith and perseverance. This is not a complaint, but on the contrary, every struggle and hardship led me to learn and develop skills and forge the character required to create a successful business. 

During 2020 my company completed the development of student trumpet, flugelhorn, flute and clarinet. Also released a professional Revelation Series flugelhorn that sounds amazing and is getting really good reviews. Earlier this year we debuted with the Trumpet of Jesus, developed with Gerardo Rodriguez and it was an instant success. In the last 2 months, Victory trumpets have become the most wanted trumpet by musicians in Latinamerica, and we are gaining attention from Europe, Canada and USA. During our presentation at NAMM 2021, the Trumpet of Jesus won the Music Inc Magazine Editors Choice award for NAMM. 

For 2021 we will focus on establishing partnerships with dealers around the world and make sure that everyone knows about our brand. We are still working on the logistics strategy, supplying for the different markets and countries. We slowly plan to develop new lines of wind instruments for band and orchestra. 

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How can we develop jazz vocabulary?

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An article by Darren Lloyd of JazzEtudes.net

What have our favourite players practiced to sound so great?

What secrets have they learnt to improvise so melodically and effortlessly?

Well, I can tell you from personal experience of working and studying with many great players is that they have developed their jazz vocabulary!

A great way to do this is by listening to the greats of the music.

As Clark Terry used to say – Imitate, Assimilate, Innovate.

Many of the wonderful players that we listen to have taken jazz vocabulary and made it there own, sometimes by adding other great players’ in fluences or by practicing language and vocabulary so much that they start to hear their own things to play. The more you develop the skills of practicing vocabulary, especially in all 12 keys, the more you develop your own aural skills and imagination. Developing the skill of instantly being able to play what you hear in your head is what every musician wants but how is this achieved?

To hear wonderful jazz phrases in our heads, we must practice the language or vocabulary of the masters of the music, if we don’t, we can still improvise but it has a real chance of not sounding authentic!

If you are new to improvising and developing your aural skills, here is an exercise you can start doing straight away to develop

1. What you hear
2. The ability to play it.

I would recommend staring off with extremely simple tunes, like a nursery rhyme! I have created a short YouTube video on this subject using ‘Twinkle twinkle little star’ as the tune to practice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wl1goUXBmOM

Try and play it, starting on various different notes (all 12 keys would be best). At first it may prove quite a challenge, especially in the more unfamiliar keys!

By doing this, you develop the ability to play what you hear in your head!

The next thing to do it to try and learn (really well) either a simple jazz tune (when the Saints is pretty simple) or if you feel you are ready, learn 8 bars of your favourite solo by your favourite player! This is the imitate part! Play it over and over until it is very easy! Next, either chromatically or in a cycle of 5ths or 4ths (depends if you are going up or down), learn it fluently in all the other keys! This really well prove to be frustrating at first, but the more you do it, the easier it becomes, especially if studying one player.

Once you have learnt an 8 bar phrase, keep going until you can play the whole solo. You don’t have to play the whole solo in all 12 keys, just the parts you really like. This is the assimilate part! By building up an armoury of phrases & vocabulary, you will always have something to play, the more you have, the better your solos will be. Especially by working out why some phrases sound so good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBH2ryHgPYM

Once you have practiced and can fluently play lots of your favourite phrases, analyse them, work out why it sounds so good. This is the innovate part. What is it about the phrase you like? Could it be rhythmic, melodic…? What ever it is, try to create your own phrases using the techniques that they have! This will help us to not simply copy and paste other musicians licks, endlessly into out own solos! There are many that do it, try not to be one of them!

For me, the best jazz musicians are those who play beautiful, endless melodic phrases without (it seems) ever playing licks! Why do they sound so good? Well they are still using the vocabulary that makes jazz sound so great, they are just so imaginative and have endless creativity! They also have wonderful ears and play/outline the changes very well. If you listened to a solo of Clifford Brown with any rhythm section, you would still hear the chords being outlined in his solos! The same with Chet Baker, Bobby Shew, Blue Mitchell, Chuck Findley, Warren Vache……

If your current ability is not up to playing the music of these amazing players, I have created jazz etudes, with the beginner/intermediate player in mind. Jazz etudes, written over famous chord sequences (jazz standards) and in different genres including, dixieland, bebop, standards and latin (bossanova).

When we are learning the phrases, we are learning to speak the language of jazz, the correct grammar if you will. We want to make sense when we solo.

This is a music that takes a lifetime to master. We should be constantly challenging ourselves with different ways to approach our practice of improvisation and solos.

I don’t know when it happens but there does come a time when you do start to hear authentic things in your head. The more you practice and the more you listen to the and study the greats of the music, the more chance you have to create beautiful sounding solos yourself.

Just remember that Rome wasn’t built in a day and you have your whole life to work at this wonderful music! Be patient with yourself, seek out great players and teachers to learn from, transcribe solos and work your favourite phrases into your own playing, try to play together with other musicians too (ones that are much better but supportive if possible). You should also learn to spell out the chords and scales on your instruments too, this will prove invaluable in helping you to get around the chord changes.

I hope you find this article informative and helpful.

Warm regards, Darren Lloyd

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