Back in September 2020 I wrote about the new solo repertoire that I had discovered in 'Lockdown Part 1'. Now that we are into 'Lockdown Part 3' in January 2021, I thought that I would share some of the variety of study books and etudes that I have been taking a look at with the help of the nkoda app.
Brass players, including those at the top of their professional tree, have experienced Focal Dystonia that has either permanently, or temporarily, halted playing. Marcus Reynolds was a ‘pro’ player who overcame the challenge and here offers his personal (as opposed to medical) perspective on the road to recovery.
Transcription is a great skill to develop in itself, but is also invaluable for developing our ears and our general musical awareness. Darren Lloyd from 'Jazz etudes' talks here about how to actually go about this and develop this important musical skill:
Marcus Reynolds is a signed Rath trombone artist, soloist, recording artist, clinician, embouchure specialist, tutor, lecturer for the British Association of Performing Arts Medicine and creator of the Stratos Embouchure System. Here Marcus shares his views on the brass player’s embouchure, what can go wrong and how to avoid the common pitfalls and problems.
The International Trumpet Guild’s Listen and Learn workshop is an online festival featuring five days of original performance and pedagogical videos by over 50 artists. This exciting event happened at the end of October 2020 but all resources are available on the ITG website indefinitely. And best of all, these resources are available for free to ITG members and non-members alike!
"During the lockdown we saw loads of people coming together to create virtual recordings. Videos of this type have invaded the web. I myself have initiated projects and participated in others. We have all done, and even now, lessons by videoconference on Zoom or whatever. Everyone had fun with it! However, is this the future of our profession? I am not sure … "
Trumpet Warmup (trumpetwarmup.com) is a great new online portal for trumpet players, allowing you to customise your routine with the aid of resources from top artists and educators. Sam Neufeld, the website's founder, speaks to me here about his exciting new venture. Can you give a little background to your relationship with the trumpet? At … Continue reading Trumpet Warmup
As for many other musicians over this lockdown period, there has been a lot more time at home than I would have liked. Also like many others, I have tried to use some of this time to explore new music and practice routines that I would not normally have time for. With the help of … Continue reading Solo Trumpet Repertoire
Chris Still is a renowned musician and educator, and I was delighted that he was able to find time to do this interview. He is currently a member of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the founder of ‘Honesty Pill’. Regular readers will have read Chris’ feature a couple of weeks ago - If you haven’t … Continue reading Trumpet Artist Profile : Christopher Still
Educator, clinician and coach (and also a trumpet player with the Los Angeles Philharmonic!) Chris Still has a really fascinating project that can benefit ALL musicians. I am extremely grateful for his time to chat about "Honesty Pill". Can you give a brief rundown of what Honesty Pill is all about? Sure. Honesty Pill is … Continue reading Honesty Pill : In conversation with Christopher Still
The last few years have seen a number of great advances in the integration of technology to the music practice room, teaching studio and performance platform. Going 'paperless' as a musician is heralded as a worthy goal to aspire to, but how many musicians really believe that this is achievable? Well I decided to see if this was possible. With the help of my upgraded iPad and nkoda, I set myself the challenge of going paperless for 2 months.
The challenge of adding resistance to the mouthpiece buzz is one that a number of people have tackled, but always with big compromises to be made. German trumpet player, educator and designer, Markus Arnold talks to me here about his journey in designing the acclaimed 'Buzz-R'.
Randy Dunn is a trumpeter from Houston, TX with incredibly broad experience across diverse musical styles as a performer and educator. It was fascinating to interview him on a whole range of topics including his approach to playing and teaching as well as working on mouthpiece designs with Legends Brass.
Visitors to the City of London (London's main financial district) will be accustomed to the glass-fronted homes of high finance and over-priced coffee. They may well have also come across the interestingly named 'Trump Street' and thought it to be a nod to our friends over the pond. They would however be wrong! I recently … Continue reading What’s the story behind Trump Street?
Mario Guarneri will be known to many readers as a performer and educator of the highest calibre. A former member of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Mario is also in demand as educator and lecturer on the pedagogical concepts involved with his groundbreaking designs and the trumpet in general. Here he shares with me some thoughts on approaching different stylistic challenges both as a player and a teacher.
When you talk about getting your trumpets adjusted so that they respond perfectly to you or matching and adjusting a mouthpiece so that it works perfectly with your horn, you are probably already thinking about Bob Reeves!