Category: Trumpet Pedagogy
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If we could only see what’s going on!
In the last couple of posts, I talk a lot about my concepts of articulation. These kinds of discussions usually get very subjective, opinionated and divisive. Why? Because we can’t actually see what’s going on. But what if we could? We can with imaging techniques. Here are some X-ray video clips of a horn player…
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Five ways to improve your single tongue
Tonguing is so important for trumpet playing. It helps define our sound. Here are five points about single tonguing with recommended exercises: Response. You may not think of response as important to tonguing, but if your lips don’t respond right away to the airflow, then your tonguing will be out sync and sound clunky. Practice…
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Five observation observations
Today, another workshop day with Suzuki Trumpet, Level Two. This seminar is going well, and we are all soaking in so much, so that we can be better teachers. I observed two hours of guitar Suzuki lessons and a masterclass. These were with young kids, but the level was pretty high (book 4, which means…
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Lesson observations
I have to observe eight hours of other people’s Suzuki lessons as part of my Level 2 Suzuki training that I am currently doing online. This takes more than eight hours, because I have to write about the observations. And I think about what happened. Maybe order a teaching material that I didn’t have. I…
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Who’s in charge?
How many warmup, routine, general method books do you own? If you have played trumpet for a while, you probably own a lot. Many are focused on a special method, and many of these books ask you to follow them without deviation. But even if your trumpet book doesn’t ask for blind faith, we often…