Posted by glennled on April 14, 2015
Shorewood Thunderbirds
Grandma knows best—that’s why she sent me an email on 10 November 2014, about starting trumpet lessons with her grandson, a freshman in the band at Shorewood High School in Shoreline, WA, just north of Seattle. “He seems to enjoy the school band,” she wrote, “but I would like him to be successful, and wonder if you would have time to schedule him for some lessons.” And so we began.
What I found during our first session at his home was that some of his fundamentals were weak. His embouchure formation was fine and his tone decent, but his note recognition was not yet automatic and his upper range was too low. Developing embouchure strength and increasing range is pretty straightforward. However, developing automatic note recognition, reflexive fingering, and embouchure slotting can be very problematic for some students. I selected two instruction books for him: I Recommend by James D. Ployhar and Exercises for Ensemble Drill by Raymond C. Fussell. Other books will follow if he wants to develop further.
What does it mean to him to play trumpet well? He will have more confidence, enjoy playing music more, develop closer friendships, and have more fun in band. He’s on his way to becoming Grandma’s success story!
Posted in New Students - Intro Posts | Tagged: band, Exercises for Ensemble Drill, fingering, I Recommend, James D. Ployhar, lessons, music, note, Raymond C. Fussell, Shorewood High School, slotting, Thunderbirds, trumpet | Leave a Comment »
Posted by glennled on November 13, 2010
My newest (10th) trumpet student is unhappy with his current chair placement within the trumpet section of his junior high school band in Kenmore. He wants to move up toward the top. (I like students with goals and determination!)
We’ve now had two private lessons, and “we’re workin’ on it.” Now in his third year of playing, he was essentially self-taught. Not knowing anything different, he adopted a very unconventional way of placing the mouthpiece on his lips. As the band music became progressively more complex and demanding, his unusual embouchure became a major problem for him—but he didn’t realize it. He and his parents were smart enough to seek help. The fact is that he simply was not gonna get to the top playing that way—so “we’re workin’ on it.”
He’s accepting the challenge he’s facing. A wise man said this about challenges—“Every setback is a setup for a comeback.”
Once he turns the corner, catches on, and gains control of the new sounds he’s producing, he should advance quickly because he already has very strong practice habits and, for his age group, he already knows fingering and rhythm. I think he’ll soon be producing a better tone and will extend his range higher into the upper register. Then watch out, those of you trumpeters who are now sitting in the higher-placed chairs—move over, here he comes! 🙂
Posted in New Students - Intro Posts, Student Competitions, Honors & Awards | Tagged: 8th-grader, band, challenge, comeback, embouchure, fingering, junior high school, Kenmore, lessons, mouthpiece, practice, rhythm, setback, tone, upper register | Leave a Comment »
Posted by glennled on November 18, 2009
This afternoon during our first private trumpet lesson, I heard my newest student, the 4th of this school year, play the sweetest tones on his trumpet! Trouble is, he cannot yet read music fluently. He’s sort of stuck at that stage where he still has to think about the name of each note and then recall the fingering. But when he finally blows, his attack is clean and his tone is big, solid, full, round and fat! It’s so natural to him.
He’s been thrown into a 6th grade band class, handed a band book, and told to go learn to play Exercise __ or Song __ on pages __ with little or no guidance or instruction about the horn and technique. It’s forced “do it yourself” learning. Well, with this teaching approach, what results does the band director at this north Seattle elementary school expect?! Struggles, frustration, and a probable band drop-out someday.
It is my pleasure to help this gentle boy overcome these obstacles. Let’s give the kid some successes! and who knows? maybe we’ll be listening to him play in the jazz, concert and marching bands soon…maybe in the symphony or opera orchestras someday…maybe on some CDs or in the movies when he’s that good. Let him dream! Help him dream! Help him achieve his potential. Or maybe he’ll simply enjoy playing in the school band with his friends for a few years and never take it any further…that’s fine, too. You find good people in bands. Good memories accumulate with the many events, and lifetime friendships often form–even marriages!
Thanks to his Mom for giving me the opportunity to help him come to love music and the trumpet. Let’s motivate him to practice more. Let’s have fun while we work hard. Let’s see what he can do, if he really wants to.
Posted in New Students - Intro Posts | Tagged: 4th, 6th, attack, band, CDs, concert, director, dream, fingering, grade, grader, jazz, lesson, marching, movies, opera, orchestra, sweet, sweetest, symphony, technique, tone, trumpet | 2 Comments »
Glenn's Trumpet Notes 