Posts Tagged ‘lessons’
Posted by glennled on November 27, 2010
Have you heard of the Marine Military Academy? Neither had I when I got an email from a parent in Lynnwood inquiring about private lessons for her son, a trumpeter, coming home from Texas for vacation during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. At first, I wondered, does “marine” refer to the navy, merchant marine, oceanography, biology, or what? No, none of the above—it’s the U.S. Marine Corps, of course! We arranged four one-hour lessons while he’s home in November, and I now have my 13th student.
The Marine Military Academy (MMA) is in Harlingen in south Texas, only about 11 miles from the Rio Grande River and the border with Mexico. Forty-five years ago in 1965, it was established as a private college preparatory school for boys, grades 8-12 (see www.mma-tx.org). It is the only Marine prep school in the USA, and the typical enrollment is about 350-400.
My student is 17 and a senior. As a cadet at MMA, he plays in the school band. Three bugle calls get used regularly in the daily/weekly routine of school life: “Attention,” “Adjutant’s Call,” and “Taps.” For Pass in Review, the band plays the stirring march by John Philip Sousa known as “Semper Fi”—that’s short for Semper Fidelis (Latin, meaning “Always faithful”, the motto of the Marine Corps). And they play the moving “Marine Corps Hymn” (Halls of Montezuma), too, among many other pieces of music. For next year, he’s now considering three universities in Washington, Illinois, and Texas, and the Naval Academy in Maryland.
His dream is to play trumpet in The United States Marine Band, known as “The President’s Own” (see www.marineband.usmc.mil/). God bless the Marines and all our military and all our veterans, way back to the Revolutionary War, 1776-1783.
Trumpeters in “The President’s Own” Marine Band
Freedom is not free. It’s a universal, human desire, and its costs, for every generation on this precious globe, are high. In these Thanksgiving holidays, I pray he lives his dream, God willing.
Posted in New Students - Intro Posts | Tagged: adjutant's call, attention, band, bugle, cadet, Christmas, Halls of Montezuma, Harlingen, Illinois, John Philip Sousa, lessons, Lynnwood, march, Marine Corps, Marine Corps Hymn, Marine Military Academy, Maryland, Mexico, military, Naval Academy, prep, preparatory school, President's Own, Revolutionary War, Rio Grande River, Semper Fidelis, Taps, Texas, Thanksgiving, trumpet, trumpeter, United States Marine Band, Washington | 2 Comments »
Posted by glennled on November 15, 2010
When you’re chosen to accompany the choir at a Christmas concert, you’ve gotta practice your trumpet and be ready—especially when you’re a 6th grader and the music is written in the key of A (with three sharps) and the ending note is High A above the staff! And that’s how it came to be that I now have my 12th trumpet student. Besides being in band, he’s also a member of the choir at Canyon Creek Elementary School in Bothell. The choir will perform at the 600-seat Northshore Performing Arts Center (NPAC) in Bothell and the Seattle Center on 14 and 15 December, respectively.
At age 12, he’s a talented, enthusiastic, confident, responsible boy with a warm smile and pleasant, happy attitude. His trumpet tone is strong and solid, and he has an excellent sense of rhythm. For the concerts, he simply needs more practice of the right exercises to strengthen his embouchure and extend his range further into the upper register. Since he’s a quick learner, I think he’ll do very well when he plays at the Christmas concerts next month. We have about five more weeks of lessons to prepare…and that’s just enough time to “nail it!”
Posted in New Students - Intro Posts | Tagged: 6th grade, band, Bothell, Canyon Creek Elementary School, choir, Christmas, concert, embouchure, lessons, Northshore Performing Arts Center, rhythm, Seattle Center, soloist, tone, trumpet, upper register | 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 September 6, 2010
My 9th trumpet student is from Magnolia and enters Ballard High School next Wednesday, the 8th. He’s never played trumpet before, but his grandparents encouraged him to take it up now, even when many of his classmates have already been playing for about four years. To catch up to their level and be admitted into the high school band, if he wants to, would be quite a challenge. He’s almost 15 years old. “Better late than never” is just part of the grandparents’ idea, and so we began in late July. They really just want him and his three younger siblings to learn to play, understand and enjoy music. On top of that, if he decides to join band someday, that’s fine. If not, fine. His little sister already plays the flute. His two brothers have taken a few beginning lessons with me, too, and it is yet to be determined whether they will continue. Perhaps their big brother’s experience will influence them. BTW, their older cousin is a Husky football player at UW. Wouldn’t it be very special if, as trumpet players, they also someday play on that field at Husky Stadium in front of 72,000 cheering fans?! But if not, that’s fine, too… 😉
Posted in New Students - Intro Posts | Tagged: Ballard High School, band, flute, Husky Stadium, lessons, Magnolia, music, trumpet, UW | Leave a Comment »
Posted by glennled on June 9, 2010
“Oh, no!” is sometimes a student’s first reaction to hearing that a recital is coming. But that soon turns to “OK,” and afterwards, the feeling is “Ah, that wasn’t so bad” and even “Wow! that was fun. I’ll do that again.”
It certainly was fun for me and my wife. Six of my students came with their trumpets and cornets and one of her piano students came to our home last Saturday to play music. We filled the living room with chairs for grandparents, parents, brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles. Four students played in the morning session, and three played in the afternoon. One trumpet student was away on an overnight school trip. Think of it: my first student began taking lessons with me just 10 months ago!
The printed program showed who played what and when. Most played two pieces, and a few played three. I accompanied the ninth grader on “Fanfare for the Common Man,” one of my favorities by Aaron Copland, first performed in 1942, during World War II.
After the program, everyone enjoyed cookies, sparkling apple cider, and conversation. My wife told them that after a few recitals, the group begins to feel like a little family.
Here’s the thing about recitals. Students should feel confident and comfortable with the music. Playing in front of people, including strangers, produces the jitters and the butterflies in one’s stomach. Good, that’s part of music education and development from students into performers. We all learn to handle these situations only by doing. It comes only through experience. But remember the good feeling that comes after a performance, even if it was not perfect? That’s one of the best lessons of the whole adventure: there is life after a recital! You live through it. It doesn’t kill you. And, in the end, it’s fun. And imagine experiencing this: people are proud of you, even if you’re not perfect, and they enjoy supporting and participating in your growth and progress. You feel good about yourself for having done it. We’re talkin’ acceptance and love. It’s all part of becoming your best.
Among the pieces played were “Lavender’s Blue,” “Mexican Hat Dance,” “Minor Rock,” “Doxy,” “Tattoo,” “Yankee Doodle,” “This Land is Your Land,” “Taps,” and “Feather Theme.”
Posted in Musical Events at Home, Recitals | Tagged: Aaron Copland, Fanfare for the Common Man, Feather Theme, lessons, Mexican Hat Dance, piano, students, Taps, Tattoo, This Land is Your Land, trumpet, Yankee Doodle | 2 Comments »
Posted by glennled on May 11, 2010
My 8th trumpet student of this school year, a 12-year old sixth grader in a Bothell elementary school, just started private lessons with me in late April. All year long, he had been in the 1st-year band and was struggling with his tone. It had become very frustrating. Most of the other sixth grade band members, his peers, had started playing trumpet in fifth grade and are now in the 2nd-year band. At our first lesson, I heard the tones and saw the problem: his embouchure. We made one simple, easy adjustment on how he should position the mouthpiece. The following week, his tone was twice as good as before–100% improvement! And the following week, after more practice, it was even better. Now he sounds just like some of my other trumpet students. That’s when he told me an amazing story.
He is now in 2nd-year band! How did this happen? Well, he said, the very next day after our second lesson, he went to the band director and asked to audition for 2nd-year band. He played the required music, won the promotion, and now sits in the Trumpet II section amongst his classmates. Wow! I’m impressed with both his spunk and his capabilities. Only one thing was holding him back, and he overcame it. I’m very proud of what he just did–in only 8 days!
Next year he’ll be in the junior high school band. Wonder how far he wants to go with this? 🙂
Posted in New Students - Intro Posts | Tagged: 6th, 8th, band, band director, Bothell, elementary, embouchure, fifth, junior high, lesson, lessons, music, private, promotion, school, sixth, tone, trumpet | 4 Comments »
Posted by glennled on April 19, 2010
My 7th student of this school year is a fourth grader in an alternative elementary school in Seattle. The Band meets only one day a week, and the Band Director is already telling him to play ahead of the rest of the band in the school music workbook. There are no formal homework assignments, yet he sits down and practices every week just for the fun of it. He likes trumpet! We began his private lessons today. His tone is very solid, and his articulation is clean. These techniques seem to come naturally to him. What more could a trumpet instructor ask for?–a motivated, talented student! It will be my pleasure to help him become his best. I’m a lucky man.
Posted in New Students - Intro Posts | Tagged: 7th, articulation, band, elementary, lessons, school, tone, trumpet | 4 Comments »
Posted by glennled on January 7, 2010
Last weekend, J.S. found me on www.TeachStreet.com and enrolled in my class for private trumpet lessons. It turned out that during the holidays he was in New York, where he was raised, visiting his parents who are in their 80’s. A child of the 1960’s, he grew up listening to Herb Alpert and The Tijuana Brass, and he’s always liked mariachi music. A jazz song, “Minnie the Moocher,” featuring a muted trumpet, is a big favorite of his–it’s the “He-De-Ho” song by Cab Calloway, first recorded in 1931 during the Great Depression–very fun to listen to and sing along with. Try it (free) at www.lala.com. It’s a good example of why I claim that the trumpet is the most expressive of all brass instruments.
J.S. always wanted to play an instrument. Flute, guitar and trumpet appealed most to him. Now, at age 49, he’s making the time and effort to do it–bully-bully for him! And naturally, the trumpet stood the tests of time and imagination and won out. 😉
When he returned to Seattle this week, where he and his wife have lived downtown almost six years, we got together and talked things over. Next week, we start working on the horn and his dream. It’s his goal to play for his parents when he returns to New York for another visit next summer. We’ll see if an adult man can learn trumpet faster than my four other beginning students who are 10 to 12 years old. By next July, if we were to unite them all to form a trumpet quintet, who would be sitting first chair? We’ll see. Now really, they’re only in competition in my own head. It’s a fun mind-game for me. “Become your BEST!” is my slogan. That’s really what I want for every student. And now I want to recruit two more–of any age, at any skill level.
Posted in New Students - Intro Posts | Tagged: Cab Calloway, Herb Alpert, lala.com, lessons, mariachi, Minnie the Moocher, New York, sixth, TeachStreet, Tijuana Brass, trumpet | Leave a Comment »
Posted by glennled on November 21, 2009
Today I went to the Northshore Performing Arts Center (NPAC) in Bothell to hear my 9th grade trumpet student play with his school group in the “Northshore Jazz Festival.” I sat next to his Dad at the end of the row of seats occupied by their family, including his Mom, siblings, and one set of grandparents.
There were 25 jazz ensembles and bands on the program, some traveling from far away places such as Wenatchee, Langley (on Whidbey Island), Bremerton, Arlington, Monroe, and Snoqualmie. They played from 8 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Each group played three pieces. During lunch, the jazz ensemble from Central Washington University, Ellensburg, WA, played a concert. The festival was not a contest. It was a show. Each group got to show how well they’re playing at this stage of the school year, and a group of professional musicians, instructors and conductors critiqued each band. They made written notes and recorded audio comments, as feedback for the band directors and members to consider later.
I started snapping photos with my Blackberry phone camera when my student’s group appeared on stage. They sounded good and were well-rehearsed. Several key players seem to form the core of the group. My student is lead trumpeter. In the middle of the second piece, he improvised a solo! Afterwards, his Dad proudly said to me, “He nailed it!” I gave him thumbs up and a broad smile. Those lessons are paying off. Way to go, man!
Posted in Festivals & Competitions | Tagged: 9th, Arlington, arts, bands, Blackberry, Bothell, Bremerton, center, Central Washington Unversity, concert, contest, critiqued, Ellensburg, ensembles, Festivals & Competitions, grader, improvised, Island, jazz, Langley, lead, lessons, Monroe, nailed, northshore, Northshore Jazz Festival, Northshore Performing Arts Center, NPAC, performing, show, Snoqualmie, solo, trumpeter, Wenatchee, Whidbey | 4 Comments »
Posted by glennled on November 16, 2009
My 3rd student of the new school year got a late start—he just recently signed up for band class, and the other trumpeters have about a two-month head start! They’re all in 6th grade at the same elementary school between Woodinville and Snohomish, so he’s had to get off to a fast start to chase down the leaders. He’s taking weekly one-hour trumpet lessons (instead of half-hour). He’s got the family support, he’s got the interest, he’s got the desire, he’s a quick learner, and he’s a hard worker. If he were a racehorse, I’d say those other horses better watch out! This steed is gaining ground with every stride.
Posted in New Students - Intro Posts | Tagged: 3rd, 6th, band, elementary, lessons, racehorse, school, Snohomish, steed, trumpet, trumpeters, Woodinville | Leave a Comment »
Have you heard of the Marine Military Academy? Neither had I when I got an email from a parent in Lynnwood inquiring about private lessons for her son, a trumpeter, coming home from Texas for vacation during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. At first, I wondered, does “marine” refer to the navy, merchant marine, oceanography, biology, or what? No, none of the above—it’s the U.S. Marine Corps, of course! We arranged four one-hour lessons while he’s home in November, and I now have my 13th student.
Glenn's Trumpet Notes 