Posts Tagged ‘music’
Posted by glennled on January 28, 2012
Trumpeters! Want to become your best? Want a quick study on playing the trumpet? Feel like you’re stuck on something and just not getting any better at it, no matter what? Want to hear how advanced, professional trumpeters do things and what they’ve learned through their years of experience? Want to ask them a question about something?
Here’s your chance on Sunday, 29 January—attend the Trumpet Arts Festival being held adjacent to the campus of Seattle Pacific University (SPU).
It’s a full program featuring the following trumpeters: Christopher Smith, Assistant Principal, Seattle Symphony; Bryan Appleby-Wineberg, Rowan University; Vince Green, Western Washington University; and Brian Chin, Seattle Pacific University.
- At 2 p.m., attend the Masterclass: “Practicing Fundamentals”
- At 3 p.m., the Masterclass is on “Practicing Jazz Improvisation”
- At 4 p.m., Bob Malone will conduct the Masterclass, “Finding a Great Horn”
That’s followed at 5 p.m. with a student concert (open to the public). Then the main concert event starts at 7 p.m. The festival ends with an afterhours jam session at 9 p.m. Come hear some great music!
The location is the First Free Methodist Church, 3200 Third Avenue West, Seattle. The cost is $25 tuition and $10 for the evening concert only. Learn more about the featured trumpeters on their websites:
Posted in Festivals & Competitions | Tagged: Bob Malone, Brian Chin, Bryan Appleby-Wineberg, Christopher Smith, concert, festival, jazz, music, Rowan University, Seattle Pacific University, Seattle Symphony, SPU, trumpet, trumpeters, Vince Green, Western Washington University | Leave a Comment »
Posted by glennled on December 31, 2011
Glenn Ledbetter on cornet
After a wonderful, hearty dinner on Christmas Eve, we carried on our traditional family program: readings from Isaiah and Luke about the birth of the Christ child, prayers, carols, gift opening, and snacks. Meanwhile, about four cameras were continuously flashing and whirring. For music, my wife passed out our colorful booklet of carols (which she produced herself) and played the piano while we sang. Normally, I play one or two tunes on my cornet, too, always with her accompaniment. This year, I soloed. I played “Angels We Have Heard on High” straight as written, but to “Santa Baby,” I added a little fun with some special sound effects using my Harmon (wah-wah) mute in the middle of the piece and a long, quick glissando from G to an accented High G at the end! (Smiles and applause!)
Happy New Year! 😉
Posted in Musical Events at Home | Tagged: Angels We Have Heard on High, carols, Christmas Eve, cornet, glissando, music, mute, Santa Baby, solos | 2 Comments »
Posted by glennled on December 18, 2011
Today, I got to play 2nd trumpet in the church orchestra that I like so much. At the 7:20 a.m. rehearsal before the first of three Sunday church services, the Worship Director called out the next song—“A Baby Changes Everything.” Quietly, the lead trumpeter quipped, “We don’t do baby changes,” and a French horn player added, “No more baby changes, never again!”
And then we rehearsed one of the loveliest songs ever written about the coming of the Christ child. The arrangement we played was by David T. Clydesdale and is available 
through Word Music (see http://www.wordmusic.com/item/080689886270). The concluding lines are “My whole life has turned around, I was lost but now I’m found. A baby changes everything, yeah, This baby changes everything.”
It was written and composed by Tim Nichols, Kim Wiseman, and Craig Wiseman. Faith Hill made it a #1 hit in 2008. To see and hear her sing it, please see:
Think about this special baby—can you name any other man who has ever had a more profound, widespread, long-lasting impact on humanity and human history?
We also played several hymns and Christmas carols. The jazz arrangement of “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” by Tom Payne was especially good (see http://www.praisecharts.com/detail/arrangement/2132).
For my four other posts about playing in this church orchestra, simply click on Church Music at the beginning of the paragraph below this post.
Posted in Church Music | Tagged: A Baby Changes Everything, baby, carols, Christmas, church, Faith Hill, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, music, orchestra, The Nativity Story, trumpet | Leave a Comment »
Posted by glennled on December 17, 2011
F-Sharp Major
Last Sunday, I played trumpet in the church orchestra again, and this time our music was in the key signatures of F# (six sharps), B (five sharps), E (four sharps), and B-flat (two flats). So what, who cares? I did last spring when I facetiously complained about it in my post of 28 March (see also, 11 April) 2011. But no more. As the Worship Director commented with a wide smile, she chooses the key signature of the music for the benefit of the congregation. It’s all about worship by everyone, not about the musicians or the orchestra. Right on!
Posted in Church Music | Tagged: church, F#, flats, key signature, music, musicians, orchestra, sharps, trumpet | Leave a Comment »
Posted by glennled on December 3, 2011
Saturday night at 7 p.m., 3 December, Brooks Tran will sit down at the piano and play a concert to benefit low-income Vietnamese families whose children might otherwise be unable to attend school. The concert is a fund-raiser for the sponsor, Compassion in Deeds (CID), a non-profit organization. The concert location is in the chapel at The Good Shepherd Center, 4649 Sunnyside Ave N. in the Wallingford neighborhood of Seattle. Tickets are $12 each. See http://www.historicseattle.org/projects/gsc.aspx.
Tran was one of the winners of the concerto competition in November within the School of Music at the University of Washington. On 12 January 2012, he will perform Piano Concerto #1 in G Minor, OP. 25, by Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) I. Molto allegro con fuoco II. Andante III. Presto – Molto allegro e vivace. Tran is a student of Craig Sheppard. He plans to complete his Master of Music degree in Piano Performance in Spring 2012. See http://www.music.washington.edu/upcoming/detail/39408.
Proceeds go into the CID Scholarship Program which provides financial assistance to students attending primary or secondary schools in Vietnam, where the average family income is less than US$90 a month and the average primary/secondary tuition at a public school is nearly US$70 a year per child. Kids in poor families often must drop out of school to help their families. Without proper education, they have little chance for a better life.
Scholarships in the amount of $100 a year help pay for the basic educational needs such as tuition, fees, uniforms and school supplies. The monies are distributed directly to the recipients. To encourage students to earn a high school diploma, CID pledges to continue assistance to the recipients each year until graduation, provided they keep in good academic standing.
Currently, CID’s prime target areas are in the rural southern region near Ho Chi Minh City, central region near Binh-Thuan and Da-Nang, and the highlands region near Kon-Tum. In the past two years, CID has provided 85 scholarships, with over half of the awards going to repeat recipients.
If you are unable to attend but wish to make a donation, please see the CID website, http://www.cid-vn.org/index.php, or email compassionindeeds@gmail.com. As they say in their motto, “Because every child deserves a chance.”
Posted in Professional Concerts | Tagged: Brooks Tran, children, Compassion in Deeds, concerto, Good Shepherd Center, kids, Mendelssohn, music, piano, scholarship, school, Vietnam | 2 Comments »
Posted by glennled on February 6, 2011
Mercer Island was my home for 33 years. One of my two sons (now living in New Zealand) played drums in the MI High School Band. And now my 15th trumpet student is a sophomore in that same school and plays trumpet in that same band. Also like my drummer son, she
Drum Major, MIHS Marching Band
has ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder). It’s easy for her attention to drift from one thing to the next, and it’s hard to stay focused on something for a long time.
She first learned to read music and play trumpet when she was a young girl, but then she transferred to another school and did not play for three years. To her dismay, when she returned to school at M.I. and resumed playing trumpet in the band, she found that she had forgotten much of what she’d once known about how to read music. Now she manages to play ok but wants to improve. Marching band season is over, she’s moved into concert band, the music is more complex and difficult, and she wants to play it well. She realized she must return to the basics and re-study the fundamentals…with a trumpet tutor.
I am the lucky man who is privileged to help her. We started her private lessons on 18 December 2010. She already plays with such a sweet, solid tone. Now all we need to do is help her learn all those notes over a two-octave range, learn all those music notations, strengthen and train her embouchure, and develop her hand-to-eye coordination and muscle memory. As that happens, her confidence and pride will soar. She will play as well as, or better than, most of her classmates. And, in turn, she will enjoy music and her band membership even more!
She says she had a great time when the 300-member MIHS band went to England a month ago to march in the colossal 2011 London New Year’s Day Parade (see www.londonparade.co.uk), joining some 10,000 performers from 20 countries who marched in front of about half a million spectators along the 2-mile route. The parade, which began in 1987, is broadcast by over 700 TV stations worldwide and is watched for some three hours by about 200 million viewers. This was the M.I. band’s first appearance in this, the 25th annual parade. Roughly 200 M.I. band students made the trip. The kids and community raised about $80,000 in support of those students who could not otherwise have gone. Go to the links below to watch videos of the MIHS band’s performance in London. Other USA bands participating came from Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, and Wisconsin.
Almost one out of every four students in Mercer Island High School is enrolled in the band program! The program consists of four concerts bands, the marching band, jazz bands, and the “Animal Band” (see http://www.misd.k12.wa.us/schools/hs/hsband/bands.html). The successes, awards and accolades won by these bands are numerous; for example, over 50 students were selected to participate in the All-State and All-Northwest honor ensembles during the last five years.
Next year, they will march again in the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California. Hmmmm….now if only the UW Husky football team can just win enough games next season, maybe they’ll get to play in the Rose Bowl game itself. Go, Huskies! And then she and her fellow M.I. band members can watch our own Seattle team play there. It’s so much fun to be in band! 🙂
There are at least four videos of the MIHS Marching Band’s performance in London on YouTube:
Posted in New Students - Intro Posts | Tagged: ADD, All-Northwest, All-State, Animal Band, Attention Deficit Disorder, band, basics, concert, embouchure, fundamentals, hand-to-eye coordination, high school, honor ensembles, Huskies, jazz, lessons, London, M.I., marching, Mercer Island, MIHS, muscle memory, music, New Year's Day Parade, Rose Bowl, Seattle, sophomore, Tournament of Roses, trumpet, trumpeter, tutor, UW | Leave a Comment »
Posted by glennled on December 23, 2010
Mr. McGinn leads the Jazz Band
Mr. Shawn McGinn, director of bands and orchestra at Skyview Jr. High in Bothell, wore a tuxedo with cummerbund, and the students were all dressed in solid black. That tells you how classy this concert was! It was held last Thursday in the 600-seat Northshore Performing Arts Center (NPAC), and the house was packed.
Like all of Mr. McGinn’s school concerts, this one was well-organized and well-rehearsed. The students knew what was coming and what to do when the time came…and they did it well! It was a very entertaining and impressive evening event.
More than anything, I am impressed with the breath and depth of the music program he is building. It has to be one of the best within the Northshore School District, and it’s getting bigger and better all the time. At this concert, the opening act was a self-directed jazz sextet with vocalist, and that was followed by the orchestra, conducted by Mr. McGinn. Next he led the 7th grade band, after which he conducted the 8th-9th grade band and the jazz band.
Wow! There are about 180 students under his tutelage. They are at about six levels of proficiency. Makes you wonder when and where all
The Orchestra
these groups practice. And remember, Mr. McGinn has been doing this for several years! That really pulls and stretches a teacher. Does this man have passion and drive? Does he have purpose? As an audience member, it’s a pleasure to witness all these people on stage, striving with their leader for excellence.
And just think: this is happening all over America and in some form or another, all over the world. Music is a giant. It pervades every culture. How did this come to be?—because the gifts of natural musical talent and ability are not rare. Yes, great talent is indeed quite rare, but many, many people worldwide are born with excellent musical talent and then develop outstanding abilities. It is quite common among us. Why? Is there some noble, universal purpose to this? For me, the answer is clearly yes—so we can express ourselves, so we can communicate with each other in infinite ways by infinite means, so we, too, can create beauty, so we can give and share among our communities. When we play our instruments and sing for others, even in the school cafeteria or NPAC or Husky Stadium, we are on the world stage.
Hear Ye, Hear Ye, Hear the Words of Aldous Huxley: After silence that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music.
Jazz Band
7th Grade Band
8th-9th Grade Band
Trumpeter takes a solo
Another trumpeter solos
Another trumpeter solos
Opening Act: Jazz Sextet with Vocalist
Posted in School Concerts | Tagged: 7th Grade Band, 8th-9th grade band, Aldus Huxley, band, Bothell, Husky Stadium, jazz band, music, Northshore Performing Arts Center, Northshore School District, NPAC, Skyview Jr. High, trumpet, trumpeter | 2 Comments »
Posted by glennled on November 14, 2010
A piano sits in the living room—Mom wants live music in the home. Her 10-year old son (in 4th grade and my 11th student) has a head start. He’s a smart, friendly kid with a bright spirit and smile. And he likes music! He’d already had some music education before I arrived on the scene, so there are some basic things I don’t have to teach him. We can focus on the trumpet itself right away. He’s taking band at Lawton Elementary School in Magnolia in Seattle, but they meet only once a week. So when we ended our first lesson together last Wednesday, he got the usual assignment: practice for 30 minutes at least four times a week (or 20 minutes, five times a week). He seems eager to play the horn. They’re going to have some lovely, lively music in their home!
Posted in New Students - Intro Posts | Tagged: 4th grade, band, education, Lawton Elementary School, lesson, Magnolia, music, piano, Seattle, trumpet | 2 Comments »
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 May 25, 2010
Surprise! the condu
ctor at the spring concert last night at an elementary school in downtown Seattle also conducted at the previous
school concert I attended two weeks ago in North Seattle (see post below). He does double duty–whew! That would exhaust me.
At this school, the music program consists of four parts: beginning strings, brass, and winds; intermediate winds and strings; advanced band and strings; and orchestra. For the concert program, there were 8 group performances. My fourth-grade cornet student is in the Intermediate Winds group, along with two trumpet players. I recognized his tone. He has progressed so fast and far this year! His group played “Sawmill Creek,” “Regal March,” and “Minor Rock.” He played well and was very well behaved the entire night.
I was proud of him, but not nearly as much, I’m sure, as were his grandparents, sister, and parents, who filmed the event. They said many musicians from this school eventually feed into Garfield High School. And as we know, Garfield recently won the nationwide Essentially Ellington jazz competition in New York for the fourth time. Is that the direction my guy is headed? Let’s just wait and see what happens next year…one step at a time, please. Remember the adage, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”
Posted in School Concerts | Tagged: advanced, band, brass, concert, cornet, downtown Seattle, elementary, Essentially Ellington, Garfield High School, intermediate, jazz, Minor Rock, music, New York, North Seattle, orchestra, Regal March, Sawmill Creek, school, trumpet | 4 Comments »
Trumpeters! Want to become your best? Want a quick study on playing the trumpet? Feel like you’re stuck on something and just not getting any better at it, no matter what? Want to hear how advanced, professional trumpeters do things and what they’ve learned through their years of experience? Want to ask them a question about something?
Glenn's Trumpet Notes 