Posts Tagged ‘trumpet’
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 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
Concert, 8 June 2010 - L-to-R: 2nd-year band, jazz band, & 1st-year band
Wow, here’s a totally new experience for me! I’m now an assistant to the band director at Skyview Jr. High School in Bothell. He hired me for the 2010-11 school year to teach brass instruments to beginning band students from the local elementary schools which feed into that junior high. Each week, early in the morning, elementary band students will be bussed to Skyview for band classes. I’ll conduct rehearsals and teach the brass players (trumpet and trombone).
How did this happen? It’s all the result of a chain of events after I helped one of his band members last spring. Please go to “Archives” on the left side of this blog and click on “May 2010”; then find the post, “6th Grade Student Earns Quick Promotion!”
At that time, I wasn’t seeking a teaching position with any school, but I was (and am) seeking new students for private lessons. I met the band director, attended the concert in June, spoke to both his bands about private lessons during the summer—one thing led to another, and “Voila!”—here we are. This is gonna be fun! 🙂
Posted in Skyview Junior High | Tagged: band, Bothell, brass instruments, concert, jazz, Northshore School District, private lessons, Skyview Jr. High, trombone, trumpet | 12 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 June 11, 2010
At this elementary school in Bothell, there are two bands, one for beginners and the other for more advanced students. But they don’t practice at their own school–they bus to a nearby junior high school for that. And their spring concert was held this week in the gymnasium
of that junior high, where this picture was taken. One of my trumpet students, a 6th grader, is a member of the advanced band. They played “Farandole” by Georges Bizet and “William Tell Overture” by Gioachino Rossini.
It’s a strong program, and the energetic band director is anxious to build it to even higher levels. They sound good! He has good control of the bands, they are well-rehearsed, and they have fun. I was impressed with his conducting sytle. While it is expressive and animated, it is also very clean and clear. A musician would have no trouble following his lead, knowing exactly where the beat is, and playing with the intensity that he desires at any given moment.
To supplement the band performances, a jazz ensemble from the junior high played also. The band director encouraged everyone to continue to practice throughout the summer and take private lessons to improve. He stressed the benefits–better results, faster! He wants to see some of his musicians audition and be chosen for District Honor and Junior All-State bands next year. Go for it, kids!
Posted in School Concerts | Tagged: 6th grader, band, band director, District Honor Band, elementary school, Junior All-State Band, junior high school, private lessons, spring concert, trumpet | 2 Comments »
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 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 »
Posted by glennled on May 12, 2010
Last night I went to hear one of my trumpet students play in the spring music concert at his elementary school. In his introduction, the principal alluded to the 1st place finish by Garfield High School’s jazz band in the Essentially Ellington jazz competition in New York City on Monday. It was their second victory in two years and their fourth (a record) in the 15-year history of this nationwide competition. He endorsed music education and wished his elementary students success in their music endeavors.
Six groups performed: Beginning Strings, Advanced Orchestra, Beginning Brass, Beginning Winds, Beginning Clarinets, and Advanced Band. He’s in Beginning Brass, along with four other trumpeters and one trombonist. The band director commented that they were going to play some Christmas music. It was a typically cool night on an overcast day in Seattle, but Christmas in May?! Yes, we heard the brass ensemble play “Good King Wenceslas” and “Jolly Old St. Nicholas,” as well as “Crusaders March” and “Frere Jacques,” in the school cafeteria with the stage. My student and another played lead trumpet, and I could clearly distinguish his strong, confident tone and clean articulation. Way to go!
Posted in School Concerts | Tagged: articulation, band, brass, Christmas, concert, director, education, elementary, ensemble, Essentially Ellington, Garfield, high, jazz, music, New York City, school, Seattle, spring, tone, trombonist, trumpet, trumpeters | Leave a Comment »
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 May 11, 2010
Purples 14, Whites 13! The team with the second-string offense, led by freshman quarterback Nick Mon
tana, beat the team with the first-string offense in the Huskies spring game on Friday night, 30 April. Montana, the son of NFL Hall of Fame QB Joe Montana, was 21-34 for 156 yards, capped by his 2-yard touchdown pass on the final play. Earlier, he threw a 31-yard touchdown strike down the middle in the third quarter. The Whites got a touchdown in the first quarter from an interception off Montana, his only big mistake on a cold, windy, rainy night.
The Husky Varsity Band was among the crowd of 15,000, and a few Alumni Band (HMBAA) members mixed in and played with them. Everyone is very excited about the good recruits coming to Washington next fall, and we’re all hoping for an improved team and a better win-loss record next season…maybe even a bowl game! It’s only a few months away. When the Torchlight Parade (31 July) and SeaFair Sunday (8 August) roll around, then the next big event is fall football–Go Huskies!
Posted in HMBAA - Husky Alumni Band | Tagged: alumni, band, HMBAA, Husky, Montana, NFL, quarterback, SeaFair, spring football, Torchlight Parade, touchdown, trumpet, Varsity | Leave a Comment »
Glenn's Trumpet Notes 
