I am someone that tries to maintain as high a level of classical trumpet playing as jazz playing. Call me obsessive-compulsive but I can’t “dabble” at anything. If I can’t dive in and do something 100% I lose interest and would usually rather not do it at all. There are a number of trumpet players out there like me “crossover players”, and this article is for you. Actually, you will find a number of articles on this blog dealing with “crossover playing”; playing jazz and classical styles to your highest level.
Keeping your facility refined and at peak in both worlds is very difficult. It is so difficult and frustrating that I don’t even try to do that anymore. I have come to realize that elements of my playing will always be subject to a compromise. When I am working toward a recital, or something “classically” demanding like a tough symphony concert, I realize and now accept (a little) that my jazz playing will not be in top form during that time. And vise versa, during the summer jazz festival season my classical “refinement” might get a little dusty. This is because I want to totally focus on that particular literature and style. Working like this involves planning. I have to know what my musical commitments are out on the horizon. I am careful not to double book myself with important performances that have conflicting style demands.
Crossover Practice Suggestion
Prior to becoming a college professor, I was working as a freelance musician which of course meant playing many styles simultaneously. However, when I was working up an audition I would not practice or take jazz gigs leading up to the audition. During this “jazz sabbatical” I would work on jazz transcriptions. Through the course of that time I transcribed literally hundreds of jazz trumpet solos. Shameless plug: I have compiled many of them into books (pdf and published) and sell them here.
This practice of working on a transcription while practicing orchestral excerpts worked pretty well. I was continuing to develop my jazz ear and immerse myself in to a particular player’s style and harmonic vocabulary. Plus it was a nice break both physically and intellectually from the workout that is orchestral excerpts.
Working in the other direction is more problematic for me. The only suggestion I have for maintaining your classical chops while working on jazz is that I sometimes listen to Hakan, Ole, Jouko or one of my classical heroes while I’m diving in to a jazz project. I can’t do this too much though because so much of my jazz preparation involves concentrated listening. It also requires a lot of muscle memory which is done through lots of repetitious practice which can really do a number on your subtle response. Likewise, so much of my classical preparation involves my subtlety of response which requires careful, gentle playing. Can you see the dilemma?
There just aren’t enough hours in the day…
Jazz Improvisation-related links
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Hello,
I was recently given your site by a friend…Very informative and well put together. I like you am a “crossover player”. I like the way that you plan things out. I find myself doing this constantly. Summer time, I play more big band jobs and commercial styles so I focus mainly on my jazz side of the horn and I too realize that there are just certain parts of my classical side that will suffer. However, during the winter months when I am doing a lot more orchestral and classical gigs I try to address these shortcomings. It’s funny, we all have our shortcomings and problems regardless of our level or ability.
I find that addressing different aspects in my warm-up/daily practice session helps greatly. I say warm-up/practice because I am a firm believe that the practice session begins at warm up!! I try to address every aspect of the horn during this time…e.g. long tones, chromatics, slurs, articulation; multiple, single, etc…and some finger work. Anyway, great site and I plan on visiting often now that I have found you..Blessings, Neil
Neil,
I couldn’t relate more! Your comment inspired me to put my warm up/development routine up on this blog. It sounds like we’re doing a lot of the same things. I’d be curious to hear what you think. http://www.allthingstrumpet.com/learning/technique/warm-up-routine-part-1/
I, like many others, can deeply relate to this article. And it’s so wonderful to hear I am not the only one with this problem. I am trying to balance lead playing with jazz playing and classical. These three spectrums I find impossible to balance. Even with 2 teachers which specialize in different areas, they cannot offer solid advice when it comes to balancing all three parts of my playing. And finding a teacher which does all three is near impossible. I find that with the heavy physical demand of lead playing, I cannot heavily play at other times because I need rest. Especially as a developing player, rest is as important as playing.
Does anyone have further advice or can you relate? I’m trying to get a 40-40-20% balance between lead/jazz/classical. Maybe some of you have typed a specific practice schedule to overcome this problem? I have tried this but I still found inconsistencies in my playing even though practice was consistent. Any input would be helpful!
Best,
Kai
I would suggest you get in contact with Joey Tartell. He teaches at IU and while his bio states mostly lead related gigs, I met him when he was playing principal trumpet in the Disney Orchestra. There are a number of crossover jazz/classical players but adding that third Lead element is very tricky. Joey does it all. (Like one of his teachers, Vince DiMartino.) If you do happen to contact him, please say “hi” for me.
Dave