Pietzsch 8

Pietzsch #8 strikes me as a very "orchestral" sounding etude.  Meaning, I want to play with a big, broad sound and play the dotted rhythms as squarely as possible.  I don't mean square as in a non-jazz sense but I'm thinking the shapes of squares and rectangles when I approach these rhythms.  Keep the corners of these shapes as sharp as possible.  Keep the long notes in the phrases as stable as…

Pietzsch 7

This one is quite a physical workout. Lots of "Clark-like" slurring in the mid to upper register. It helps me to think of creating a really good foundation of air - "bedrock" - and focus on using my embouchure and aperture to manipulate the pitches. You may be tempted to arch the tongue and "hiss" the high parts out like you would if this were a lead trumpet part. Unfortunately, I don't think…

Pietzsch 6

This was kind of an annoying little etude, in my opinion.  But, a good workout for triple tongue.  Be careful that the occasional slurred triplet like the ones that occur on beat two of the first two measures stays a triplet and doesn't turn into two 32's + 8th. http://allthingstrumpet.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Pietzsch-6.wav    

Musician Etiquette

Doing a quick search for "Musician Etiquette" will bring up dozens of hits like this one.  I've read through a bunch of them and they all share good common sense advice.  So, I thought I might as well post a set of etiquette ideas on this site as well.  Hopefully, you have heard these suggestions before, either through your band director or private teacher.  Hopefully, you haven't learned some of…

Pietzsch 5

I chose to do this one as a slow double-tongue but there would also be benefit in doing it as a fast single-tongue.  I focused on relaxing the articulation to flow and try not to sound "pecky".  About halfway down the first page there are some rhythms that begin on upbeats and I chose to use that as an opportunity to work on my TTK articulation.  Some people suggest starting those kind of…

Sight Reading

Who wants to do some sight reading!?  Who wants to do some sight reading in front of your teacher!?  How about in front of a jury committee?  Or, how about sight reading at an audition for your “dream job”? I am guessing that these ideas were not registering very high on your “favorite things to do” list. However, if you are a serious musician or someone considering being a serious musician,…

Just Another Song and Dance

I had a teacher say to me a long time ago that all music, whether it is a piece, movement, section or phrase, falls in to one of two categories; it’s either a song or a dance.  What he meant by that is our interpretation is guided by a set of priorities and knowing if I am playing a song, I have one set of priorities, and if it is a dance I use a different set of priorities. There are many…

Friedman Solus

Title Solus Four Movements for Unaccompanied Trumpet (1975) Stan Friedman (1951 - ) Biographical Info STANLEY FRIEDMAN'S music has been premiered by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, l'Ensemble Intercontemporain, the Los Angeles Philharmonic Chamber Music Society, the Memphis Symphony, the Northwestern University Orchestra and by major soloists in festivals around the world. His opera…

My Ideal

Hello everyone.  I created this website to be a resource for educational thoughts and posts.  I've tried to not use it as a platform to advertise my gigs and other self-promotion.  However, this particular post is just simply documentation of one of my most proud moments in music.  My school UW-Platteville, hosts an annual Jazz Festival and this year the guest was the incomparable, Maria…