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Wisconsin State Honors trumpet etude 2022
Hi everyone, Well, I'm at it again and looking for a new trumpet! Those that know me know I have a C AR Resonance. I got that horn to match my dearly beloved AR Bb Suprema. The Classica C is the nicest C trumpet I have ever played and I will miss it. However, Covid has caused me to "downsize" my collection coming in to this particularly bleak gigging summer. I just can't justify having such a wonderful horn for as little orchestral work as I have been (or looks like will be) playing. So my…
Your Host
David Cooper is the host and author of All Things Trumpet; the blog for research, education and reviews of musical issues pertaining to the trumpet.
UW-Platteville Director of Jazz Studies – Trumpet
Madison Symphony Orchestra
Conn-Selmer Artist
Organize Your Repertoire
A while ago, I came across a trumpet repertoire list that was put together by David Hickman. Hickman is the trumpet professor at Arizona State and one of the most important and influential trumpet teachers around today, so the list of his that I am…
Music for Trumpet, Voice and Piano
Title Festive Arias for Mezzo-soprano, trumpet and piano Volumes 1 & 2 Arranged by David Cooper Biographical Info Festive Arias vol. 1 Trumpet player, teacher and arranger David Cooper has selected five of the most popular arias for…
Stravinsky – Soldier’s Tale
Title L’Histoire du Soldat (A Soldier’s Tale) Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) Biographical Info The Soldier's Tale comes from 1918, a lean post-war time when jazz was just beginning to emerge into the mainstream. Stravinsky was broke, deprived of his…
Telemann – Canonic Duets
Title Six Suites of Canonic Duets By Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767) Adapted for trumpet by David Cooper Biographical Info Georg Philipp Telemann was a German composer, born in Magdeburg. He was the most prolific composer in history and a…
On Musical Expression
I spend some time on TPIN (Trumpet Player’s International Network) which is an email sent with threads of topics for and about trumpet playing. Recently, I came across a post from a friend of mine, John Daniel that I thought held particular merit…
Odd-Meter Improv
A recent trend in jazz improvisation seems to be playing in odd meters. I.e. 5/4 - Brubeck's Take Five, 9/8 - Brubeck's Blue Rondo ala Turk, 7/4 - Woody Shaw's Seventh Avenue, 10/8 - Pat Metheny's First Circle to name a few. Perhaps, we have Dave…
Andrix – Miniatures
Title Miniatures for solo trumpet (©1977) by George Andrix published by SeeSaw Music Corp. – which is now Subito Music Biographical Info George Andrix was born June 15, 1932. He began the study of the violin at the age of five (5) in his native…
More reasons to clean your horn
My good friend Lauren Bernofsky (the composer whose works I love and have reviewed here on All Things Trumpet) passed this article on to me. I have a post dedicated to cleaning your horn and personally find this stuff very important. I’m very glad…
Michael Sachs on warming up
While living in the Cleveland-area during my Master’s studies, I had the great fortune of studying with two masters of orchestral trumpet; the great Bernard Adelstein at the end of his career with the Cleveland Orchestra and the dynamic Michael…
Henderson – Variation Movements
Title Variation Movements for Trumpet (1967) by Robert Henderson Biographical Info Robert Henderson's remarkably productive career began before he reached college age and has expanded without pause since then. He was three years old when his father…
Rabe – Shazam
Title Shazam for trumpet solo (1984) By Folke Rabe Biographical Info Folke Rabe born 1935: ‘A portrait of Folke Rabe,’ as Goran Bergendal has wittily observed, ‘would be made up of one composer (or two or even three), a couple of trombone players…
Maintain your Warm-up mode
I had a student the other day that was having difficulty playing without tension and was really “attacking” the notes - not playing the music, thus getting all tight, thus missing more, thus getting more tense… We talked a minute about what could…
A Music Student’s Top Ten List
Someone showed a list similar to this to me a while back and I apologize for not currently being able to give proper credit to the original author. I have edited and paraphrased a few things in my list but primarily the credit for this Prep List…
Harrell – Interview #2
A fellow Tom Harrell fan, great trumpet player and friend Jamie Beiwick shared this interview clip on his facebook page. Tom is not only one of the greatest jazz trumpet players of all time (imho) but also a very deep thinking, spiritually…
Fasch – Concerto
Title Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra Johann Friedrich Fasch, 1688-1758 Scored for 2 oboes, solo trumpet, strings, and continuo Biographical Info Johann Friedrich Fasch is an example of that all-too-common phenomenon in music, the forgotten…
Tom Harrell – Interview #1
Tom Harrell has been one of my musical heroes for many years. In fact, I would say his playing and composition have had the most profound impact of all my jazz influences. I have done many transcriptions of Tom’s solos and in doing so have…
Richardson – Demonstration of Crossover Depth
I can count on one hand the crossover trumpet players that I would actually buy CDs of BOTH their classical and jazz playing. Rex Richardson is one of those players. There are plenty of players who specialize in one field and dabble in the other…
Stephenson – Call
Title Call for Solo Trumpet (2003) By James Stephenson Biographical Info Jim has composed a considerable amount of fantastic material for trumpet; sonatas, concerti, etude books, chamber music and unaccompanied solos. I have heard that he has even…
Sampson – Litany of Breath
Title Litany of Breath For Unaccompanied Trumpet By David Sampson Biographical Info David Sampson is a trumpet player, teacher and composer living in New Jersey. He has made considerable contributions to 20th and 21st Century trumpet literature by…
Sampson – Solo
Title Solo For unaccompanied flugel horn or Bb trumpet by David Sampson Biographical Info David Sampson (b. 1951, Charlottesville, Virginia) has emerged as one of the truly unique voices of his generation achieving rapidly growing attention from…
What’s the Deal with Transcribing Jazz?
Outside of practicing your butt off, aspiring jazz musicians are told two things will also help their improvising; listening to great jazz players and transcribing their solos. I do not disagree with this. After all, jazz is a language and to…
Bernofsky – Fantasia
Title Fantasia for Solo Trumpet (2008) By Lauren Bernofsky Biographical Info Although Lauren Bernofsky was trained as a violinist, she has contributed a substantial amount to the brass repertory. Her list of compositions can be found here. The…
Ray Mase on Practicing
Ray Mase is one of my absolute, all-time favorite trumpet players. He plays in the American Brass Quintet, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and teaches at Julliard Aspen Music Festival. He has the most singing, vibrant, lyrical tone I have ever heard on…
A Clinic With Bud Brisbois
Here is a transcript from a clinic given by the great Bud Brisbois. He gave a concert at my alma mater Lawrence University with the group Matrix (mentioned below and pictured above) just before he committed suicide. While I was not at Lawrence at…
Adolph Herseth, part 3
In May of 2005, I hosted a trumpet conference that featured the former principal trumpet of the Chicago Symphony, the great, Adolph Herseth. It was a three-day event that not only showcased him in recital with none-other than Doc Severinsen, but…
Adolph Herseth, part 2
In May of 2005, I hosted a trumpet conference that featured the former principal trumpet of the Chicago Symphony, the great, Adolph Herseth. It was a three-day event that not only showcased him in recital with none-other than Doc Severinsen, but…
Williams – Concerto
Title Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra For Bb or C trumpet and piano (1996) By John Williams Biographical Info “Given a background of playing trombone and trumpet as a teen, and after writing so much brass music for films and for ceremonial…
Adolph Herseth, part 1
In May of 2005, I hosted a trumpet conference that featured the former principal trumpet of the Chicago Symphony, the great, Adolph Herseth. It was a three-day event that not only showcased him in recital with none-other than Doc Severinsen, but…
Bach – the Unaccompanied Suites
Title Unaccompanied Suites originally for Cello Johann Sebastian Bach Edited and Arranged by David Cooper Biographical Info Bach composed the cello suites while he was employed at the court of Cöthen (1717-1723) as capellmeister and director of…
Recital Programming
Most universities require that their music majors perform a half recital (20-30 min) their junior year and a full recital (45+ min) their senior year. Here are some thoughts and strategies I have on programming. Programming Strategy Your first…