| Do yourself a HUGE FAVOR!
For students that have never had lessons before get the Mitchell trumpet series book 1, it seems that not many people have heard of it but it is by far the best book for young students.
This is a sample routine I might give a student in the age range you listed:
Mouthpiece buzzing: one song of their choice as long as it is smooth and flowing.
Clarke #1 just a few of these, what ever they can handle
Mitchell, do one Mitchell lesson every few weeks w/ metronome
Other band music or fun music
You will be surprised the progress they will make just doing that for 20 to 30 minutes day, I have had plenty of beginning students able to have a decent sound with a decent range( G on the staff to high C), they could also read on the "high school level" after one year of Mitchell. Make sure that the lessons are done in time and that the student doesn’t over blow and use more effort than needed to produce a sound, also make sure they listen to pro trumpeters.
I wouldn’t use Arban’s until they can play the 1st Mitchell book. When you think they might be ready for music start giving them some Concone or etudes like Hering. That is a general guideline of what I will do with middle school students taking private lessons but keep in mind depending on the student I will assign other material or exercises depending on their needs.
Remember it doesn’t matter how old they are, there is no excuse for sounding bad! |