trumpetdoc

I would like to contribute my humble opinion to this discussion. As a player who has performed professionally in the symphonic setting, chamber music (primarily brass quintet), lead in big bands and broadway shows for the past 30 years, as well as teaching privately and as a college professor, I would like to add these points:

1. It is much more difficult to work professionally in diverse fields than it was years ago. There are so many great players that specialize out there. It is difficult enough to compete for opportunities if you focus on one or two things and become great at them. It is even more difficult to divide your time amoungst many endeavors. There was a time when New York was filled with players that could play anything, do it all. I think that this had to do with the fact that there was a thriving recording business and if you were a jack of all trades you were very valuable to contractors. In addition, the level of demands placed on trumpet players have increased. When I got onto the business, everyone said "If you want to be a lead player, all you need is a consistent, in tune high F." Now it seems that eveyone can play a high F and a lead player needs at least a good solid A. The same can be said for the orchestral field. Used to be you had to know the standard literature: Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich, Pictures, Petrouchka, etc. Very few players ever played the Brandenberg. Now you are expected to be able to sit down (in the freelance world) and play any Bach including the Brandenberg, L' Histoire, Wozzeck, any Mahler or Strauss. In other words, things that used to be considered difficult are now considered standard. Even Wynton would stop playing jazz when he did a lot of his classical performance/recording.

2. But having said all this, there are still players like Tony who can play anything and sound great. I believe that there two essential ingredients to being successfull in this and Tony hit on both.

First, we produce the sound that we have in our head. So it is important to develop a clear sound concept through listening. If you want to be great in multiple styles, then you have to have multiple sound concpts that you can tap into. Trumpet chops are trumpet chops. It's the sound and stylistic concepts that vary. So be a voracious listener and obsorb concept.

Second, like any craftsman, "use the right tool for the job". Don't be afraid to have several mouthpieces and/or horns. Find the equipment that will aid and allow you to produce those concepts that you have in your mind. There's a great video floating around of Rick Baptist using a piccolo playing lead on the sound track of Superman which sounds like great C trumpet playing.

Trumpet playing is simple, it's just hard to do. Basically it's moving the air which vibrates the lips and then add the correct style of tonging. Playing music is difficult to do well and requires clear, deep seated musical concepts. So listen to all the Vacchiano, Herseth, Maurice Andre, Snooky, Maynard, Doc, Miles, Clifford, Chet Baker, Louis, and Tony that you can get your hands on. That's what guys like Malcolm McNab and Rick Baptist do.