lonelyangel

I just posted a long overdue reply in the orchestral forum. It was in answer to a question about my experiences studying under Maurice Murphy as a student at the Guildhall 20 years ago.

If you read that post you will see that i have been doing some thinking about where the knowledge that I am now passing on to my own students has come from. I made a list of all my trumpet teachers, mentors, heroes and influential colleagues and thought about what they had given to me. I asked myself to write a sentence summing up the essence of what I had learned from each of them.

As I stated in the other post, this has proved to be a thought provoking and rewarding exercise and is very much work in progress. I will be expanding each sentence into a paragraph and then possibly on to a few pages. This is basically for my own benefit, a kind of stock taking or clarification of my ideas about playing and where they come from. However, if anybody thinks it might be interesting I would be happy to share my thoughts as they take shape.

I just want to make it clear that the following are my own perceptions of what I have learned from these people and not necessarily what they thought they were teaching me. Some of them are well known to all of us, others may be a mystery to you but they all had very special gifts for me, starting with my first teacher, who is my dad.

Mr JW Langley: Stand up straight and point that thing at the audience.

Johnny Lawton: Isn’t music fantastic!

Eddie Atherton: Squeeze your buttocks together and BLOW

Tony Greening: Buy an alarm clock, a pencil and a rubber (that's an eraser in the UK by the way).

Bernard Brown: Always keep an open mind and treat yourself with love and care.

Maurice Murphy: Keep It Simple Stupid

Ray Simmons: Be prepared, respect the music and never let yourself down.

Wynton Marsalis: Play long tones.

Lionel Grigson: Knowledge = Freedom.

Ian Carr: Listen more than you play.

Paul Tunge: Consolidate what you already have.

Scott Stroman: Rhythm is more important than pitch.

Cliff Hardie: The trumpet is a physical instrument, put in the work and reap the rewards.

Jon Faddis: It’s a mind game, unlock the power of your imagination.

Randy Brecker: Study hard and thoroughly.

Kenny Wheeler: Play with courage and humility.

John Barclay: Nail the f***er!

Derek Watkins: Be better than the rest.

Uan Rasey: Music is a gift from God - play with grace and make each note a prayer.

That’s it so far. Cheers, Noel.

JackD

Noel, I'm fairly sure I speak for everyone when I say please do share!

I for one certainly appreciate it.

Cheers.

BachMan

"Playing the trumpet requires the daring of a fighter pilot, the precision of a surgeon and the bravura of a circus performer."

-Jim Thompson