wiseone2

I was thinking about that Drum Major thread and shaking my head. Times have changed.

I was eight years old when I was given my first trumpet, a Conn 22B. I could not get a sound from the horn until I met my teacher. My first note was a middle G. He taught me a C major scale and and song. I already read music, and within weeks I was playing from the Edwards-Hovey book. I got my first Arban book at nine years old. I could sight-sing, transpose and play before I got into fifth grade. I did not play screaming high notes, I learned to play the trumpet.

My friends could play, it was a different world in those days. Lee played the Arban book, and he could play it well. So could Ted Curson.
My buddy, Lou Opalesky had a gig playing the Christmas Oratorio when he was in high school. Lou played it on a Bb trumpet perfectly.

The Sigmund Hering students, and we were still in high school, could play. We played Arban, Hering and Sachse and Bartold and most of us played from the Top Tones book.

Our goal was to play music, not loud squeaks. This was in the mid-fifties.
Wilmer

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Be sure Brain is engaged before putting Mouthpiece in gear.
S.Suark 1951

bagmangood

ahem
*scream about importance of high notes until blue*
*attempt to breath, collapse*
*blow out chops*

Basically, I 100% agree with you, I don't know what to do. I'm just a college student, and compete compete compete is what seems to be going on and the easiest thing to compare is how high you can go, but it certainly isn't the most important

__________________
Bb: Courtois 305 "Elite"
C: Bach C180-239 (Akwright conversion),
Cornet: Conn Wonder (1900)
Picc: Selmer Paris, ~1971

trumpetnick

Our job is a competitive one, but one we win the competition what is expected from us is to make music. By the way, most audition, I guess, are also centered on making music, not just the notes and the rhythms...That's an excelent thread, Wiseman!

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Spada Bach B flat 72, leadpipe 2L/DWMM1.5C
Spada Bach C 256, leadpipe 2LQ/DWMM1.5C
1956 Olds Ambassador Cornet
Spada Custom Piccolo

If you don't know where you are going, you 'll end up someplace else

Chris Houser

When I was just starting college I had a teacher who told me, "..there will always be someone who can play higher, louder and faster, but they can they play more musically, that is the question." I have always considered this as one of the best pieces of advise I have ever received.

richtom

I wonder if these high school kids really know a true sound from a thin, but accurate
upper register note?
I remember as a freshman in high school there was a kid in the cadet band who could not play much but had figured out a trick with his embouchure which allowed him to play well above high C with a clear tone. He pulled the mouthpiece down until it was barely on his upper lip. It sounded like a loud whistle and impressed everyone.
Also during my freshman year, there were two outstanding senior trumpet players in the concert band. There was not much difference between them technically or sound-wise. They did the Vivaldi concerto in C once. The only real difference was the principal had a real high G. He used to play Maria up to the G. He ended a jazz band concert with a high F that rocked the auditorium.
Both of these players went on to become good pros and were an inspiration to me. This was
40 years ago but I will always remember their sounds in my mind. Tone first, range second.
Rich Tomasek

Vulgano Brother

As far as I know, that is an Adolph Herseth quote, except he talked about style. I like the idea that we are the messengers rather than the message.

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rowuk

Hey dudes,
double c is where it is at. You can get into ANY jazz orchestra and don't even have to know how to count bars of rest. You just need a feel for when the last note comes and then you just nail that squeak and hang onto it a bit longer than the rest.
Everything else on the trumpet you have to work for. What do music teachers and pros know anyway..................

Wilmer,
the mid 60's and 70's were no different. I had my Eb transposition down first because my girlfriend played alto sax. She was really into scales and articulation too.

__________________
Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again.

bigtiny

Interesting thread Wilmer. I went through a period in early high school of being a Maynard freak. I tried to play like him for about a year. I knew I was doing it wrong, I couldn't play as high as I was trying to, I couldn't play loud up high, and I was hurting myself trying to do it. I stepped back and decided that since I didn't have a trumpet teacher (I pretty much self taught), and since I wasn't going to sit in a practice room doing 'calisthenics' in order to play high and loud, I had better concentrate on getting my technique together as much as I could and trying to develop my own sound. I still can't play high, I'm horribly impressed by players who can, and I don't have the greatest technique. But I'm able to play the way I want to play and I've been told many times by listeners that they can immediately identify me by my sound. I spent hour after hour slogging through the Arban's book, the Clarke books, and Bousquet's etudes (how come nobody ever talks about them? I think they're great) and firmly believe that this work on the fundamentals has allowed me to evolve as a trumpet player and musician over the years.

I remember once observing a rehearsal of Herb Pomeroy's big band class at Berklee. The trumpet section was all young guys and at least three of them could really scream. Really solid chops (by chops I mean high note/lead type chops). However, everytime they tried to read the chart down, they kept screwing it up, which ended with Pomeroy severely chastising them. His point? "it's great to be able to play high and loud, but you've got to be able to read. You've got to be able to play in tune. And most importantly, you've got to be able to play musically!"

bigtiny

cornetguy

[ Bousquet's etudes (how come nobody ever talks about them? I think they're great)

I am with you on that. I like them for tonguing in the low range but they are pretty nice for other things too.

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wiseone2

My first teacher, Anthony DelCampo used the St. Jacome book more than the Arban, so I played them a lot.............besides, who can spell Bousquet..... or is it Biskquik
Wilmer

__________________
Be sure Brain is engaged before putting Mouthpiece in gear.
S.Suark 1951