mahaberio

Ed et al,

A thread in one of the other forum's regarding method books got me thinking about the current state of trumpet pedagogy. It is a pretty widespread opinion that the bar has been raised very high regarding the current level of trumpet playing all over the world and I think this is largely due to the brilliant pedagogues of the past and present. Luckily many of these pedagogues have been able to document some of their ideas and they are now widely available thanks to international publishers such as Balquhidder, Editions BIM, etc. I thought I would share my experience with some of the methods that I've discovered and that others may not be very familiar with and invite others to jump in and share with us their experience. After all, what is the purpose of a site like TM if not to pool resources?

Some newer (and some older) works that I've had recent experience with are:

James Thompson-Complete Buzzing Book

This has become quite popular and for good reason. I work out of this book daily I've found the concepts incredibly helpful. It is also wonderful that Thompson has included accompanying soundtracks to play along with the exercises. It really helps to solidify intonation, sound, time, and is helpful in thinking of the exercises in a more musical context.

Pierre Thibaud-Method for the Advanced Trumpeter

This book has received less notice and I guess it is understandable why. It is quite challenging and requires a substantial time commitment. It is also difficult to decipher the meaning of some of the text if you're not previously familiar with some of Thibaud's concepts. Much of the book deals with the production of pedal tones which can be frustrating for some people as there seems to be a large learning curve for learning to play them "correctly" (i.e. with a middle setting). I've only been working out of this book a short time but I've already noticed some benefits and I'm very excited to continue with it.

Pierre Thibaud-Chromatic Exercises and Technical Studies for the Advanced Trumpeter

This book of exercises provides some new and interesting challenges beyond those of any other technical studies I've come across. It also includes many different articulation patterns that are challenging in themselves, but really help to conquer each study. The second part of the book is a series of virtuosic etudes. They're very challenging but I find pretty rewarding.

Chris Kase-Twentieth-first Century Technique

In this book Chris Kase has taken the class Clarke technical studies and re-written in various modes and extensions. It is a great adjunct to the original studies in that it really expands the ear while helping to maximize the benefits of the originals.

Also, I haven't received it yet but it was recommended to me by too many great players to ignore it any longer, so I've ordered a copy of Merri Franquin's method. Once I receive it and work out of it for a bit I will update or possibly create a new thread.

-Matthew

rowuk

Matthew,
I'll bet the percentage of great players has not gone up in spite of the "improvements". The reason is that the percentage of TRUE TALENT WITH DRIVE has not gone up.
I am not even sure that the pros of today are "better" than their predecessors. In our information age, there may be more played material hitting the streets. That just means more exposure to the current generation. Ghitalla, Vacchiano, Adelstein and Herseth are tough acts to follow, like Clarke, Glanz and Schlossberg before them. No cut on the EXCELLENT or EXCEPTIONAL players presently on the circuit.
The advent of ever more resonant, smaller trumpets has taken a bit of the danger (and arguably, sound and challenge) out of symphonic playing.
The jazz world is humming along like in the past.
Maybe we have a greater "middle class" in trumpet playing than ever before. That could be considered an improvement too.

scottcgr

I'd have to agree with that-as I've heard from Ed more than once, there's no room in the middle, but there's lots of space at the top...

mahaberio

Robin,

Thanks for the reply. I think you misunderstood when I said that the bar has been raised very high regarding the current level of trumpet playing. This is certainly not untrue, and it is not to say that it wasn't high before. The point was not comparing players of the past to those of the present, but rather to say that TODAY's high level of trumpet playing is likely due to widespread availability of many great pedagogical resources. For example, I use the Thibaud book, and Thibaud uses a combination of his own ideas mixed with Stamp, Bai Lin, Maggio, Cichowicz... Thompson also uses ideas from several other notable pedagogues. Did I clarify well enough?

-Matthew

rowuk

Matthew,
while current players may be better prepared with technique, the musicality in the stratosphere has not gone up. The working pros only need a small subset of their entire skills, so I don't think it matters at the top.

The middle class of players may find a combination that is more efficient than "just" Arban, Clarke or Schlossberg but I have my doubts based on the players that I gig with.

I believe the bottom line is always the individual and the chemistry during the learning process - not the process itself. The success of a Butler/Geyer combo is based on THEIR knowledge and personalities as well as the selection process to even be able to study with them. I am sure that they could package Arban alone and get exactly the same results.

My job with my students is to get into their heads, find the common denominator and then exploit their positive capabilities and develop the not so good things. If they eat what I feed them and LIKE it we both win.

I understood your premise, I am pretty sure that the results are independent of the books used though.

mahaberio

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mahaberio

Robin,

Again, my post was not supposed to be a comparison or critique of anyone's (or any generation's) playing or musicality. I was also not claiming to have magic books that will make everyone play great or saying that any book/books is/are the reason for today's great playing. It was rather the wide of availability and integration of different great pedagogical ideas that I partially credited.

The real point of the thread was supposed to be (hopefully) an exchange of ideas and discoveries, nothing more.

-Matthew

rowuk

Matt,
sorry. I missed the point.

Those books caught your interest and have obviously withstood the test of time. I have the Thompson book but have never really benefitted from advanced buzzing. I'll get the Thibaud books, Arban does get old after a while (funny, Clarke and Schlossberg don't).

mahaberio

Robin,

Internet forums will never be the ideal medium for effective communication I, for one, am pretty inept at effectively structuring what I hope to communicate effectively on them. Misunderstandings are common.

The Thibaud books have some great exercises in them that go beyond Arban and provide some new and exciting challenges. This is especially true of the Chromatic Exercises and Technical Studies, and these stay within the "normal" range of the trumpet (no pedal tones). Another nice part of this book is that he indicates 14 different articulations to apply to each exercise. Also, the Method has a section of "Reiche scales"; which is Reiche's famous Fanfare put into different keys, modes, and articulations. These do go into the pedal register. I'm pretty sure you can see sample PDF's of these on Balquhidder's site and that will give you a better idea of what I'm talking about.

Arban does get old after a while. Anthony Plog has a nice set of books out that is supposed to make up a complete method for trumpet. I don't use it as that, but he has some nice articulation, multiple-tonguing, and flexibility studies that are nice when you want to switch things up.

-Matthew

ecarroll

Matthew et al,

Hello from Los Angeles. Sorry to be slow in entering -- I was travelling yesterday.

Many of the students that I'm seeing have developed their fundamental technique to a level that far exceeds the norm of my student days. That said, the 10% who went on to high profile jobs then obviously had virtuoso abilities as well. The interesting and oft discussed question becomes has the percentage of students moving on risen beyond this hypothetical 10%? I would argue no, but that's a wonderful topic for another thread.

Personally, I believe that the two great additions to the canon of great pedagogical materials (in my opinion Clarke, Cichowicz, Caruso, Stamp, Irons -- please note that I'm only focusing on exercises for this discussion, not etudes) have been the Thompson and Thibaud books that you describe. Jim's glissando buzzing, particularly in regard to the "breaks" at the bottom and top of the staff, and Thibaud's views on pedal/double pedal notes, positive/negative, etc. are VERY important contributions. I use both very successfully with selected students. It must be noted, however, that both are simply re-working or, perhaps better said, expanding the work of Clarke, Caruso, Cichowicz, Irons, and Stamp. The principle of solid fundamental trumpet playing was well established by those five gentlemen and Jim & Pierre offer additional perspective.

I was excited about the Kase book when it first came out, if only as an example of different modal treatments of Clarke. Advanced players should, however, be able to figure these treatments out for themselves (!). Tony Plog has also recently finished a pretty comprehensive set of exercises that I'm slowing sorting out and introducing to some.

This is a HUGE topic, my friends. Let's all add our thoughts?

Best,
EC