beckhome

Hello,

My name is Larry Beck and I live in Tigard, Oregon. I'm 50 something, married, with three children, one a 4th year student at Oregon State University, one on a Church mission in Mexico, and a 13 year old daughter who is privilged to hear her Dad get back into shape again after many years away from the horn.

I have a Bachelor's and Master's degree in Music, from Lewis and Clark College and the University of Oregon. I played professionally in my 20's, but then settled down and got married, and the horn went into the case, only to be used very infrequently. For some reason, at the start of this year, I felt it's time to start playing again. I'm now making the long climb back into being in shape again. I've had a LA Benge 5x for thirty years and it's definitely showing signs of age, and since everything else for the most part has improved over the past thirty years, I found a music store in the Portland area that had a number of Bach trumpets and played until I couldn't see straight! The first note I played on a LR 180/37, I fell in love. And so now it sits behind me as I type this message. I also decided to finally make the switch to a different mouthpiece, having use a Bach 5C all these years. I'm now playing a Schilke 14 and for the most part loving the larger sound and increased finesse.

Someone told me last year that playing the trumpet is who I am. It's what defines me, makes me whole. And they are right. I'm up to about an hour a day now, using the Vizzutti books to increase endurance and technique, and starting to remember how to play some of the solos I played years ago. I'm in the process of starting a brass quintet in the Tigard area, and will hopefully be able to aution for a local community orchestra soon. I look forward to learning a lot in this forum.

Larry Beck
Tigard, Oregon

administrator

Welcome to the TM Larry! It is great to have you here!

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misty.sj

Hi Larry!

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--Misty
Hit it hard, and wish it well. -- Claude Gordon

1925(?) Conn Cavalier Bb (s/n 14142)
2007 Barrington Bb student trumpet

clousemiester

Larry,
Great Story! Glad to hear you are back at it! Have fun with it. Explore! Discover! Experiment!
Performance is the Best of all!
Are you near U of O, Eugene?
I have a friend there,......A Dept. Head.
Perhaps He could help you with some other avenues to help you devote more time in music.

Dennis Clouse

beckhome

No, I'm about two hours away from Eugene. Willie Nelson said it best: "The life I love is makin' music with my friends". Practicing is a necessary prelude to performing, you are right about that!

commakozzi

Awesome man!!! Good to hear another come backer has joined us! I started back toward the end of last year and I swear by the Vizzutti books if they are used correctly. I especially like his warm-up routine from the books. I use most of that routine with some additional things that I like to do for myself to get started in the morning. I'm up to a minimum of 3 hours per day, but one hour of that is transcription. Basically my routine consists of about 1 hour out of the Vizzutti books: warm-up, lip flexibilities, and range & endurance. Then I do separate sessions consisting of Arbans, Clarkes, transposition, etudes, and Music 1 (concertos, cornets solos, etc.), Music 2 (transcription of jazz solos), and Music 3 (improvisation over changes of the tune I'm currently transcribing). I really believe that the Vizzutti books have excelled my "getting back in shape" by leaps and bounds. I used to play a good bit after college, but never truly "professionally" although I did do paying gigs. And I had struggled for a long time to find something that worked for me as far as a routine goes. With the discovery of the Vizzutti methods, and the addition of the things I learned in college I've found what really works for me. One thing I was bad with in school was playing softly, and I really observe Vizzutti's advice on this in his methods. Play those long tones starting as softly as you can and crescendo to a good mezzo forte to forte. They are very similar to the Chichowicz studies I used to do in school. Also, play those range extension exercises at pianissimo... You wouldn't believe what this will do for you, if you haven't already done that in the past.

Anyway, I have a tendency to be long winded...

Great to hear about someone else getting back in the saddle!!!

tatakata

hi

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