Aria by Aratunian, Taster from my new CD to be released soon...

Check out my facebook page for more photos etc....

http://www.facebook.com/JohncTrumpet

Photos from Concert in St James's Church Muswell Hill

The Three Compressions

Here is a follow up video with Charlie Porter, further to the 'Straight Line Approach'.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22k_eacohto&feature=relmfu

Straight line playing

I was scrolling through you tube and came across a video entitled 'The Straight Line Approach', it's a very helpful and useful way of playing. We, as trumpeters never use the simplest method of playing, a lot of the time we overcomplicate things and wonder why everything is such hard work. 

In its simplicity the straight line approach is playing from one note directly to the next one. A to B (not the notes 'A' and 'B' but the destinations). So if you are playing a middle 'g' on open position and then go up to the next harmonic on 'c' you should go directly to the 'c'. There should be no breaks or changes in vibrations and definitely no miss-pitching's. The best way too practice doing this is to play with the mouthpiece: Buzz the note 'g' and then slide up to the 'c' make sure that the buzz is always the same consistent sounding buzz (no breaks in the sound). By doing this we are learning to play from one note straight to the next. When we use the this method and put the mouthpiece back into the trumpet, the trumpet does the work for us. The note will pop in to the next one. As we do this more and more we learn to play where the note should be rather than where we think it is. As you play higher you will need to compress the air channel and thus increase the airspeed to create the upwards rise in pitch. Always think of reducing space where the air travelling to create higher notes, arch the tongue the tongue towards the roof of the mouth to increase the airspeed. Learn to control the aperture without losing the quality of the vibrations, never tighten the vibrating tissue, it is very similar to whistling in that respect.  

You can use this method to play any particular phrase and interval. Remember the important way to the think is that you are learning to agree with the trumpet rather than force it to play where you think the note is. The trumpet does not change it is always the same length and shape etc. We should learn to agree with it  more..  This way you will find faster phrases much easier and it will feel like the trumpet is doing the work for you. Check out the video link to understand this in practical sense. When tonguing think of the note as one long  air-stream being separated however many times it need to be by the tongue. The column of air is always supported and never interrupted by the tongue. Never let that air flow stop! Check out the video it is definitely worth a watch. I have saved it on my you tube Channel:

 https://www.youtube.com/user/JohncTrumpet

Summer Trumpet Workshop

Summer Trumpet Workshop for those of you who are interested and want to find out more about the Trumpet and Brass in general, I am running a Workshop on 27th of July in Muswell Hill, London. Visit my website for more info and to Book your place! Perfect for Beginners - Grade 8.

Trumpet Summer Workshop

Red Light Playing

Red Light Playing is a term musicians use to describe 'perfect playing'. The term is derived from when they are in a recording studio and the microphone is on. The red light is shown so that everyone knows not to disturb.

Whenever you are practising it is important not to just play through things and lose sight of mistakes, however small they are, either uncorrected or worse unnoticed. It is useful to compare yourself to the 'ideal' sound you are trying to create. This will challenge you to address the technical issues you and every trumpeter experiences. It is quite common for players to play over things that they can already play whilst 'sweeping under the carpet' bigger technical faults.  However don't get too engrossed with being perfect especially if you start to find yourself practicing over and over one section. Always remember to improve you're trumpet playing rather than just working to death (which normally doesn't even improve that much) one passage that you're playing.