The community band has been on vacation since the Christmas concert in early December. During that off period I have been diligently working on my fundamentals like tone, articulation, sight reading, scales and lots of lip slurs. I could already hear a difference in my recordings but I was anxious to see how that hard work would pay off when I played with the band again.

The answer was extremely positive. We did a lot of sight reading and straight playing on our first day back and hung in like a trooper and in may cases was able to focus on sound production instead of stumbling over passages. Don’t get me wrong – there are some pieces that are going to require some intense shedding but there is definitely an improvement.

I went buckwild buying CDs in the past few days. I purchased Irvin Mayfield’s “Half Past Autumn Suite”, Joe Henderson’s “In ‘n Out” (with K.D. on trumpet) and a few CDs by Booker Little. I’m also trying to find Jeremy Pelt’s new CD “Insight” which is sure to be tight. I’m very anxious to digest them all. I will share the reviews of course so stay tuned for that.

It has been really cold this week and I managed to split my lip pretty good. I?m going to have to take it easy for a few days but there is no way I can stay away from the horn while I wait for it to heal. I just need to be more careful about protecting my mouth.

Happy Martin Luther King Day to Everyone!

I've gotten to the point where I am VERY protective of my practice time. I made the mistake of getting in several bowling leagues this season and it's starting to really wedge into my practice time. I don't know what I was thinking. As I sit in the alley angry because I didn't carry the ten pin on a perfect pocket shot (I carry a 210 average) I remind myself that I SHOULD be home working on long tones, practicing my articulation or adding more scales to memory. Fortunately the leagues end in May and that will be the end of THAT! I will probably stay in one league to keep my skills up (I do enjoy it) but that's it. I have goals that I know I will only reach with consistent practice and dedication.

My practice today was very good. My range seems to increasing slowly but surely. Nothing dramatic but I can tell the difference. Exercises that used to be difficult are starting to become easier. I am able to maintain a consistent sound in different ranges where as I used to increase in volume (and change texture) for notes that were too high or too low for me. I am realizing that range comes with time and I will work on the fundamentals religiously. I will let it will happen naturally.

Will you no longer read me complaining about my lack range? Of course not! Let's not get crazy!! I think I have a better handle on what is required to become a complete player and that is what I strive to be. I got the GREATEST advice from someone and I want to share it with you…

don't let range frustration ruin your day. Think like a painter… you can still express line, form, color and texture… the canvas is just smaller.

I will make it MY goal to paint the prettiest picture possible with the colors that are on my palette. Thanks Dave!

Concert Band starts back up tomorrow! I'm anxious to see if my hard work will make me sound better with the group. I've been working pretty hard during the break. You'll be the first to know either way.

One thing I can honestly say about this site is it has given me a wonderful opportunity to meet people with a similar passion for music. I use my link in my signature for a discussion board and I’ve gotten a lot of encouragement and suggestions about my playing. While I am truly my own motivator, there is nothing like a pat on the back or helping hand from others. That alone has made the effort I’ve put into this site worth while.

I did some recording this weekend and I’m glad that I did. I starting writing out a solo for “Girl from Impanema” and decided to record what I had done so far just to keep it on record. I did not plan to release it until I finished it. After I recorded it however, I was so impressed with my improved tone I had to add it to the sound room section. My usual beef about my “dark” sound is not present in this release. I’m actually starting to sound like a trumpet now… how about that as a start for 2003?

The recording was made using my Zeus raw brass trumpet and my new Bach 2C megatone. To check it out, click here.

To get a true example of my progress listen to the earlier versions of the same song. I would have never known I improved this much if I didn’t recording my sessions periodically.

I had a great practice this weekend. I sounded terrible! Absolutely dreadful! So why was it a great practice? It was great because I worked on things that I do not do well. I practiced my A major scale in two octaves. I extended my long tones beyond my usual comfort range. I turned on the metrenome of doom and practiced sight reading – playing through the entire song or etude without stopping. Was it frustrating? Yes! Did I feel like hurling my horn out of the window? Definitely. Will practicing what I can’t do make me a better player? Without a doubt.

The key for me was ending each practice session doing something that re-established confidence in abilities. I played some not so difficult etudes from the Getchell book in the foyer of my townhouse. The sound soared to the roof and I felt like I was in Carnegie Hall. I felt very good about my playing again. Make sure you practice the things that you are not good at. It is the only way you will improve.

I have been working on changing my embouchure. Part of that embouchure change is leading me to believe I need to play on a slightly smaller mouthpiece. I ordered a Megatone 2C which should be in my hands today. We’ll see how that works for me.

As 2002 draws to a close and 2003 begins, it is the perfect time to reflect on where I am as a player and what goals I have in mind for the new year.

I am fairly pleased with my accomplishments so far.  March 2003 will mark 2 years behind the horn and I have noticed small improvements in all aspects of my playing.  While my range, tone, dexterity and reading are not even CLOSE to where I strive to be – the recordings show that I’ve done some good.  I have also joined a community band which was my primary goal for the year.  I had one performance during the summer that was standout where I played the 3rd trumpet part alone and helped my section (and band) sound great.  I hope to make that a regular thing in 2003.

I have new goals:

• Improve in all aspects of my playing.  Up till now I’ve focused on being a good JAZZ trumpet player.  I spoke with a friend of mine who is also learning to play trumpet.  He gave me advice that will be my theme for the new year.  My focus will be on the technical studies of the trumpet like long tones, lip slurs, articulation, scales and more music theory.  In the past I have had practices where I lost focus and do not use my time to the utmost.  I plan to steer clear of that in 2003.  I need to move playing trumpet to the top of my list.  Playing jazz trumpet will come in time.  Thanks G!
  
•  Learn all my major and minor scales (and MORE if time allows).  I want to learn them backwards and forwards so they are automatic.  Up till now I’ve been terrible at practicing them.  Instead of grabbing the Aebersold books I’ll grab my new scale book and work from that once my technical studies are complete.  Scales are the building blocks of what I want to accomplish and a language that I MUST learn fluently.
• Play solos at Church.  I need more playing opportunities so I’m hoping to play solos at my church.  Even if it’s only one Sunday a month or every two months I think I could greatly benefit from playing on my own with accompaniment.
• Learn basic chords on the piano.  This isn’t extremely high on my priority list but I would like to be able to play basic major and minor chords on the piano.  Perhaps learn the chords in conjunction with the scales that I learn.

There you have it!  My goals for 2003!  I would highly suggest that you make the same goals for your playing and strive to accomplish them.  As I’ve said before – record yourself playing.  Listen to those recordings and use that as a reference to what you need to work on.

I wish everyone the best for 2003!  May you find happiness and success in all that you do!

Ok, ok.. Now that I’m done crying and moaning over my lack or range – time for some REAL content. 
Sorry folks.  I haven’t thrown my equipment off a bridge…  yet.

As many of you have read, I have just purchased a new trumpet – the Zeus G. While I am planning to post my own review very soon, I wanted to share a review from a trusted friend of mine –
Patrick Gleason.  He’s a
great player and an even better person (rare qualities in a trumpet
player).  I value his opinion very much.

Fit and Finish:
All of the tubing joints looked really good but I noticed that the second
brace (closest to the valve case) off of the leadpipe appeared to be slightly
off. It should be perpendicular to the leadpipe and parallel to the other brace,
but it was just ever so slightly off as if it was "leaning" just a
tad. As for the finish, well, it’s raw brass, except for parts of the tubing
that appear to be either made of nickel, or plated in nickel. I will comment
that the buffing of the finished parts looked good.

Feel:
This horn is HEAVY! Quite a bit heavier than my Bach. Also, some of the
tubing, such as entry points for slides, appears to be of a heavier gauge than
that on my Bach. The valve cluster could be that of a Bach only the valves are
spaced just slightly further apart and they aren’t machined down quite as much.
(The external valve tubes are straight where on a Bach, they have some slight
curves for contour.) Also, we took off one of the bottom valve caps an my Bach
valve cap screwed right on with no problem whatsoever. The valves feel really
good. Very fast and consistent and I never had one stick or drag at all on me.
Sometimes with a brand new horn (this one is only a week or so off of the
production line) the valves tend to be a bit sluggish. These valves compare to
the valves on a Schilke more than they compare to the valves on my Bach. Fast
and silky smooth. Alignment? Not sure on this one because it probably takes more
than just the naked eye to determine if the valves are truly aligned and I don’t
really know any of that, however, they appear to line up exactly when they are
depressed. This is from pulling the first and second valve slide and eyeballing
where they line up.

Playing:
Solid core of sound and very consistent throughout. Intonation is probably a
bit better than on my hand-picked Bach Strad. The sound was on the dark side,
but had a nice warmness to it. I felt that it played fairly open, but not so
open that I didn’t have something to push against, but not stuffy in the least.
Slotting seemed to be pretty good too. The one thing that really stands out
about the sound of this horn and the way that it plays is that you can push it
pretty hard and play pretty danged loud and the sound won’t spread. I can get my
Bach to sound blatty pretty quickly but I’d have to really push this horn to do
that. This is probably due to the weight of the horn, but I’m not sure.

I can’t say for certainty that I liked this horn better than my Bach but it
is at least on par with it, which is saying something because I’m beginning to
believe more and more that the Bach that I have is a winner among the newer
Bachs. This would be a great quintet, concert band or combo horn in my opinion
but I’m not sure if I would want to use it in a big band or rock band situation.
Then again, I really didn’t get as much time on it as I would need to make that
determination. One thing that I will say is that I think it’s a steal for the
money. I do think this will be a great all around horn and
even better for combo, concert band or quintet.

I have days where I wonder why in the hell I picked the trumpet as my instrument of choice. Today is one of those days. I have that feeling that I will be eternally trapped in and below the staff. I realize that I have only been playing two years but LORD!! Any attempt to climb out of that range is useless. I have flashes of brilliance where I play a nice solid G on the top of the staff but everything else is a crap shoot. I’m not trying to be the “scream machine” or anything.. I just want command over the trumpet’s playable range or a sign that I will get there. It just ain’t happening right now..

I hesitate to post this but I feel I should share the bad with the good. I’m definitely at that point where I worry about getting any better range wise. My tone is improving everyday as is my overall ability – the range just ain’t there. I would have been playing for two years by March 2003. At that point where should I be as a player??

I had a swing band gig on Saturday and it went very well (see new pictures on the photos page). My playing was not the best but I try not to be too hard on myself with this group because I can’t practice the music and we only rehearse once a month. There are a few songs that I know well enough to contribute – on other songs I just try not to get in the way or screw up. The group is very gracious to allow me to play with them. I’m sure there are other trumpet players who could do WAY better than me and I will graciously move aside if they show up. At this stage, I’m just trying to learn as much as I can. At the same time I got copies of the music so I plan to work diligently to improve and make my section sound even better. My goal is feel as though I belong there.

The thing that is really wonderful about this band is we don’t get paid individually. Like the community band, it’s all done for the love of the music. If I am not mistaken the money goes to the band’s fund which includes the community band. Like me, these guys and gals take time out of their busy schedule to perform and have a great time doing it. You would think we were getting thousands of dollars and we play like a million bucks!! To me, there is nothing better than looking in audience and seeing people having a good time dancing or just listening. I get paid well for the work that I do in web development and IT support – that feeling doesn’t come close to what I get playing the trumpet.

On Saturday I had a Winter Concert with the Community Band. I have not been in a formal concert since high school which was about 17 years ago! I did not get to practice the day before but I spent most of the morning working on long tones
and blowing through the lead pipe just keep my chops fresh.

The concert went well. Of course I can think of many places where I could have played better. Hindsight is 20/20. All in all, considering I’ve only been playing for about 2 years – I think I did well. 
Here are some random thoughts:

• One song was just too difficult for me – the Finale movement of
  Handel’s Water Music Suite.  Despite hours of practice, I still
  fumbled about and struggled to meet it’s difficult requirements.  I
  would love another crack at it once I have more time to develop as a player.
   
• On the other hand, I thought I did very well on God Bless
  America/America the Beautiful, Sinatra In Concert, Victory at
  Sea, Show Boat, Die Fledermaus and the Stars and
  Stripes Forever. 

• There were two songs that I was familiar with but only because I played
  them in high school.  They were A Christmas Festival and Sleigh
  Ride.  Unfortunately I played the bass clarinet back then. 
  Trumpet is a whole new world in comparison.  Still, I managed to hold
  my own.  

• My endurance was not the best but I think I did ok.  I think I will
  add some endurance exercises to my practice routine.  There is nothing
  worse than starting a song and not having any chops.

• I lost count in several places throughout the concert.  In most cases
  I was able to get by because I was familiar with the tune and knew where to
  come in.  Other times I sat and watched as my part sailed by. 
  That is unacceptable.  6/8 time gives me fits.  All these things I
  will work on next year.  My sight reading must improve.

• One thing I did experience – being directly behind the percussion
  section.  There were a few times when their playing got so loud – I
  could not hear myself and it confused me terribly.  It is really
  unavoidable and no ones fault but I hope that never happens again.

We are off until the middle of January but I plan to continue to work hard
during the off time to be a stronger player when we start working again. 
These concerts are a great gauge to see how I am developing as a player.

I will admit – the lazy pace of the holidays kept me from practicing as
religiously as I normally do. Shame on me! While I picked up my horn on Friday,
Saturday & Sunday – the time spent with it was not as focused as it should
have been.  I spent most of my time working on long tones and lip slurs.

I did however, make a fantastic discovery for others who have trouble sight
reading and need to learn a part quickly. There is a free music notation program
called Finale Notepad 2003. This fantastic piece of software allows you to write
music. You write your music as easily as you type in Microsoft Word or
Wordperfect. While that feature alone is worth the effort of downloading – you
can play your music back using a built in midi player. Can’t quite get the
timing of that tricky passage? Having a hard time figuring how fast cut time for
a particularly piece should be? Plug it in and push the play button! I entered
several difficult passages from Handel’s Water Suite and it really helped me
feel the flow of the music.

To download go to http://www.codamusic.com.
It’s FREE! Use it when you’re in a bind to learn a part quickly or if you just
can’t figure it out on your own. If you have the time however, I suggest you
grind it out. The only way to improve your sight reading is to do more of it.

The only other piece of news is there will be a new trumpet in the household
very soon. You can best believe I will provide feedback and pictures as soon as
it arrives. Needless to say, I’m very excited about it. 

PLAY ON!!