How to breathe the natural way
My thesis is this: your system can breathe automatically, “correctly,” as much as you need, and you don’t have to apply a particular breathing technique. You’ll run into problems if you’re interfering with your own natural breathing. Unfortunately, this can happen without you even knowing that, in fact, you’re impeding your own free breathing. The […]
Important questions about a trumpet player’s mouthpiece
The mouthpiece is the connection between musician and trumpet. It’s one of the most often-discussed topics among trumpet players, as it has a significant influence on sound, intonation, high notes, endurance, and precision–just to name a few. However, as the German proverb goes, If the farmer can’t swim, he blames his swimming trunks. Similarly, the […]
5 ways for trumpet players to build endurance
Endurance is often a reathig problem. It can be frustrating when you can only practice 20 minutes or when you worry during a gig that your endurance might not be strong enough to get you through to the last note… Play more economically The most important concept in building endurance is that you learn to […]
Thoughts on the ‘inner hearing’
The hearing of the sound of your trumpet and of the music inside your head, brings about processes in your body. Your conscious mind evolves around the desired outcome and your whole system brings it to the world. So your inner hearing coordinates the functions of your body. The german pianoteacher Beata Ziegler (1885-1959) wrote: “It’s not […]
Fingers are important
Often it is not the big, radical changes that cause improvement but basic, unremarkable details that ultimately make a difference. After I received some questions about my most recent blog entry, especially about practical implementation, I have some suggestions for you today: Finger position First, some thoughts about positioning of the fingers that makes sense […]
Improve Your Trumpet Playing
Many trumpet players are looking for the “missing link”, the secret or hidden trick for improving their trumpet playing. New knowledge sometimes results in “sudden” drastic improvement. This is observed now and again in master classes. In order for this sudden impetus to occur so that the next level can be reached, a great deal of […]
Embouchure
The topic of embouchure is always controversial, and discussion of it often proves emotional. It almost seems like it can’t be discussed without somebody feeling attacked/criticized/hurt. Before we come to what I see as the main point, let’s define the term first, as there is currently no singular definition for it. What does embouchure actually […]