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Don’t complain about your leader/conductor- at least where he/she can hear you. Don’t give advice unless you are asked. Never hire a sub better than yourself. If play a second part in an ensemble, never criticize the first chair player. When warming up, never try to see how high you can play. Never change the music to “the way it should have been written”. Never out blow the lead player under any circumstance. Never play a note at the end of a number which is higher than the lead player unless he/she has requested it. Be sure to cash all…
What Constitutes a Professional Musician? A professional musician is one who plays an instrument or several instruments proficiently; performing is their primary source of income. What Constitutes an Amateur Musician? An amateur musician is one who loves playing music or one who cultivates something as a pastime. If you happen to be described by the second definition (amateur musician) and would like to upgrade to the next level, you might find the following information interesting. Recently I was asked, “How do you become a professional musician”?… and my response was, “Why would you ever want to become a professional musician”? It isn’t that I didn’t or don’t enjoy playing…
This video is very well done and if you have always wondered what a gap was and how it affects you horn, I think you will find this very interesting. I totally agree with this demonstration.
I received this message this past week and because of the house full of family I am a little behind on my posts. I would like to thank this gentleman for his questions and due to the fact that many have indicated that they were also “comeback” players, I thought I would share with you my thoughts on this big move. As always, my comments are in BOLD type and our reader’s comments are in regular type. Went social security in 2010, and part time on my job. Within a couple months, decided it was time to get back to…
For years we have tried to copy outstanding solos and wonderful orchestral scores from recordings but the time taken for this laborious task was far greater than anyone wanted to spend. With the introduction of digital control, things got a lot easier. Even with digital recordings we still have to go through the painful chore of isolating one note or chord after another in order to document it on paper. I hope the following material will help you speed the process as well as improving your accuracy in notating solos and scores on paper. Step 1. Install the program Audacity from…
This is part #2 from the advice given in the duet collection Celebrated Practice Duets by Arthur Amsden. Don’t fail to pour water through your cornet before beginning the day’s work; never mind WHY, just DO IT and note the benefit of this simple advice. allow yourself to acquire a tremolo in your tone; nothing can be more objectionable than a cheap, shivery, trembling tone “a goat-stop” tone is a performers worst asset. hold your instrument too high or too low, and by all means don’t hold it sideways, that’s an unmistakable sign that you’re a novice. beat time with…
On February 1, 1918 a wonderful collection of duets was published by Arthur Amsden which was titled “Celebrated Practice Duets”. We are indebted to the composer for sharing his compositions with us and if you are in need of a very large (70) collection of excellent duets of varying difficulty, I strongly recommend you purchase this collection. A friend introduced me to this book and each week we play through it to keep both our chops up as well as our reading skills (thanks Doyle). This past week I shared my copy with another new trumpet friend (thanks Steve) and…
This is what is being advertised as the “New” way to practice in limited spaces. Watch the new advertisement and then read what we were discussing more than 5 years ago. One of the greatest joys I have experienced while writing this blog for the past 7 years is when readers write in with their own views and opinions. This is a very fine example of such a reader. His name is Felice Sobrero and after viewing my post he left a comment on his experience with the same issue I was covering which was being able to practice in…
