We Made The Top 10 Blogs for 2016!

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10 Blogs That Every Trumpet Player Should Read This is a reprint of the original post by Jeremy Smith on September 14, 2016 and is posted with his consent. “When I first started this blog 2 years ago, one post that I wrote was 10 Blogs That Every Trombone Player Should Read. It had great success then and is still considered one of my top read posts. Today, I am continuing that series by highlighting 10 blogs by trumpet players that I believe to be of great help to the industry. Below you will find a list of 10 professional…

How Good Does A Trumpet Have To Be?

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If you ask most trumpet players this question the answer is usually “I need one better than the one I’m playing on now!” But is this a true evaluation of our current instrument? To fully understand what I am about to say, I will approach this question from two different perspectives; How good does the instrument have to be to satisfy its player? and…… How good does the instrument have to be to make a difference to the listener? How good does the instrument have to be to satisfy its player? Every musician wants to be able to perform with…

10 Most Downloaded Trumpet Sheet Music – ALL FREE

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Today, I am happy to announce that we’ve added a section of Trumpet Sheet Music to our site. To celebrate, we are giving away the top 10 most downloaded music from our sister site TrumpetEnsembleMusic.com. If you are looking for some new music to play for fun or add to a future concert go checkout our most popular downloads. By default the price on these is $0.00, but if you want to help support the blog you can always add a “tip” when you download. We are also testing out a new way to download and buy our sheet music.…

John J. Haynie Tribute Concert- Friday, April 28, 2017

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To many, the name John J. Haynie may not register as a well-known individual, but to knowing trumpet players, the mere mention brings remembrances of a great teacher and world class cornet player. Mr. Haynie was the teacher and good friend to hundreds of outstanding trumpet players around the world. His list of former students reads like the “Who’s Who” of the trumpet world today. It was my good fortune to have moved to the Denton area soon enough to be at this year’s memorial concert and share tribute to this great player and wonderful person. I have included a…

Starting Over….again.

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Previous music studio in Branson Now that my wife and I have finally opened and disposed of 90% of the moving boxes we escorted from Branson, Missouri to Denton, Texas, I found it necessary to begin practicing again after a three week hiatus. My enthusiasm was peaking and my chops were failing me the first day but I persevered. The next day, while visiting with our very nice neighbors I realized that everyone in the neighborhood enjoyed my first practice session! My music room in Branson was designed to fill all of my playing and recording needs which included sound…

What is a Flugel Horn and Do I need to own one?

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The flugelhorn, also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn or flugelhorn has a long history in European countries but is relatively new to ours. Its popularity in the states probably dates back to the fifties through the use of such well known names in jazz as Shorty Rogers, Kenny Baker, Clark Terry, Chet Baker, Miles Davis, Freddie Hubbard, Lee Morgan, Nat Adderley and Art Farmer. The purpose of the flugel was to give the player an alternative to the edgy, powerful trumpet sound. During the Bebop period (1945-1960) the trumpet was king, but when cool jazz started to gain a following in…

Which Comes First, Technique or Musicality?

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This question is much like the chicken or the egg issue. Which should be taught first? One camp believes that without technique, nothing can be played and the other camp asks the question “what good is technique if it isn’t musical”. Both have their cases and in this post I will try to bring the two sides to a happy mid point. Most of my early teaching was geared to the technical approach but as I increase candles on my birthday cake I must admit, all technique can have its disadvantages. One student who stands out as the most gifted…