I have been asked to share some information on playing on a cruise ship. I have not played on one myself but most of my friends in Branson do it regularly so from what they have told me, I will try to share this information with you. The good side of cruise ship playing. 1. For a single person, it is a lot of fun. 2. The pay isn’t bad and the scenery is fantastic. 3. Living conditions on the boat are cramped. 4. The food is wonderful. 5. The shows are OK and lean towards the commercial side of…

3. Tune your band before, during and at the end of every rehearsal! The need to tune your ensemble at the beginning of a rehearsal is obvious but what about during your rehearsals and again towards the end. The more often you bring up good intonation, the more conscious your students will be aware of any changes in pitch. Changes in room temperature can alter a once in tune ensemble and even the size of the instrument will affect the bands intonation. Think about the amount of air and the length of time it takes a warm breath to fully…

Stop relying on your electronic tuner! Too many directors have continued to rely on the little tuning box and have forgotten or possibly never learned to used their ears. That statement reminded me of a Faculty Brass Quintet clinic we were giving in a small town in Iowa. One of the members of our ensemble was illustrating how we began our rehearsals and performances by first tuning up. We proceeded to play our tuning Bb and began making the appropriate adjustments to our instruments. When we asked if anyone had any questions, a very shy student spoke up “Do you…

1. You can’t tune your band to a tuba! Read…….. http://www.thetrumpetblog.com/why-are-we-still-tuning-our-bands-to-a-tuba/ http://www.thetrumpetblog.com/scientific-proof-tuning-to-a-tuba-can-be-hazardous-to-your-bands-intonation-2/ http://www.thetrumpetblog.com/continued-discussion-on-tuning-a-band-to-a-tuba/ http://www.thetrumpetblog.com/recent-comments-on-the-topic-why-do-bands-still-tune-to-the-tuba/ http://www.thetrumpetblog.com/continuing-discussion-on-why-do-the-bands-still-tune-to-the-tuba/

Earlier, I posted an article describing a fantastic brass quartet which I introduced as “Possibly The Best Quartet- Period”. Photo taken by Sasha Arutyunova After posting my material, I was lucky enough to get in contact with this ensemble and they agreed to answer a few questions I had about their group. Here are my questions and their responses- How did you all get together? We all grew up in Seattle, Washington playing music in the public school system. ​Seattle has an incredibly ecosystem and history of music education and we were all lucky enough to be immersed in that…

“I have had it with out-of-tune bands”! The more I listen to concert bands, the more I get upset and wonder where we have gone wrong in instrumental music. As my readers have learned, I am a very patient yet sometimes out spoken person. I try to understand other opinions and give most people the benefit of the doubt but in the case of poor intonation in most of our instrumental music programs today, I have had it! I have decided to face the reality that the instrumental programs for the most part in our country have failed our students…

To read more about this breakthrough, check out Here is what happens inside your body when you play a brass instrument.

When choosing these words, I have taken a lot of time to consider my final choice for one benefit of being old is that I have seen and heard many brass ensembles through the years. I have listed below many of the most outstanding brass ensembles and how they stack up against this relatively new chamber group. Established Brass Ensemble Westerlies New York Brass Quintet The Westerlies are more accurate Philip Jones Brass Ensemble The Westerlies have more dynamic contrast Canadian Brass Ensemble The Westerlies are a tighter ensemble (yes, tighter ensemble) Mnozil Brass The Westerlies are more sane Tine…