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 he asked me if I had read the list of “Do’s and Don’ts” at the beginning and I was embarrassed to say I had not read that section. Like most men, I never read the instructions when starting a new project. After reading these suggestions, I felt obligated to share them with you for we all need a little humor these days.
I am in no way condemning nor concurring with any of the following statements, just read it and enjoy these historic suggestions…….
Don’t
puff out cheeks.
sacrifice tone for technique.
forsake the remote keys.
keep playing the things you are familiar with.
forget to play a few long tones before starting a job.
allow “high C” to be your “lord and master”.
pinch your tones, blow free.
retard your progress by smoking; if you MUST smoke, do it moderately and shun liquor and cigarettes as you would a rattle snake.
tire your lips by trying to see how long can you play without stopping; that’s “penny wise and pound foolish”.
practice seated, if you MUST, then sit up straight, expand the chest and hold your instrument properly.
forget your stomach; a “good lip” is impossible with a poor stomach.
fail to stand before a mirror frequently, that you may see yourself as others see you.
forsake an exercise because it contains intricate passages- they’re the very things you need most.
ignore expression marks, slurs, ties, etc.
forget your scales- never allow a day to pass without playing ALL OF THEM.
mislead yourself by practicing after your lips have become tired. Rest frequently.
allow the little finger to touch the instrument; let it “move in sympathy” with the 3rd finger, which is the weakest, a ring on
a cornet/trumpet, unless used sparingly, is an obstacle to progress.
Due to the length of this list, I will have to continue in the next post. To give you just a taste of what’s to come, here is one of the more humorous…….
“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 advice”.
