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Read it in 3.5 mins • Listen to it in 3 mins Trumpet Headquarters · Blog #17: How to Improve Your Dexterity on the Trumpet Why you need faster fingers In my years teaching the trumpet I’ve had many students who pick up the instrument with many beliefs, one of them being that it willRead more

Range on the trumpet is widely known to be a hot topic and a difficult, for most, skill to master. But why is it so elusive? Why do some new players “just know how to how to do it”? Let’s dive in and see where you may be going wrong.

There are so many more Black female brass players, covering the full spectrum of musical demand from classical, to jazz, composition and more. It is our duty as musicians to collectively point the spotlight where it is deserved, to inspire young Black women, to help them see the possibilities, so that in due time we may stand together as one.

If I had a penny for every time a new student has said the words “I want to play longer but I get tired really fast,” I’d have my own island in the South Pacific by now. It’s a question I also receive through email from social media followers and my students from the THQ Trumpet Lessons Online program. Basically, it’s a very common concern and learning how to build endurance so you don’t get tired fast when playing trumpet is a must-know.

What’s that ticking noise? This might be the question your non-musical friends and family members ask when they hear the incessant clicking from your practice space. Knowing how to use a metronome is important, simple and very useful. This device, nowadays purchasable as a phone app, is a musician’s most trusted tool for inner rhythmRead more

Playing by accident I’m sure that at some point you have experienced an accidental success in trumpet playing. Such as suddenly hitting a high note without meaning to, or playing a perfect rhythm without even noticing. This is what I call playing by accident. When students routinely play by accident, they move through the motionsRead more

Impatience is your enemy For me, finding ways to dissect difficult passages in music has become a habit and I will share three ways to practice a difficult lick with you. But first, let’s talk about patience. If there is any one area I could say almost all of my students over the years haveRead more

Get better at sight-reading with these tips Last week we talked about why sight-reading is an important skill to have. This week I will let you in on the simplest, yet most effective techniques to up your sight-reading game. Sight-read a little daily Although sight-reading should be fairly easy at the beginner/intermediate levels, the majorityRead more

Let’s face it, developing sight-reading skills is tough and this is why most people ignore working on the skill. Most beginner and intermediate players see it as an “extra” skill that can be cast aside since they don’t really need it right at this moment. Let me tell why you should be sight-reading daily.

Sometimes you’ve been doing something for so long and you’ve dug a hole so big, that you have to work 20 times harder to get out and never fall back in. But like an old teacher once told me, do something everyday for 3 weeks and you will be on the right track. Avoid these bad habits and watch your playing grow.