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Hi all

Thought I would be the first. My name is Phil, I live in the UK. I have played ukulele for many years but wanted to play something a bit more socially so I joined a local brass band. I went to join the week before lockdown so I have not been back since. They lent me a baritone but I wanted to be able to plays solos etc so I hired a cornet. For some reason they do not play trumpet,not there sound I guess.
Then like everybody that is learning I went on you tube to find some instructions. I have picked up lots of info and think the actual physics of the instrument is very interesting. I have been doing level 0 warm up so far the easy one. I have also tried a few times to do a C scale but I struggle getting higher than F on the staff smoothly.

Anyway a short introduction I hope others join in.

Phil.

@philrab66 welcome Phil! I have many friends in the UK, all fine people. The company that represents me as an artist is a UK based company called Denis Wick Products. They make some of the finest mutes and accessories for brass. Also, traditionally, British brass bands only use cornets, never trumpets 🙂

My name is Gary. I live in Connecticut and i currently work part time in a gym. 
 Since the start of this horrible pandemic I decided to dust of my old Bundy trumpet that I haven’t looked at in about 53 years. Yes that’s right, it’s been that long. I practice every day and I have my good days and bad. At this point I consider myself a beginner to intermediate player. 
    I get stressed out with the upper register at times. I have a tendency to force to much air and as a result my lips and chops get tired quickly. 
     I’m looking forward to all the tips and communication with everyone !!

             Gary

Hi,

My name is Ulf and my username is "FLY".

I live in a small town called Lomma in the southern part of Sweden next to the Öresunds Bridge between Denmark and Sweden.

I'm 65 years old and I am married with my lovely wife Lena. I have two children my son Ludde and my daughter Jenny..

Recently I get retired from my work as a geotechnical engineer.

In my youth I used to play the trumpet but this was 50 years ago. I had then a very limited range. The reason for this, I suppose, was that I have to much pressure from the mouthpiece on my lips. I haven't the right form.

Now that I am an senior citizen I have time to give the trumpet a new chance.

But this time I want to learn playing with a good embouchure so that I ultimately can play the high register without any effort.

I hope that we all can help each other so we get the trumpet basics right.

Best Wishes

/Ulf

Hello, I'm Richard and I guess I'm a returner to playing regularly as I'm now semi-retired.  I'm in the heart of Brass Band country in the UK.  Both, Black Dyke and Brighouse & Rastrick are no more than 7 miles away.  No resources like THQ when I first started learning about 50 years ago, but I've had some long gaps because of family and career.  No ensemble playing at the moment in the UK because of COVD.

I started on the beginner course, I guess I moved on quite quickly but I'm learning, and enjoying the site.  Estrela, you're obviously a talented trumpet player and teacher.  When I started we had no women in bands, it's staggering when you think about it.  Now we have fabulous female brass musicians such as Alison Balsom, Tine Thing Helsketh, and more world-class female trumpet players.  I've just discovered Ingrid Jenson, she's so musical.

In a UK brass band, the music can be very technical these days, constantly changing time signatures, diminished. augmented intervals.  However, I've found problems with basic techniques, so this site works well for me.

@garfreni0 Great to have you here Gary. I will be publishing a blog post on fast-setting fatigue soon and I hope that will help you! Welcome to THQ!

@fly Welcome! All the way from Sweden, very cool. It's never too late to pick up the horn. One of my private students is 76 and he is doing great! Feel free to ask any questions along your development, I will do my best to provide guidance.

@rbrier7 Thank you for the compliment, they're truly appreciated, and welcome to THQ! I agree with you, brass band music is some of the most difficult band literature. Strong reading skills are a must, fast fingers and a good range. Glad the site works for you and I look forward to your questions!

Hi Estela, looking forward to your Upcoming  blogs. I’m also enjoying the new forum!!

Hi.

My name is Rowland and I live an hour from Melbourne, Australia.

THQ provides the learning structure I need. Estela's approach is practical and immensely sensible. Though I'm probably not alone, returning to trumpet after a long sequester, the process is more difficult than imagined. It feels like I'm starting over again. For the first time, I'm consciously working at correcting long standing ingrained flaws in technique in a systematic manner.

@geoland welcome in Rowland! I’m glad to see you’re approaching the horn methodically this time around. Like I always say, you can’t fail if you don’t quit! Onward!

Greetings to. you all from Birmingham, Alabama. I'm happy to be here and am thankful that I ran into Estela Aragon via Instagram. I've searched the web over and can tell you that it's truly amazing to me how much information is here for a mere few dollars a month. I've played the Classical guitar for many years but have always had such a love for the trumpet. I still remember hearing Wynton Marsalis back in the 1980s ... I was amazed at his ability to squeeze the most amazing sounds out of his trumpet! Well, here I am ... in December it will be 2 years since I decided to take up the trumpet. I've only missed a few days of practice since then. I'm really looking forward to going through the lessons here. I think I will benefit in the review of the fundamentals and so am going to start from scratch here. I am looking forward to making some new friends here that I can discuss all-things-trumpet. I am originally from New York City but moved here to Birmingham in 1996 after returning from having spent 7 years in Papua New Guinea as a volunteer missionary.

I have three trumpets: Yamaha, Ambassador Olds LA (1953), Conn Pan-American (1951). My two favorite mouthpieces? My Schilke and my Monette MP.

I'm almost done with a "30 Days of Long Tones" using Maxx Schlossberg I'm on exercise 26 in the first section. I have played 45 to 60 minutes a day every single day. Amazing how much that has increased range and helped me to continuously sound cleaner in my playing.

Best regards,

Reinaldo

@reinaldo Welcome Reinaldo! It’s so great to have you here and I hope you will enjoy the course. I love the guitar too! It’s one of my favorite instruments. 

Just a couple tips; check out the “Getting Started” and “Best Practices” threads for some tips to get the most of your lessons.

If you have any questions along the way, please come to the forum. I’m happy to help!

-Estela

Hi Everyone,

My name is Edwin Michael and I live about 40Km from Pretoria, the Admin Capital of South Africa. I am  81 years "young".

I decided to take-up my Conn International trumpet again after many, many years, as a hobby in my retirement. ( Like a number of your other students.) I have also developed a very keen interest in music theory-an area that I did not spend enough time on when I played in a quintet band at school and for a few years thereafter. Fantastically interesting and complex.

I spend quite a bit of my time on the internet and fortunately, I came across Estela Aragon's sites. I also watched a webinar presentation by Estela on trumpet warm-up routines. (Guest on Positive Trumpeters Worldwide). After the 3-day trial and a few personal "stops-and-starts", I enrolled in her trumpet program.

My goal is to gain satisfaction and involvement in learning and playing the trumpet as well as I can, with the assistance of Estela's support structures. 

Regards.

@edwinoldham Hi Edwin. I remember you from the class 🙂 I'm glad you're here ready to fire up the horn! If you have questions or suggestions please let me know. Welcome to THQ!

-Estela

Hi there!  I have recently switched from euphonium to trumpet.  To be honest, I got sick of all of the maintenance that came with being a euphonium player! ha ha!  Plus, not fun to travel with at all.

I enjoy playing solos at church services and looking forward to sharpening my skills through this website.  Very excited to be here!

Joel Burley