2017 TMEA Region 24 Middle School Etudes

Here are this year's all region middle school etudes for Region 24.  TMEA Region 24 includes Frisco, Little Elm, Prosper and of course Plano where I teach.  I'll be adding some practice break down videos as well to help with your preparation.  If you have any questions about trouble spots please be sure to let me know.

Remember to never start from the beginning when you're learning new etudes.  Take them a few measures at a time from the end.  By the time you get to the beginning your favorite sections will be the last phrases.  Take things slowly.  Go slower than you think you need to.  Play smaller sections than you think you need to.  Record yourself often.  

Good luck!

-

It is foolish to practice groups of measure containing measures you have not yet learned.
 
 
 
 

It's Not A Daily Routine Unless It Happens Daily

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I am constantly battling with the conflict of two realities in opposition.  One the one hand, I have to teach trumpet truth to my students.  The simple truth is they will thrive on a daily trumpet routine when approached mindfully with good form every day.  I immerse them in this reality from their very first lessons, often at the young age of ten or eleven.  The opposing reality is that the high achieving kids with the most potential are likely the busiest.  Frankly...this is all of my students.  They are truly spectactular kids.  Especially true in their high school years, they are more often than not involved in Jazz Band, AP Classes, Athletics, Marching Band, Orchestra and any number of other cool collegiate application space fillers.  How to deal with the reality of their very real time constraints is a constant struggle for us on both sides of the learning equation.

The routine I'm demonstrating in the following two videos is the current evolution of 16 years of experimentation in around 70,000 trumpet lessons that I have taught.  In the first video I'm alone talking through my ideas and demonstrating while the second is with my new 11th grade student Grace in her very first trumpet lesson with me.  I love that it's her first crack at hearing these specific ideas and you can see how quickly she puts them into action.  She is VERY teachable. Her former teacher Bob Barnett who has moved was an expert at setting kids up right and helping them fall in love with the trumpet.

This brief routine can be accomplished in ten to fifteen minutes and goes a long way to allowing the trumpet player to start the day from scratch with responsive lips and a ringing tone.  Unlike longer routines I've experimented with there is less temptation to rush through and lose form and concentration.  I've walked through this sequence in about 150 lessons in the last two weeks and overjoyed with how the students have embraced their time with it.  Even on their busiest days they can do at least this.  Even if it's at the end of the day it will serve to help them end the day with response so their tomorrow is less difficult.  It is not a warm up.  It is not a warm down.  It is a routine.

If you have any questions about the hows and whys I'd love to hear from you.  I made these videos as a reference for my students but hope they can be helpful for any guests here as well.

- Phil

 
 
 
The Art of Learning
— Josh Waitzkin
 
 
 
 
 

Ten Great Gifts For Trumpet Players

If you're looking for something cool and also useful for the young trumpet player in your life here are some good ideas.  

1. Protec Trumpet Case with Mute Compartment

You bought your child a quality beginner instrument or maybe even a professional Bach or Yamaha trumpet. Unfortunately most of those cases aren't up to the daily wear, tear and abuse of getting back and forth to school every day.  I've had too many students to count who have used these Protec cases for years to protect their trumpets to and from school.  This particular case has a large internal storage compartment for mutes also.  There is plenty of room for them to store a straight and cup mute with getting them banged up.

Monster Oil is my preferred valve oil and I've tried them all.  As a bonus the company is run by it's three founders each of whom are all excellent professional trumpet players.  Read about them HERE.  In addition to making the best trumpet lubes, these guys run the most excellent BRASS CHATS series of interviews with the heaviest of heavy hitters in the trumpet world.  Go with the Monsters...Blue Juice is for Smurfs!

 

3. Monster Oil Trumpet Care and Cleaning Kit

Okay, you're impressed.  You love the monster's oil but your kid's trumpet smells like a dumpster on a hot day.  What do you do? Seriously though...keep that horn clean.  It's gross.  You wouldn't go months without brushing your teeth.  You wouldn't...right??

The monster cleaning kit has everything your young trumpeter needs to keep that horn cleaned and lubed on the inside and out.

I know, I know...There's an app for that.  You're right.  There are several.  I'm sure your little trumpeter would rather save that battery juice for Clash Royale and Instagram.  This small tuner has all the settings for both tuning and the metronome that you need.  The tuner sensitivity is great and the price is right.  I always have mine in my case ready to grab for my own practice sessions as well as while teaching.

If you've graduated past beginning trumpet class you'll be needing a straight mute.  Don't cheap out.  You'll just end up getting a better mute anyway.  Dennis Wick has been the go to straight mute sound with good pitch and response in all registers for decades.  Make sure you've got a way to get it back and forth from school safely.  This thing WILL dent and easily.  Check out the ProTec case I mentioned above if you need a good case.  By the way...you have heard Dennis Wick play.  He was the Principal Trombonist in the London Symphony Orchestra for many years.  You've seen Star Wars, right???

These don't have to be too fancy or too expensive but you do need one.  Propping up music with pillows and hunching over isn't going to cut it for long.  Gotta sit up nice and tall to fill up those lungs to play the King of Instruments!  I got this one when my 20 year old Manhassat stand finally looked like it had fallen off a dump truck.  Looks sharp and does a good job of counter acting the effects of the Earth's gravity on music.

So you got the straight mute.  It's lonely.  You know it...I know it.  You'll need a cup mute also and if you haven't guessed already Dennis Wick's is one of the best and has been for many years.  The cup is adjustable so you can choke in tight to the bell or move out farther to experiment with the tone color.  If you're studying with me you know we're going to be hitting the Arutunian with that nasty F# octave slur sooner than you think and you don't want some cheap funky cup mute with compressed octaves.

This stand's legs unscrew and store inside the stand so it can be stored in the bell of the trumpet in the case.  It was cool when I got my first one in 9th grade (1989) and it's cool now.  I've never knock a horn over on one of these stands and I've used them daily for almost thirty years.  Kids always feel super cool when they bring one to the lesson for the first time and are always bummed that they don't really need to bother with it in the lesson.

The conflict of a loving and supportive parent.  You want your child to be successful.  You want them to practice...lots!  Let's face it, lessons aren't cheap.  BUT...the sound.  Even the most talented of kids doesn't truly sound pleasant for the first couple years.  The pursuit of ease and beauty can be a slow crawl at the beginning.  Oh...and there's vacations.  Don't forget vacations.  

There are lots of practice mutes out there and most of them...well...they aren't worth the bother.  Too much resistance and horrible pitch.  I picked up one of these a year ago and it's actually useable without wrecking my chops.  I love it!

Recording yourself is one of the most important tools we have as trumpet players.  It doesn't matter if you're a beginner or if you've played for three decades like me.  I remember recording my trills on the Haydn Concerto when I was in 9th grade and being shocked to realize that not only was I playing enough notes in my trills, I sounded like I was spazzing out and getting in double the amount needed.  Don't even get me started on my vibrato in 9th grade!

This Mic is awesome.  It's a stereo mic and it plugs in to the lightning port of any iPhone or iPad.  Give yourself an advantage on all those emailed and uploaded playing tests in school.  Don't settle for the crummy compressed audio of a built in cell phone mic.  I used the previous version of this mic to record all of the Getchell Etudes on my youtube channel and just picked up this new version.  It smokes the old one.  I love it!

I hope this list is helpful.  If you're wondering what i consider "essential" for a young trumpet player. I would make a different list.

  1. Decent Trumpet
  2. Supportive and loving Parents
  3. Supportive and loving teacher
  4. Recordings and live concerts
  5. Friends that also have all of the above 

All of the things I've listed are super helpful but nothing can top support and encouragement at home.  Oh...and reminders to prepare for each and every lesson like they matter.  That too!