Date: Mon, 09 Nov 1998 09:09:07 -0600
From: Eddie Lewis <tigerlew@flash.net>
Subject: Re: Question- Method books

If you're on a tight budget ($30), then I would recommend the Arbans. A few months ago I sat down and figured out how much some of the different method books were, per page. In this way, the Arban book is the best value going.

Here's a list that I put together of a small selection of books. It shows how varied the prices can be, per page.

Tomasi          “Six Etudes pour Trompette”          $1.20/pg
Stamp           “Warm-Ups and Studies”               $0.43/pg
Sachse          “28 Studies”                         $0.37/pg
Voisin          “11 Studies”                         $0.37/pg
Snedecor        “Lyrical Etudes for Trumpet”         $0.25/pg
Vacchiano       “Trumpet Routines”                   $0.23/pg
Ricker          “Technique Development in Fourths”   $0.21/pg
Higgins         “120 Blues Choruses”                 $0.19/pg
Keller          “Sonny Stitt’s Greatest Solos”       $0.19/pg
Weiskopf/Ricker “The Augmented Scale”                $0.15/pg
Campbell        “Expansions”                         $0.15/pg
Blatter/Zonn    “Contemporary Trumpet Studies”       $0.15/pg
Ricker          “Pentatonic Scales for Jazz Improv.” $0.13/pg
Carley          “Woody Shaw Jazz Trumpet Solos”      $0.12/pg
Farmer          “The Art of Art Farmer”              $0.11/pg
Various         “Master Works for Trumpet”           $0.07/pg
Arban’s                                              $0.06/pg

Looking at this chart, I would also recommend "Master Works for Trumpet". This is a collection of four or five different etude books into one book. If you'd like publisher info and such, contact me personally.

Also, depending on where you are in your progress, I would recommend:

Getchell - First Book of Practical Studies

and

Potag - Preperatory Melodies for Solo Work

These are the two etude books which I use with my jr. high and early high school students. No, they are not that standard staples, but they progress in a more graduated fashion, making it easier for the students to see the benefits of their work.

- --
Eddie "Tiger" Lewis
tigerlew@flash.net
Houston, TX
http://www.flash.net/~tigerlew/gcs/