Jeanne,

I studied with Mr. Jacobs. The fact that he was a tuba player is immaterial to any argument regarding his abilities as a pedagogue. Have you studied with him? Have you attended any of his masterclasses? My approach to playing and teaching is driven primarily by his teachings and ideas. To me, they are the answer to everything. period.

I know that appears to be a ridiculous statement and a gross exaggeration at best, but I assure you it is true. You will find trumpet teachers/players all over the world who employ his teaching methods. Some don't even know they are his.. In many cases they are in a 3rd or 4th generation and still working well.. student of a teacher who was a student of a teacher who was a student of a teacher who was a student of Mr. Jacobs.

His teachings were not just about respiration either. No stone was left unturned when you studied with him. His methods regarding performance and the mental side of what we do are applicable and useful to ALL sorts of things humans do, including all aspects of performance and creativity.

I wish you could have been at the memorial concert last month celebrating his life. It was an incredibly touching event with highly emotional speeches from a few of his students and colleagues. All pointed out that he was much more than just a tuba player or tuba teacher. This has been documented over and over.

I also took a few lessons with Carmine Caruso and studied his method for years. I still use it with some students. Again, his approach was non-traditional, but it works for just about everyone if its taught correctly and done correctly and consistently. I know Carmine was not a trumpet player.. I may have this wrong, but i think he was a saxophone player of all things!

Even though there are two books out on his life and teachings, there are notes taken from his week-long master classes on the tpin web site. They are rough and somewhat repetitive, but there is pure gold in them. I use them and require my students to read all of it. Check it out:

www.tpin.org/pedagogy/jacobs.html

Michael