Lynn Needham wrote:
> Hi TPIN'ers,
>
> Thanks for your
help regarding playing with style. My students are improving.
What you are requiring of them is absolutely essential! Unfortunately, so many young players are lead down the "funway", memorize a new tune each day from a "bandbook", path. I call this the "garage band" syndrome. In this scenario, many children are herded into a "band" class ENTIRELY too soon. Sometimes I wonder how many talented children are never able to recover from such haphazard beginnings?? This procedure has the "cart before the horse".
The more you are able to keep the children occupied with the business of "learning to play the instrument" , the better off they will be. Here are some favorite phrases, which I use to constantly remind my beginning players.
> "Children - remember, you are playing a wind instrument!! Fill-up
> clear down to your toes - the amount of air you use to 'stay alive'
> isn't nearly enough"!!
"Remember, boys and girls - if we can't play our scales, what can we play??"
> Take a stopwatch to class and "time" their long tones. Believe
me,
> each child will remember his time, and be waiting for you
the
> following week - to see how much he has "improved".
VERY SOON - you need to get those neophyte players OUT of the C - G range - they should be able to play long tones, chromatically, down to the low F#. "Fill up with air - make them 'sing'!" As these tones "enlarge" in strength and volume, notice how the tones above third space C will also begin to blossom.
Please don't talk about "high notes" and "low notes" with your students.
My teacher, Mr. William Best , always said that TONE and STYLE
are the last things to develop - but they CANNOT develop if the student
has not been given a THOROUGH grounding in the technical aspects of brass
playing.
> To those of you who are teachers, especially those who teach
> "beginning, classroom trumpet" : If you will email us privately,
we
> will send a complimentary copy of my GRIFTON SCHOOL AUDIO TEACHER
for
> Beginning Trumpeters - a book consisting of four lessons, with
a
> corresponding "call and response" cassette recording.
Thanks for listening,
Clyde