Introduction
Allen started this session by a more general talk:
Main points - that you can improve from new ideas, fresh approach.
Why do we play? Difficult to speak about. Has to do with things like
communication, emotion, be moved, calm state,....
Our job: Bringing together the trumpet player and the musician.
On the road with Wooddy Herman after more than 400 performances (with a wavelike up and down feeling), Allen asked him self: "I don't know if I can do it again - I don't have more to say. The rest is like factory work." He had the same feeling in stage- and film-music.
It's important to become consistent. More than 10 000 people out there can play double high C all days - but they have nothing to say. Some try to teach you this skill, but it is the wrong idea - to be a noisemaker. In front of regular people: They don't care.
Sometimes Allen has had good experience when having bad chops. "My best solos when I was bad - more space - more melodic ideas".
Then he got out his piccolo trumpet and finished the introduction by playing the last movement from the Albrechtbergers Concertino.
The books
It was an idea from a very young age, that matured in 1989. Allen experimented
in 3 years with it. He felt that it was important to live with the material.
It is not (like young people often think) "a bible" - just an addition to
the trumpet literature. Was bored with the Arban/ Clarke stuff - wanted
more classical material. After publishing the book he got good response
from people.
He made an outline first. Among other things, he made the arpeggios in unusual combinations. When the publisher got the material they wanted to make it into 3 books: "Kid's want to put it in their cases".
- I can write duets, but I'm not Mozart. But it works.
- You need to have a lot of materials. Except for Bach's Partitas, I get bored by most of the etudes.
- Every note should be written out. Allen did that, by hand.
The layout
Each of the 3 have a table of contents (of all the 3 books), then the
same Warm Up section in all of them.
- My idea was to have some variety: A cycling of 7 days to get young students to play different exercises.
- The advanced etudes are easier that in my other books.
Book I (Technical Studies)
The Warm Up section was described and practiced during the opening
session Warm Up and Daily Exercises.
Allen went to the "Tonguing" part of book I. He demonstrated the use of "odd tonguing" (page 113). "Be aggressive with air, make air going".
Then he continued with the last section "Upper Register and Endurance".
This for us trumpeter "the famous" part, but it is not a subject by it
self. The fundament is good sound, a byproduct from regular practice. It
is the air speed that makes the notes go up. Tongue level and blowing harder
raises the pitch.
Play louder as you descend.
Before trying to work on this last section there is some aspect of your playing that you have to master like:
Why scales?
Book III (Melodic Studies)
Idea: wanted young students to play. Slow studies we often don't want
to play. After writing the book I feel I should have written more low notes
etudes and also more rhythmic etudes.
Duets: As a kid I loved to play duets. Used to tape myself and play along the other part. But a lot of the duets are boring (in parallel). Mine is not in parallel!
Advanced Etudes: Changes not like usual (e.g. C-Major to A-Minor, but instead C-Major to C-Minor) Etude no. 10 is material for the second movement of my Trumpet Concerto.
Being "Agressive"
During this session, Allen used the word "aggressive" several
times. What does he mean by that?