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I have been preaching the same basic ideas to help trumpet players perform and improve quickly and consistently for a long time. It’s true that I have simplified and refined my ideas as I have become older and more experienced. It is exciting for me to now have the opportunity through the net to continue sharing information about which I think visitors to this site will be interested. It is my intention to periodically add articles to this section and answer questions, inspire and express ideas, and offer technical and musical advice based on my 40 plus years of playing, practicing and performing.

I prefer not to get into a long winded explanation about the working fundamentals of trumpet playing and the intricate balance of elements needed to successfully make it all work…..yet. Detailed discussion of those type of things will eventually follow but for my opening article at my website launch I simply want to tell you my personal performance mantra. Now a mantra is supposed to be secret and unique so perhaps this shouldn’t be considered a literal mantra. Maybe an axiom or a rule would be a better description but a mantra sounds much more mysterious and fun so I’m going to stick with calling it that.

So what is ‘it’?  My personal performance mantra? Simply, “Breathe and play the first note with a beautiful sound”.  Sometimes I shorten it to, “Play the first note with a beautiful sound”. Sometimes I shorten it further to, “Make a beautiful sound”. I have been know to inscribe that with my autograph as well. To me all three represent the same action, establish the same focus and distinctly contribute to my relaxation and consistency while ‘under fire’. The shorter sentences still remind me of the 3 elements in the first and longest mantra.

“Breathe” sounds almost fecicious as a request. Trumpet players should never forget the importance of learning to breathe deeply, automatically, consistently and in a relaxed fashion. Breathing should be practiced and noticed every day. I’ll elaborate on practice techniques, concepts and illustrations for breathing at a later date.

“Play the first note” also sounds like sarcasm. Of course we’ll play the first note. If we didn’t play the first note how could we ever play the second note and so on? That is precisely the point. Many, many instrumentalists ‘biff’ the first note of phrases or the note after a breath. That leads to frequent mistakes, lack of confidence and bad habits. Thinking about the ‘current first note’ where ever you may be in a piece of music will also keep you focused on present time which is the perfect place to be because you can’t  actually be in the past or the future so why try?! If this sounds nuts to you stick around ‘cause it gets better.

Which brings me to “Beautiful sound”. To me a beautiful sound, which implies great phrasing, nuance and interpretation along with personal uniqueness, is 99% of that which constitutes music worth hearing. To make a beautiful sound you have to play the trumpet correctly. You need to breath and you need to get by the first note. Am I starting to make sense?

“Breath and play the first note with a beautiful sound.” Such a simple idea sets the correct physical motion into action, focuses concentration and encourages relaxation all of which enable the music to emerge from you through your instrument in a natural and uninhibited flow. Consistency in sound and performance is the next inevitable result. Good endurance and confidence follow.  Emotion and musicality blossom in this settting. What more could one ask?  Stay tuned.