Piccolo Trumpet is one of my favourite variations of the trumpet to play. It has a unique set of challenges both technical and musical.

One of the biggest challenges I faced when I started playing piccolo trumpet was pitching the notes correctly. I used the intervals section of the Arban’s Technical Studies for Cornet/ Trumpet to help fix this issue. 

Practising intervals like I describe in the video has helped me improve getting the right note, prevent splitting notes, improved my intonation and I have better endurance too. 

If you would like to improve these areas of your playing, watch the video and implement the skills into your practice.

You will find this exercise in the Arban’s Technical Studies for Trumpet Book. Available from this link. https://amzn.to/2Q2CB51

If you would like to know more about how to play piccolo trumpet sign up for early access to my course “Getting Started With Piccolo Trumpet”. Find out more from this link. https://www.learntrumpetnow.com/gett...

I stumbled across an actice written about Rafael Mendez. As one of my favourite trumpet players of all time I found it quite interesting. 

If you have not heard of Rafael Mendez he was known primarily for his unique sound and phenomenal articulation (speed and clarity). 

In the article it talked about how Mendez was able to achieve such an amazing double tongue. Interestinly Mendez mentions he spends months practising double tonguing very slowly before he tries it fast. Check out the video and give it a go in your practice at home.

As Always,

#HappyPractising

Tonguing is such a vital part of playing the trumpet and often one of the most neglected.

In this video I offer 3 tips that will help you tonguing on the trumpet when implemented correctly. 

1. Take a deep breath

2. Sing the correct syllabul

3. watch the video for tip No. 3

In this video I am using 1 of the exercises in the Allen Vizzutti method books. You can get a copy of the book at the link below.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/073...​

As Always,

#HappyPractising

One of my students has made it from Beginner to 7th grade in just 2 and a half years!!! He isn’t a naturally gifted musician and he doesn’t practice more than an hour per day. He does however share 6 common qualities that all of my best students poses. 

Which of these qualities do you have? Which would you like to have?

As always,

#HappyPractising

Note bends are one of those exercises we are constantly told is beneficial for our playing but have you ever wondered how they’re good for our playing?

The main reason note bends are beneficial for our playing are because they help limit unnecessary tension of our lips while playing trumpet. But knowing this doesn’t help us use them in the right scenarios. In this video I show you how I use note bends to help me change between different variations of the Trumpet. The Piccolo Trumpet and the B flat Trumpet. It also comes with a FREE exercise so you can play along. just follow this link to get the exercise https://learntrumpetonline.mykajabi.c...​

As always,

#HappyPractising​

Playing the piccolo trumpet correctly is a lot of fun. Playing piccolo trumpet incorrectly is a lot of pain and suffering. In this vlog I offer a few tips on how to play piccolo trumpet correctly so you can have as much fun playing as I do.

If you would like to get more out of your practice check out my free guide Play Like a Pro on the side.  https://learntrumpetonline.mykajabi.c...​

As always,

#HappyPractising

I’ve played trumpet my entire life and the one phrase that has been consistent in that time is “Bach is the only trumpet for professionals!”. 

Because I heard this from soo many musicians that I looked up to I thought I needed to play Bach Trumpets. So for years I only played Bach. I had a couple of really nice B flat Bach trumpets that I loved and enjoyed playing but when it came to C trumpets.... Well thats another story. I fought my Bach C trumpet for years. I made all of the modifications that everyone told me to make. C shaped tuning slide, Heavy valve caps, 25H leadpipe you 229 bell. You name it I did it. But none of it helped. I was still fighting this trumpet. Eventually I tried the Stomvi line of trumpets. Instantly I fell in love with them. I made the switch first with my C Trumpet and sounded great. Then I made the switch with my B flat. 

I created this video to display how similar both of these trumpets sounded with me playing them. Both of these trumpets make the so...

Performing music to an audience is always one of the most wonderful feelings. Performing a beautiful solo in our ensemble makes it soo much more enjoyable. For a brief moment its all about us. ( A good way to feed that trumpet player ego lol). While you’re performing your solo, It’s going really well an then at the peace of the solo there it is. The dreaded split note! Frustration kicks in and the end of the solo is a mess. Split notes are a common part of playing brass instruments. Sometimes they’re unavoidable but we can certainly do plenty in the practice room to prevent them happening. 

I use this exercise that can be found in the Arban “Bible”. It’s a fantastic exercise and approached this way and you will improve your hit rate and lower the split rate.

If you don’t have an Arban technical studies book for Trumpet/ Cornet you can get it from the link below.

https://amzn.to/2PDc5yO

If you would like to get more out of your practice check out my free guide Play Like a Pro o...

If breakfast is the most important meal of the day, the Warm-up must be the moist important part of our daily trumpet playing. 

For many years I have experimented with different warm-up routines. I continue to come back to the James Stamp book and his pedal tones exercises. I really enjoy these exercises however, it’s important to approach them correctly. If you approach pedal tones correctly they can be incredibly beneficial for your playing. Approach them incorrectly and they can be detrimental.

In the words of Pierre Thiboud, “Pedals help shape the embouchure”. Watch this video to find out my approach to the James Stamp pedal tones exercise and how I implement them into my warm-up.

If you would like to get more out of your practice check out my free guide Play Like a Pro on the side.  https://learntrumpetonline.mykajabi.c...​

As always,

#HappyPractising