The Language of Instrumental Teaching: How Words Shape Attention, Physical Response and Musical Performance
In one-to-one instrumental teaching, the language used by educators significantly influences students’ attention, perception, and performance. This article discusses how specific wording can foster effective learning, encouraging students to focus on movement and musical intention rather than muscular exertion and anxiety. By examining language intricacies, teachers can aid student autonomy, creating internal dialogues that promote calmness and curiosity in…
Building a Successful Brass Practice Routine: A Teacher’s Guide
As brass teachers, one of our greatest challenges is helping students practise effectively rather than simply spending time with their instrument. The best practice routines are not necessarily the longest; they are the most consistent, focused, and purposeful. Over more than two decades of teaching young brass players, I have found that successful students tend to share one common…
Mastering Trumpet Articulation: The Power of Articulated Air
So, what does Articulated Air mean? Some teachers may refer to articulation or tonguing as an isolated discipline in trumpet playing. The reality is that everything comes back to the way that we control our flow of air through the trumpet. This is nothing new, of course, we know that the air is what fuels the machinery of our music-making. So…
The Carmine Caruso Legacy
I think that the concept of a saxophonist and former violinist becoming one of the most well-respected and well-known trumpet (and brass) teachers is a fascinating one. His callisthenic approach will be well-known to many readers through his publications, but in addition to this concentration on the physical synchronisation of different muscle groups, he also built a reputation on…
Home Recording for Trumpeters
Over the past few months, many of the articles that I have worked on and industry pros that I have interviewed, emphasise how working life has changed drastically since the start of 2020 lockdown. With that in mind, it would be great to explore how we can successfully manage our recordings remotely now that we are all having to…
Achieving a classical recording sound at home
I decided to put finger to keyboard after recently coming across a sudden abundance of home recording advice and expertise online, some of which is often counter-productive when trying to create a natural-sounding recording of your voice or instrument at home. There is a lot of great post-lockdown advice on the technical stuff, setting yourself up with a good…
Production Music
Trumpet
The Audio Concept 