Charles Brady passed away at age 72 on Tuesday, February 16, 2010 in Bakersfield, California. Mr. Brady was unusually humble for his accomplishments. He previously was principal trumpet with the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, DC. He also made one of the best recordings of L'Histoire du Soldat with Igor Stravinsky conducting his own work.

Buying A Trumpet Or Brass Instrument

Please email me if you are interested in buying or selling a Claude Gordon Selmer, Claude Gordon Benge trumpet. I occasionally have requests to help people locate these and will pass along names for free.

Trumpet And Brass Instrument Repairs

A professional level hand made instrument that is the quality above the usual mass produced assembly line instruments demands a quality repairman. The following repairmen are ones I have personally dealt with and watched as they produce precision, quality and beauty. They all go beyond the usual music store repairmen in that they have actual knowledge of manufacturing from the ground up and can build replacement parts if needed.

Rich Ita's Brass Instrument Workshop

Thirty years is a long time to play in a band let alone with the same horn section. Nevertheless, Lee Loughnane (pronounced Lock-nain) has done just that with the world-famous band Chicago. To my knowledge, no other horn section of any band has been together that long. Those of you who have been out there know that friendships have a hard time standing up to the rigors of road life. The staying power of this section attests to the uniqueness of their music and spirit.

Trumpet and Brass Playing Frequently Asked Questions

This is not meant to be a stand alone article, but to address questions from the first two articles, How To Practice and What To Practice, which should be read first.

Categories of Questions:

Instructions.

The Cornet is without contradiction one of the easiest instruments to play as regards the fingering, and one of the most difficult in regard to the Embouchure.

It bears some analogy to the human voice in its compass, and in the manner in which respiration is conducted. That is why it has on many occasions been styled the Tenor of the Orchestra.

The manner of learning to play it differs essentially from that in which any other sort of instrument is learnt.

In 1912 Herbert L. Clarke wrote one of the mostly widely used trumpet method books. It is still in use today by every serious professional and aspiring professional trumpet and brass player. The size of the book, 53 pages, is far outweighed by the volume of wisdom contained in just a few brief comments on how to use the book. This book however, like many books, has been subjected to reinterpretation. In the early 1980s the book was reprinted with translations into three languages (English, German, and French). At that time the English text was changed, possibly for easier translation.

The following is intended to show how to apply all the information covered in the first article entitled How To Practice. Since playing a brass instrument is a physical experience it is impossible for anyone to completely learn and understand the first article on the seven items until they have experienced them through daily structured practice. There will be those who “try” some things and then say that it does not work for them. The truth of the matter is that they never understood what they were “trying” to do.

How To Practice

How often have you heard that someone is a great instrumentalist because they are a “natural” and that “naturals” are rare? That is not true! Playing a brass instrument is easy if done correctly. Watch the best players and notice how easy they make it seem. By contrast, watch the many high school and college students turning red trying to play high notes. They try every gimmick known hoping they will discover “the secret.” They waste money and time on mouthpieces, instruments and other equipment.

“Don’t stop where I have gone!” said Claude Gordon to his students. That was the same admonition given to Gordon from Herbert L. Clarke. My previous three articles dealt with Claude Gordon himself, the content of his teaching, and how to apply it in a daily practice routine. This article is about moving forward in brass playing and teaching.

Claude Gordon and Herbert L. Clarke are two of the most significant names in brass playing history. They both enjoyed exceptional playing careers, authored books, designed instruments and had an enormous impact on professional brass players in their private teaching and through their books. Claude studied with Clarke ten years after moving the Los Angeles from Montana in the middle of the 1930s Great Depression. The content of their teaching was identical.

Claude Gordon and Herbert L. Clarke