Trumpet Dynamics Podcast Interview of Jeff Purtle

What Would Claude Say?

Answers from the personal notes and lectures of Claude Gordon

Question of the Month Subject: Gadgets and Gimmicks...do they work?

"If you think for one moment that a gadget or a gimmick will make you a good brass player you are in deep trouble. And yet, you see them advertised over and over again in popular brass magazines.

Homestead

The demands of working in Hollywood and being homesick for Montana's blue sky and tall trees prompted the Gordons' to choose a permanent home site in the San Bernardino mountains. A small airport in the heart of the Big Bear Valley determined the location.

On January of 1999 the Claude Gordon Music Enterprise website was launched. The website went offline in late 2012 after the death of Eric Swanson, Claude's stepson, which was preceded by the death of Claude's second wife, Patty Gordon, in 2011. These are archived pages from the original site. Some of the content has been condensed, combined and summarized to show all the content on each page in an easy to find manner.

In this article two of the seven fundamental physical items of Brass Playing are going to be explained. This article is meant to accompany the article How To Practice. The article What To Practice also explains how to apply all the Seven Basic Items in a daily practice routine using the various known method books.

Harry Kim • Trumpet
Booking Inquiry: JP Management

HarryKimTrumpet.com for a complete list of credits

George Shelby • Saxophone
Booking Inquiry: JP Management

Yamaha Artist Page:   http://www.yamaha.com/artists/georgeshelby.html

My name is John Mohan and I was a student of Claude Gordon from 1979 until 1995, although I only studied part-time between 1987 and 1990 due to my being on the road as Musical Director and Trumpet Soloist for two different international Circuses during that time. I consider myself extremely fortunate in having had the opportunity to study with Claude, as I feel that his tutorship is largely responsible for my success as a professional trumpet player.

Read what these great artists say about Claude Gordon, his books, and his teaching. It really works for anyone that wants to learn to play correctly and it is the fastest way to develop as a brass player with strong fundamentals essential for a career playing any style of music.
________________________________________

I have known Claude for a number of years. I knew him as a great trumpet player and also a great teacher.

I think his new book should help everyone who is interested in being a good, strong trumpet player.

Claude Gordon trumpets are very special to me. I have exclusively played a CG Selmer trumpet since December of 1984, when Claude picked one for me, and I still love it. My goal with this page is to help players find these exceptional trumpets. They were modeled after the best Meha Besson Trumpets of the past, as played by Claude Gordon, Conrad Gozzo, and great players of that era. The leadpipe design on the CG Trumpets was designed by Claude in his work with Dominic Collichio, the famous custom trumpet builder of Hollywood, California.

The following scale sheets and musical vocabulary terms are for the South Carolina requirements used for All-State Band and Region Band.

Check www.bandlink.org for more info.

When shipping a brass instrument we must consider the fact that most cases don’t offer much protection with the exception of Walt Johnson Cases. Walt’s cases are superior in that they provide more protection between the instrument and the outer shell of the case. The interior of his cases are all foam and molded to the shape of each instrument as opposed to typical cases with a hard interior of wood and plastic. If the instrument is dropped or jolted very hard the instrument will be damaged from hitting against the inside of the case.

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: