This past weekend, Emory University hosted the third annual Atlanta Trumpet Festival. I didn't attend as a participant, however I did watch each of the free concerts.

ABOUT THE FESTIVAL

The Atlanta trumpet festival is the brainchild of Kay Fairchild and her son David Fairchild. I've known about Kay Fairchild for a few years now, as she's a very well respected trumpet teacher in the Atlanta area and she's known for having some of the best students in the state of Georgia. A few years ago, Kay started the Atlanta Trumpet Ensemble as a way for her students to perform together at various regional events. The success of their trumpet ensemble prompted Kay and her son to try hosting a larger event for students throughout the Atlanta area. And thus the Atlanta Trumpet Festival was born.

The Atlanta Trumpet Festival has grown considerably over the past three years. The first year they had about 40 registrants, the second year they had about 60, and this year they had over a hundred registrants representing nine different states! Of the 100+ participants, about 25 were middle school students, another 60 were high school students, and about 25 more were adults (college and older). Each of these three groups met for ensemble rehearsals and performed on the final day of the festival.

In addition to the ensemble rehearsals, the registrants also participated in master classes with the festival's clinicians. This year the clinicians included Michael Anderson, Mark Clodfelter, and Vincent DiMartino. The three clinicians participated in both of the free concerts and on the first night they were accompanied by the outstanding Georgia Brass Band.

FINDING INSPIRATION

As I mentioned earlier, the festival registrants performed in their respective ensembles (middle school, high school, adult) on the final day of the festival. Prior to the performance, Kay Fairchild mentioned that none of the participants audition for parts. Instead, they are free to choose whatever parts they want, with the understanding that they'll switch parts for each tune. In other words, if somebody selects the first trumpet part on one piece, they'll need to play second, third, etc on the other.

Kay went on to explain that the decision to forgo auditions arose from something that happened during the first year of the festival. That first year, a trumpet player who was relatively inexperienced found himself sitting next to and playing the same part as a couple of all-state trumpeters. In his school, he would never have played the same part as the better trumpeters. In fact, he probably wouldn't have been in the same band class. But, since he had the opportunity to meet these players and play by their side during the festival, he became inspired to improve. With a new sense of determination, he practiced more and steadily rose through the ranks at his school, making his way into the top band. I couldn't quite hear the end of this story, but I believe he is now studying music at the college level.

One of the clinicians, Vincent DiMartino, shared another story about inspiration with the audience. Back when he first started playing the trumpet, he had the opportunity to see Louis Armstrong live in concert. Somehow he made his way back stage, hoping to get an autograph. When he knocked on Louis' dressing room door, not only did Louis give him an autograph, but he also spent twenty minutes talking with Vincent about music and the trumpet. During those twenty minutes, Louis Armstrong gave Vincent enough inspiration to last a lifetime. Vincent hit the practice room like never before and, as many of you know, he went on to become a top lead trumpeter and soloist, performing with numerous big bands, including the Lionel Hampton Band, the Clark Terry Band, and the Chuck Mangione Band.

While listening to these stories of inspiration, I couldn't help but think of the first time I really became inspired to improve as a trumpeter. It happened during my second year playing the trumpet, when I was in eighth grade. That's the first year I was accepted to all-state. At all-state, we listened to the top high school band and I couldn't believe how good they were. One piece in particular blew me away. I forget the name now, but I think it was "Scottish" something. It has a long trumpet solo and it goes up to a C# which is pretty rare for high school trumpet parts. Anyway, after I heard how awesome that piece sounded, I knew I needed to practice more. For the first time, I was really inspired to improve and that's when I increased my practice schedule to one hour every day (I'd later increase my practice time to 3-4 hours a day). And guess, what? not only would I go on to make all-state every year throughout high school, including all-state jazz band during my senior year, but I also ended up playing the solo trumpet part on that same "Scottish" song just a few years later!

What I'd like to emphasize here is that regardless of your skill level, there's always somebody who can inspire you to take things to the next level. And it's those experiences that we should pursue because they push us to be better musicians and better people.

Speaking of inspiration, it was clear that Vince DiMartino was an inspiration to the clinicians and adult players. During DiMartino's solo performance I glanced over at the other clinicians and they were grinning ear to ear as he effortlessly played the loudest and fattest high notes I've ever heard live. And it all came full circle as DiMartino seemed genuinely inspired by the fantastic effort put forth by Kay Fairchild and David Fairchild to make the trumpet festival a reality.

I'd LOVE to see an event like this for jazz!

BEHOLD, THE POWER OF THE TRUMPET

If you're a regular reader of my jazz blog, you know I'm passionate about jazz improvisation and the creativity and personal expression it affords. I'm definitely not a trumpet screamer type, nor do I really identify with the "trumpet geek" ethos. But, with that said, I must admit to a certain degree of trumpet pride when the high school group of 60 trumpeters took to the stage. Before they played even a single note, the woman next to me put her hands over her ears and said quietly to herself, "sixty trumpeters, oh boy"...

ADDITIONAL READING

All of my Atlanta Trumpet Festival reviews: 2006 - 2007 - 2008 - 2009 - 2011 - 2012 - 2013

All of my anniversary articles: 2 years - 3 years - 4 years - 5 years - 6 years - 7 years - 9 years - 10 years - 11 years - 12 years - 13 years - 15 years

I recently completed my 4th year of playing the trumpet since returning to the instrument, so it's time to add another "anniversary" post to my jazz blog.

RANGE, ENDURANCE, PRESSURE

If you've been keeping up with my journal entries, you know that I've been struggling with range ever since I started to play the trumpet again. Two years ago, I wrote that an E at the top of the staff was the highest note of my comfortable range. Last year, my comfortable range expanded to a G at the top of the staff. Well, I'm pleased to report that the trend has continued (in minor thirds!), as this year my range has expanded to a Bb above the staff. You can hear a few of those Bb's and A's in my recent jazz improvisation clips.

My endurance has also improved during this past year. About a year and a half ago, I could barely play more than 15 or 20 minutes before I needed a rest. Not only would I need to rest, but also my range would drop down to an E at the top of the staff unless I rested for at least a couple of hours. Now, I can play about 20-30 minutes before resting and I only need a short 20-30 minute rest before most of my range returns. Since I rarely have more than 20 or 30 minutes free at any given time, especially during the week, my present endurance level suits me just fine.

No doubt, a major factor in my improved endurance is my use of less mouthpiece pressure overall. Sure, there are times when I'm improvising and I use a lot of mouthpiece pressure to nail a high note, but for the most part I've been good about using less pressure. When my chops tire and I can't hit a note without increasing the pressure, I (usually) put my horn down and rest.

DAILY ROUTINE

My daily practice routine hasn't changed since last year, and since I've been steadily improving, I'm definitely going to stick with it. I may change parts of my routine as time goes on, perhaps to freshen things up or to add new challenges, but the basic types of exercises will remain the same. And that brings me to the following point:

Stick with your routine! - More than perhaps any other instrument, trumpeters are constantly looking for a quick fix to our problems. We want a higher range, a bigger tone, smoother articulation, etc... and we want it now. Often the "fix" manifests itself as an unending search for the right mouthpiece. Sometimes the "fix" has us switching trumpet methods, moving from Caruso to Adams, to Gordon, etc. These changes aren't necessarily bad, but I see far too many trumpet players moving from one thing to another without giving anything the time it needs to work itself out. So, unless a new routine is drastically ineffective, you should stick with it for at least two or three months before deciding whether or not to try something else. And, of course, with whatever you do, there's no substitute for practice!

EAR TRAINING

It's been almost three years since I've started to work on ear training and the progress has been steady and extremely rewarding. About a year ago, I was only able to do 4-note random melody phrases with my ear trainer, and even then, they were at slow tempos and I made LOTS of mistakes. Now, I regularly practice 7-note phrases at ~150 bpm and I'm able to play the majority of them perfectly, without looking at starting notes or anything. Similarly, my accuracy playing simple songs by ear has improved along with my ability to play along with jazz recordings.

Unfortunately, I still have bad days/sessions where my ear doesn't lock in well and I make a lot of mistakes. I've found that once I start making a bunch of mistakes, I rarely self-correct because my critical side takes over and I start doubting my abilities. Those negative thoughts prevent me from playing to my potential and basically the whole session is a bust. I've read The Inner Game of Tennis, The Inner Game of Music, and Effortless Mastery, so you'd think I'd be able to shut off the negative thoughts and get back to business, but no. It's sad when you realize Homer Simpson has more control over his brain then you do...

• Homer: All right, brain, you don't like me, and I don't like you, but let's just get me through this, and I can get back to slowly killing you with beer.
• Brain: It's a deal!

IMPROVISATION

Last year, I wrote that my journey with jazz improvisation was just beginning. I still feel that way, and it all revolves around ear training. As my ability to play by ear improves, so does my ability to play the ideas in my head. I'm constantly trying new things, making mistakes along the way, but edging closer and closer to finally making music!

In my ear training guide I discussed the dichotomy many of us face when it comes to singing and playing by ear. When singing, we can effortlessly match the pitches of any tune. We get the notes right, we blend in with the harmonies, we can sing improvised solos, etc… and we do it all by ear. On the flip side, when we pick up our horns, many of us can't play anything accurately unless we have written music.

While I don’t think anyone would argue with this reality, I do think there are many people out there who justify their inability to play by ear with the belief that playing an instrument is so complex that you absolutely must have written music in order to get the notes right.

Well, it just so happens that there is another fairly complex instrument that most of us can play with ease, and we can play it totally by ear. That "instrument" is whistling. The next time you whistle, think about the complexity behind each note. Even the simplest of melodies requires you to raise and lower your tongue to change pitches, alter the force of your breath to hit high and low notes, and move your lips to dynamically change the size of the opening/aperture. That sounds a lot like playing an actual wind instrument, doesn't it?

Since we've mastered the ability to whistle by ear, and since whistling shares many of the same mechanics needed to play a wind instrument (really, the only difference is valves/keys), then it stands to reason that we should be able to play by ear on our instruments with the same ease with which we can whistle. Of course, for many of us this is easier said than done.

Fortunately, the same things you did while learning to whistle can improve your ability to play by ear on your *real* instrument. When you learned to whistle, you listened to pitches, or you had a pitch in mind, and you adjusted your mouth until you were able to match that the sounds you heard. As time went on, your accuracy improved and you got to the point where you could readily whistle any pitch or melody by ear. Guess what? You can do the very same thing on your horn with the aid of my free ear training tools. And, yes, you really will improve your ability to play anything by ear!

I know it's been a little quiet around here lately, but that's because I've been using my free time to work on a new version of the ear training tool. It's mostly the same application that you're familiar with, however I'm now going to do the controls in HTML and just the staff and piano part in Java (and the midi sequencer, of course). Why the change? Well, the Java GUI has become too much of a pain when it comes to adding new features and moving things around. There have been plenty of mornings where I try to sneak in 15-20 minutes before work and I end up wasting the entire time wrestling with the layout. The change to HTML should make feature/layout changes MUCH easier.

Here are some of the features I hope to add to the new ear trainer over the next month or two:

• Ability to set the root note for all exercises
• Auto-timing feature that prevents the need to manually set and adjust the loop time and results-display time
• Everything can be modulated rather than just random melodies
• You can change from piano to any standard midi instrument
• Pre-set exercises that you can load with a single click
• Random melody exercises over chord accompaniment. I haven't started this yet, but it promises to be one of the coolest new features. In addition to standard chord progressions and melodies, I hope to come up with some inside-outside exercises that will train your ear to hear outside lines

If you'd like to relive the past, you can re-read my Learning to Improvise - Ear Training article. I made quite a few updates to it today as part of the editing process mentioned in the series introduction.

A couple of my (best) ear training articles are located in my Learning to Improvise series under the IMPROVISATION section of this jazz blog:

Learning To Improvise - Introduction: This article discusses my jazz education and the odd absence of adequate ear training.

Learning To Improvise - Ear Training: This is my main article on ear training and its importance in jazz improvisation. If you're going to read anything I write that discusses ear training, this is the article to read!

I also discuss my progress with ear training in my various "anniversary" articles.

And last but not least, you'll find a lot more ear training accompanying each of my free ear training tools.

I just finished reading "The World of Jazz Trumpet: A Comprehensive History & Practical Philosophy," by Scotty Barnhart. The book includes the history of jazz trumpet, interviews with several jazz trumpeters (Freddie Hubbard, Clark Terry, Wynton Marsalis, and more!), and suggestions for jazz trumpet performance, practice, and technique. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and would consider it a must-read for all aspiring jazz trumpeters. Heck, I'd even recommend it to non-trumpeters --it's about time you guys learn a thing or two about the most important instrument in the history of jazz!

While there are many books about jazz history, "The World of Jazz Trumpet" stands on its own thanks to the unique insight and experiences of the book's author, Scotty Barnhart, who also happens to be a professional jazz trumpeter and highly-esteemed educator. As a trumpet player, Barnhart knows precisely how difficult it is to play solos from the likes of Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, and Miles Davis. He knows these founding fathers of jazz were enormously talented and treats them with the respect and reverence that they deserve. Barnhart doesn't just want us to learn their history, he also wants us to appreciate these musicians and their music as much as he does.

As a professional musician, Barnhart has had the opportunity to meet and/or play with many of the legendary trumpeters that he writes about. These experiences are shared throughout the book, adding a personal touch to each history lesson and a glimpse into what these musicians were like as people. For example, one story explained how Dizzy Gillespie was due to play at the Atlanta Jazz Festival in 1990. Somehow, festival organizers failed to pick Dizzy up from the airport and he was stranded. When Dizzy finally arrived at the event, he was tired, hungry, and clearly upset about what had happened (I'd be awfully mad too if I was stranded at the airport at 73 years of age!). As Dizzy sat down for a quick meal, a photographer butted in and tried to take some pictures. Irritated, Dizzy told him in no uncertain terms to leave him alone. Soon after the photographer left, a young boy approached Dizzy. Rather than shoo the boy away as he did with the photographer, Dizzy perked up, welcomed him over, and even showed him a few notes on his trumpet! It's great to know that no matter how Dizzy felt, he always had time to reach out to young people to get them interested in jazz.

Since this book focuses on jazz trumpet, Barnhart delves deeper into the lineage of trumpet players than do most jazz books. For instance, most jazz history books don't talk about ANY professional female jazz trumpeters. Barnhart, however, devotes an entire chapter to them, and mentions several that I hadn't even heard of before. Once such artist is Clora Bryant and her album "Gal With A Horn". As I type this, I'm listening to her solo on "Tea For Two". Damn! If I didn't know any better, I'd think this was Dizzy Gillespie soloing. Thanks to Barnhart, there are quite a few other musicians and albums I'm going to be checking out over the next few weeks. I feel like a whole new jazz world has been revealed!

After the history and interview sections, Barnhart devotes a few chapters to trumpet playing. Topics cover everything from playing in a big band (Barnhart is a featured soloist in the Count Basie Orchestra) to how to play with a plunger. Each section is informative and valuable to any aspiring jazz trumpet player. Once again, Barnhart's own experiences as a trumpet player and educator add value to the content. He knows his stuff!

As should be clear by now, I really enjoyed this book and especially Scotty Barnhart's stories and writing style. I thank him for sharing this with all of us and I encourage you to read it.