When you practice, you develop muscle memory or reflexes. These reflexes are what you draw from when performing or playing music. When you are playing music, you do not have enough time to think about all of the physical mechanics involved. You can only think about the music...what you sound like. The reflexes that you draw on while playing are developed during the practice session. Everything that you play builds reflexes...good ones and bad ones. While practicing, you must be careful not to build undesirable reflexes. Practicing while tired (mentally or physically) can lead to bad habits or reflexes being learned.

Mark van Cleave

Syllabus

Four Year Course Outline

A Trumpeter's Listening List

A Trumpeter's Reading List

Downloads

Puget Sound Brass Camp  

Gabrieli Consort

Studio News

Performing

Recordings/Publications

Curriculum Vitae

Each student comes with their own strengths and weaknesses, so the Four Year Outline can serve only as a rough guide. Listed texts cover only technical material; solos, chamber music and orchestra excerpts are too individual to make broad generalizations and are, therefore, not included.

Freshman Year

Texts:

1. Clarke, Technical Studies
2. Colin, Advanced Lip Flexibilities complete
3. Scott, Building a Daily Routine

Goals:

1. An understanding of efficient tone production based on solid breath support.
2. Clean articulation on one repeated pitch: single or multiple tonguing combinations.
3. An introduction to transposition.
4. An introduction to musical line and phrasing.
5. Fluency in all major keys.

Texts:

1.        Charlier, Trente-six Etudes Transcendantes

2.        Clarke, Technical Studies

3.        Colin, Advanced Lip Flexibilities complete

4.        Scott, Building a Daily Routine

Goals:

1. Complete establishment of efficient tone production based on solid breath support.
2. The ability to sight read easy whole step transposition, begin half step transposition.
3. Clean articulation on step wise motion: single or multiple tonguing combinations.
4. Fluency in all major keys.
5. Fluency in all minor keys.
6. The ability to create effective interpretations of traditional phrase period structures.

Texts:

1.        Charlier, Trente-six Etudes Transcendantes

2.        Chunn, A Trumpeter's Daily Routine

3.        Clarke, Technical Studies

4.        Colin, Advanced Lip Flexibilities complete

Goals:

1. Use of efficient tone production in complex musical situations.
2. Clean articulation over difficult intervals: single or multiple tonguing combinations.
3. Transposition down one half step, and up a major second, perfect fourth, perfect fifth.
4. Fluency in all major keys.
5. Fluency in all minor keys.
6. Lip trilling.
7. Interpreting complex musical situations:  elided, partial and shared phrases.
8. Participation in chamber music.
9. Performance on C trumpet or piccolo.

 Texts:

1.        Charlier, Trente-six Etudes Transcendantes

2.        Chunn, A Trumpeter's Daily Routine

Goals:

1. Complete establishment of efficient tone production based on solid breath support.
2. Clean articulation in all circumstances: single or multiple tonguing combinations.
3. Transposition up a major second, major third, perfect fourth, perfect fifth, down a half step, and up a tritone.
4. Fluency in all major keys covering two octaves.
5. Fluency in all minor keys covering two octaves.
6. Performance on C trumpet or piccolo.
7. Participation in chamber music