[TPIN] Suggestons for high school trumpet players

[Tualatin Valley Brass]

Since I started this thread, I supposed it's time for me to "sound off" as 
it were. I'm one of those comeback players and reading your strong opinions 
helps me remember why I chose the trumpet in the first place. I like hanging 
out with people like me, bossy, opinionated, and obnoxious :) (BIG JOKE, 
sort of)

In thinking this through, the issue to me is the quality of student level 
"rental" trumpets. If they were of good enough quality to last through 
middle school and into at least the freshman year of high school, I'd 
definitely tell students to wait and not buy a better horn until at least 
their sophomore year, or until they showed unusual talent and/or potential 
and desire. I'm a big proponent of not letting equipment hold someone back, 
be it the trumpet or mouthpiece. I started teaching a new student recently 
by immediately switching him to a larger mouthpiece and his sound improved 
by 20% or more, and if I feel that a better trumpet is in order, I'll make 
that suggestion, but only after seeing what kind of talent and/or potential 
they have. If they are in high school and are serious, and are practicing an 
hour or more a day, and the parents can afford it, and it's not to have a 
cool new toy, then by all means bump them up.

Larry Beck
-----------------
Tualatin Valley Brass
tvbrass at gmail.com

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Robert DeSavage" <allegro6192 at comcast.net>
To: <tpin at tpin.okcu.edu>
Sent: Thursday, April 03, 2008 3:27 PM
Subject: Re: [TPIN] Suggestons for high school trumpet players


> Message: 8
> Date: Wed, 02 Apr 2008 23:08:14 -0500
> From: Dave Lee <davesjazz at sbcglobal.net>
> Subject: Re: [TPIN] Suggestons for high school trumpet players
> To: Tualatin Valley Brass <tvbrass at gmail.com>, tpin
> <tpin at tpin.okcu.edu>
> Message-ID: <C419C25E.AA65%davesjazz at sbcglobal.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
>
> I see (as a private teacher) this come up a lot....i think, for the most
> part many students (especially middle school and up to 11th grade or so)
> make decisions to buy "professional" horns for these reasons:
>
> 1) "the good players use pro horns"
> 2) parents want their children to be/have "the best"
> 3) the looks of pro horns (many in silver...many student models in 
> lacquer)
> are appealing
> 4) band directors sometimes push this transition
> ----------------------------------------------------------------
> Being a parent, I know the bit of line item 2 where I wanted my kids to 
> have 'the best'. Because I am of that nature, I certainly hope that this 
> would be the case for all good parents. But on the flip side of the coin, 
> parents can be 'too good' to their kids where they end up turning their 
> kids into snotty nose monsters. Case in point - A few years back when I 
> was delivering mail on my appointed rounds, I spotted some kids getting 
> off the school bus. One kid was carrying a Bach trumpet (I can recognize a 
> Bach case a mile away). To make a long story longer, when the kid's feet 
> hit the sidewalk, he dropped the horn case on the sidewalk from waist 
> level. I sounded him on it and asked him why he did such a stupid thing. 
> He was flippant about the whole thing when he told me that the horn was 
> 'just' a lacquered horn and that he'd get his old man (as he referred his 
> father) to buy him a silver plated Bach. Needless to say, I nearly had a 
> total meltdown and wanted to wrap the horn around his neck. If you had a 
> brat like that, would you be inclined to want to buy him 'the best'? Not 
> me! If anything, I'd buy him a pick and shovel ('the best' though) to 
> prepare him for a life that his attitude calls for. Lots of kids have it 
> made these days and don't appreciate it. To see a kid do that to a high 
> end horn is disgusting. Especially so being a middle class working man who 
> was playing on my 'hoopdee' 30 year old Getzen that was on it's last legs 
> with little in my pocket to buy a new Benge or Bach. Believe it or not, it 
> took me a long time before I was able to own a high end horn. Even though 
> I was married with kids, I have my parents to thank for that. One night 
> they paid a visit to where I was playing. During a break, I sat down at 
> the table with them. I remember my mother nudging me and asking me when I 
> was going to get rid of the (as SHE put it) 'piece of ****' I was playing 
> on and buy a new horn. Of course my reaction was "You must be kidding. My 
> daughters need braces." Lo and behold, a couple of days later my Dad 
> called me on the phone and told me to go to Coffey Music and pick out 
> whatever horn I wanted as a gift. I'll always cherish that horn and never 
> will I mistreat it like that kid did to his Bach.
>
> BOB D
>
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