Taught by renowned trumpet player
Chris Gekker
There's a tremendous amount of nuance when it comes to playing loud and soft on the trumpet. In this course, Chris Gekker traces a progression from the beginning student working on relaxed tone production, through the advanced soloist fine-tuning their soft playing, and everything in between.
Overview
Chris begins by describing why the trumpet is the most physically strenuous instrument to play, despite being one of the simplest from a physics perspective. He shares some cautionary tales when it comes to playing loud, and some analogies for visualizing tone production.
Relaxed tone production
In this lesson, Chris describes how simple, middle-register melodies at a moderate dynamic are the best place to begin. He discusses simple exercises to work on for control over tone and dynamic range.
Wider dynamic ranges
This lesson is for the student who is starting to get serious about the mechanics of loud and soft playing. Chris starts by suggesting simple soft material to practice, as well as how to think about dynamics in various contexts, from classical to jazz.
Intelligent soft playing
More of our practice should be spent dealing with playing soft than with playing loud. Chris provides a roadmap for how to build a strong foundation from which to play soft with stability.
Extreme Dynamics
The trumpet's upper register is unique, and it's especially effective when combined with an extremely loud dynamic! Chris sheds some light on how to conceptualize lead trumpet playing in a big band, and avoid the risks.
Click here to download the course workbook PDF and see the full syllabus →Chris Gekker has done everything a trumpet player can do – from playing Guest Principal with the New York Philharmonic to lead trumpet in the Count Basie band to playing with the American Brass Quintet for eighteen years – and everything in between.
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