Musical expression is an individual‘s act of presenting internal thought and

feeling in an aural format at a given moment. This musical voice and art of expression is

one that must be found on an individual basis, but must be fostered and guided during its

development and manifestation. The most neglected aspect of trumpet performance in

young adults and students is the development of one’s own individual voice. This voice

comes from the internalization of an individual sound that reflects both a strong resonant

tone, and provides the player with the uninhibited facilitation to perform on their

instrument. This development of an internal voice and facilitation is learned in the

constant exposure to numerous performers’ sounds and modeling, as well as the

fundamental development of key technical and lyrical aspects in performance through

established methods and self-diagnosis.

As a teacher, I feel it is best to expose students to as many individual trumpet

voices and performance techniques at the earliest stages of their development. This

exposure will allow the students to begin to develop an internalization of certain aspects

of performance. This internalization of an individual voice will allow the student to

develop at a graduated rate in that his or her own production of sound will be constantly

compared and refined to meet that of their internal conception of sound. This process of

learning is similar to that of learning a foreign language in that the student is learning to

engrain a sound through listening and the reproduction of that sound.

Along with the internalization and refinement in one’s individual trumpet voice,

certain technical and fundamental elements of performance must be addressed in each

performer’s skill set. In my teaching I utilize various methods that focus on building a

strong foundation in a clear and centered tone as well as fostering a refined balance of air

and lip cooperation. This balance and focus on tone is the first step in each student’s

journey to discovering their own production of sound. Learning a strong connection of

air flow, and mouthpiece centered work will aid in the ease of performance throughout

the entire range of the trumpet as well as allow for an open and rich tone from the

performer.

The final aspect of practical trumpet performance that is absent in many young

trumpeters’ studies is a strong focus on teaching and analysis. Not only should the role of

a teacher be to present ideas and methods to develop a student’s abilities, but to also

foster a sense of self-diagnosis and problem solving. Asking questions that relate to how

the student perceived their musical product checks to see if they were cognitive of what

they wanted, and if that musical idea was being produced. This strategy allows students

to gain more from their instruction and improve as a player in an accelerated manner.

This engagement of self-diagnosis helps turn students not only into better, more informed

performers, but also stronger teachers for when they enter into the musical world as

colleagues.

It is with these three elements of pedagogy and instruction that I plan to develop

the musical interpretation and individual voices of trumpet players of all levels. Each

element should be focused and guided throughout a player’s development so that a strong

foundation in each methodology could be fostered. These elements help to create a player

that exhibits a natural and expressive tone with a strong sense of lyricism in their own

unique voice, but can also provide quality instruction and diagnosis to future trumpeters.