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herpderp Veteran Member
Joined: 19 Jul 2009 Posts: 146
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Posted: Fri May 07, 2010 10:40 am Post subject: Have any of you studied with John Coppola? |
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http://www.marcinkiewicz.com/artist/john_coppola_page.htm
Have any of you studied with John? I have, back when I attended the Monterey Jazz Festival jazz camp/honor band.
I would love to hear some stories about him, and some thoughts as to his approach to teaching.
He had us do a lot of mouthpiece buzzing to warm up, and after the buzzing he would have us bend notes. The note bending really made a difference in my playing! I'm not sure why.
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trumq Veteran Member
Joined: 11 Apr 2006 Posts: 335 Location: san francisco
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Posted: Fri May 07, 2010 10:51 am Post subject: |
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I studied with John on and off for a while. I think it's been about 10 years ago now. We would always warm up with flutter tonguing between the mp buzzing and note bending. I still use that warm up to this day. He's a very funny, warm guy. He never watched the clock during lessons-I always had to schedule extra time when I was going. _________________ paul
Henri Selmer 80J
'63 Olds Studio
'55 King Liberty
King altonium
'47 Conn 80A |
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herpderp Veteran Member
Joined: 19 Jul 2009 Posts: 146
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Posted: Fri May 07, 2010 11:37 am Post subject: |
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Yeah I forgot about the flutter tonguing. What a great guy.
He was always incredibly generous with his time, and was very patient. I was never very good with the trumpet but he always thought the world of me. The only reason I played with the MJF honor band is because John wanted me in, the rest of the clinicians could see my playing was't up to par with the rest of the kids! John just knew I was serious enough about it to get better if given the chance. And boy did I get better!!!
I hope he is still doing okay. I should make the drive and get another lesson before it's too late! |
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trumq Veteran Member
Joined: 11 Apr 2006 Posts: 335 Location: san francisco
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Posted: Fri May 07, 2010 11:47 am Post subject: |
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Another thing I remember-if he wasn't satisfied with my breathing, he would take a sticker and put it on the bell of the trumpet where I would see it everytime I played. These would be stupid little flower and bunny type stickers. They would remind me to breathe everytime I played, and motivated me to remember so he wouldn't add more! _________________ paul
Henri Selmer 80J
'63 Olds Studio
'55 King Liberty
King altonium
'47 Conn 80A |
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raycabarga New Member
Joined: 02 Sep 2011 Posts: 2
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Posted: Fri Sep 02, 2011 5:31 am Post subject: He rescued me from mediocrity |
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John Coppola. My favorite trumpeter, no, my favorite guy, in the whole world. I paid him in cat food because he had 13 cats and I hated cat food. He taught me everything I know about the trumpet. He plays the trumpet like it doesn't exist. Like a kazoo. We used to trade fours and sometimes when it was his turn he hardly played at all. I learned that those were whole rests he was playing. I hit my first double high C while having a lesson with John and Tammy Ellis. We'd listen to his old 78 rpm of Barnacle Bill the Sh*thead (as it was sung by Joe Venutti) It was always a party with John. He invited me to Casadero camp one year and one evening there some friends and I were on our way out to grab some greasy food when we opted to stop in and see what John was doing for dinner. He was gnawing on a bell pepper and decided to go with us. Directing us down a small dirt road we came to a big old house that was a very expensive restaurant. My friends and I, between the three of us had enough for one meatball. John treated us all and spent more than I 'd paid him for lessons the whole year. I would love to see him now. BTW back then people called me "Op."
Also check out my humor blog "numbsain@blogspot.com"
Last edited by raycabarga on Sun Sep 04, 2011 5:52 am; edited 1 time in total |
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J_Mase Heavyweight Member
Joined: 15 Nov 2010 Posts: 525
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Posted: Fri Sep 02, 2011 11:12 am Post subject: |
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Come on, guys. Why all the harsh comments? _________________ Jeff Mason |
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Bill Ortiz Heavyweight Member
Joined: 02 Jan 2007 Posts: 904
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Posted: Fri Sep 02, 2011 11:19 am Post subject: |
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John was the greatest trumpet teacher I ever had-he helped me out with so many things when I studied with him right out of high school. Any success I may have had in my career is because of Mr. Cappola. _________________ '56 Martin Committee Deluxe #2 trumpet
14B Schilke mouthpiece
Couesnon Paris flugelhorn
Bob Reeves Sleeves and PVA |
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raycabarga New Member
Joined: 02 Sep 2011 Posts: 2
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Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2011 6:16 am Post subject: Me again to expound on John's greatness |
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Yes that note bending thing was really great and like most of what he taught me it seemed like magic formulas because I could never figure out why they worked so well but he made everything look so easy that you just felt you could do it too. I never questioned anything he said and just did it which was a little dangerous because he joked a lot. The first time the sheet music fell off the stand and he shouted "SAVE THE NOTES!" I got down and started looking for them. But he was nice and after about a half hour he told me they weren't down there and I could stop looking. I thought I'd found one but he said it was just a flea. But I digress. He told us about a way to strengthen the lip by simply going "ooh, ahh, ooh, ahh" over and over. Then he looked at me and said, "but don't do it on the bus or people might think you're crazy," or something to that effect. Turns out he was right. I'll never forget the time I went to see him play with a little combo somewhere, and I always carried my horn with me everywhere i went but I wasn't expecting him to ask me to play but he saw my horn and he DID! I played better than I ever had that night and he was pleased cause I didn't screw it up. Yeah he was the best and my life has been enriched by knowing him as a person and as a trumpeter.
equipment:
lips and fingers (original factory equipment)
A trumpet- shiny silverish.
valves=3
hole to spit into=1
hole for music to come out of =1
another trumpet-not so shiny, yellowish metal
valves=3 but one doesn't work so good.
same holes as above but I think there's another one somewhere cause it's pretty beat up and doesn't play very well that's why I got the new one.
Some things to stuff in it to make it quieter.
Last edited by raycabarga on Sun Sep 25, 2011 9:02 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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stevesf Veteran Member
Joined: 05 Sep 2010 Posts: 366 Location: San Francisco Bay Area
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Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2011 9:15 am Post subject: |
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John is the "go to" guy in the bay area. I have only had one lesson with him and that was a great experience. _________________ Steve Shults
Yamaha 6310Z - Bb Trumpet
Bach Strad 229/25H - C Trumpet
Yamaha 631 (rose brass) - Flugel
Warburton 4 series mouthpieces
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Know Music, Know Life....No Music, No Life |
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