Fun book of solo pieces for high school trumpet player?

[Blackquill]

My nephew plays trumpet in his top high school band, but I'm not sure of any good trumpet solo books? Like, pop music or movie music or video game music would be good, or anything they might find fun. (This is aside from standard solo pieces like Haydn trumpet concerto of Geodicke's Concert Etude.)

The problem is that many of these books are designed for people who have played for two or three years, but he's played for five years and is about as good as your standard first chair player in a high school band.

Any help would be appreciated.
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Trumpet is for extroverts only... no, wait... Trumpet is also for introverts who need an avenue for extrovertism!

[Jonstnfr]

Not sure of any books in particular that fit exactly what you're looking for but I would highly recommend checking out minus one/play along stuff on youtube. Especially if you have an ipad or computer that is easy to read off of these can be great. There is plenty of stuff on there ranging from well known classical standards like Haydn, Arutunian, etc. There are also plenty of pop and jazz play-along as well. My personal favorite is probably Trumpet Records but they seem more classically focused. This would be a good way to figure out if you like a piece before committing to purchasing it!

[Dayton]

I don't know of any collections quite like that. But here are a few collections that might be worth considering.

John Walker's "The Trumpet in the Attic" contains 20 brief pieces in a wide variety of styles at the intermediate/late intermediate level. It was published in 2015, so is reasonably contemporary.

The "Rubank Book of Trumpet Solos: Intermediate Level" published by Hal Leonard also offers a range of styles at the intermediate/early intermediate level, but is more dated.

The "Trumpet Stars" collections 1 & 2 by H.A. Vandercook, and Voxman's "Concert and Contest Collection," also published by Hal Leonard, are along the same lines,

Allen Vizzutti has a few collections worth noting: "20 Dances" (1999), "Concert Etudes" (2008), and "Trumpet Sonority" (2007). They're largely at the intermediate level and offer a range of styles.

Charles Reskin's "Intermediate Trumpet Outings" (2011) and "Advanced Trumpet Outings" 1 & 2 (2007/2011) are etudes but you can think of them as unaccompanied solos in a wide range of styles.

The "Winds of Change" collection (2021) from Diversify the Stand offers 12 progressive solos, beginner to advanced. There are some really nice pieces in the collection.

As an alternative to solos, Phil Collins' "Pops Orchestra" is a wonderful collection of first trumpet excerpts in a range of styles (from nonexistent lengthier orchestral pieces). Edit: I should note that this Phil Collins is the former principal trumpet of the Cincinnati Symphony, not the former drummer for Genesis.

"John Williams: Signature Editions for Trumpet" is a collection of first trumpet parts for some of Williams' most famous movie music.

[Craig Swartz]

Why not start him off on some Jamie Abersold stuff? So it's not "classical/traditional band/wth ever" but it will allow him to become creative and playing along with the combo recordings should help ear in many respects.

There is also the Make Music/Smart Music platform that offers thousands of options, from concert band to solos to jazz and beyond. Get him a subscription to that.

Both platforms are available online, which can also be a plus in remote areas. You shouldn't ahve any trouble finding the resources with a simple internet search. You were able to find this site...

I know if those 2 platfroms had been around during the 1960s when I was in Jr High/HS, I'd likely have made trumpet a fairly lucrative career. I was able to play pretty much anything by ear even at 11, the school stuff we played, even in a nationally recognized music program HS was not much of a challenge.

I'm sure others around here can/will suggest other online options as well.

Good luck.

[Blackquill]

Thanks for all the ideas. Some of these are pretty cool, especially the Phil Collins and John Williams ones. I'm sure he'd like to play those (plus it would catch the attention of other trumpters in the band), even if some may be really difficult.
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Trumpet is for extroverts only... no, wait... Trumpet is also for introverts who need an avenue for extrovertism!

[kehaulani]

You might also look at the graded solos from ABRSM .
https://us.abrsm.org/en/

Scroll down this page:
https://us.abrsm.org/en/our-exams/exam-syllabuses/

until you find these for Trumpet:

Practical Grade 1
Practical Grade 2
Practical Grade 3
Practical Grade 4
Practical Grade 5
Practical Grade 6
Practical Grade 7
Practical Grade 8
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[raynjtrumpet]

A couple of thoughts:

1) Browse the catalog of qpress.ca. They have hundreds, if not thousands, of books available in downloadable format, and you can probably find something that matches your nephew's interests. I'd think about some of the books of transcriptions of famous trumpet solos by jazz greats, such as one of the books of Louis Armstrong solos, but it depends on what you think your nephew will find interesting. They have a wide range of other genres, in addition to jazz, and it should be easy to find something that works based on your knowledge of your nephew's tastes.

2) I personally wish I had been introduced to fake books when I was a teenager, and learned to solo from lead sheets with melody line and chord structures. One that I'd recommend looking at would the the sixth edition of "The Real Book," my copy of which includes a USB stick with 240 backing tracks.
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Ray Ritchie
Freehold, NJ USA