Teacher or self-taught

[Steve A]

Not knowing the people involved, obviously this is just a general reflection, but here's my two cents:

I think most teachers try to calibrate their overall expectations and intensity to what they see the student as being ready for and open to. I don't think most teachers do, or should in most settings, have an inflexibly fixed set of demands, or a blanket approach of being as tough as possible on everyone, all the time. (Which I don't think is necessarily any better than being nice to everyone all the time*.)

If one doesn't feel that their teachers are pushing them enough, I would have to ask: has the student made it clear that they want to aim higher, and, critically, are they showing the teacher that they have the determination, desire, and dedication to act on those higher aims? There are lots of students who say all the right things in lessons, but aren't interested in getting their hands dirty in the practice room. There are limits to what teachers can do with students like that, and most teachers probably respond by scaling down the level of what they expect to something more realistic.

Before putting this on the teachers, I would want to be 100% sure that I was coming to lessons prepared, focused, and open to everything the teacher said, not just the parts I liked, and that I followed that up with hard, smart, consistent work to understand what the teacher prescribed and to master that, however humble it might appear. Presented with a student who is clearly doing these things, any good teacher is going to start moving the student forward faster.

*Unless the student clearly intends to try to make a living playing, and doesn't realize what's required, or how far from the goal they might be. In that case, it still doesn't have to be harsh, but a fair and firm reality check is probably the teacher's responsibility.

[Jaw04]

[john4860]

My problem with teachers and with trumpet teachers specifically isn't with regard to how hard the teacher pushes the student. The problem is the trumpet itself. Unlike guitar or piano, violin, etc. brass instruments require an embouchure; this is the interface between the students body and the instrument itself. The problem is that this interface cannot be seen.

As I get older I realize that playing the trumpet requires extremely fine muscle control of the lips, tongue, lungs, muscles of the chest, etc. Something that is very helpful is to watch a really good player and see what he or she does or rather doesn't do.

Take for instance Brandon Ridenour or Tine Thing Helseth or Alison Balsom. What do they have in common? They are very relaxed or appear to be very relaxed and there is not a lot of movement in the muscles surrounding the embouchure. Playing the trumpet requires that you figure out how your lips work best inside the mouthpiece and it requires a lot of practice over a long period of time to gain consistency.

I have had three teachers; all very good players, but none were able to teach me how to play with endurance and clean articulation etc. It was me wanting to learn so much that I figured out what I needed to do mostly on my own by practicing (a lot).