HELP with teaching beginners

[derekph]

Part of this might belong in the Carusso section of the forum. Sorry.
I've been teaching trumpet to beginners for about 2 years now and sometimes I struggle to keep the students interested (especially to practice every day) in the trumpet. It's hard when the mainstream radio and video music stations don't usually have trumpet on them (except for the stray Cake song) and that's what the kids get fed all day. First, how do the teachers on this forum keep their students interested and excited about practicing the mundane stuff like lip slurs and tonguing? Then, more specifically, can you recommend books where I can get some cool tunes out of that the kids will like AND they'll get something out of them?
The Caruso stuff seems invaluable to me for developing my muscles, but the exercises are pretty boring (especially to a young kid). What's the psychological trick to getting them to do the stuff that's boring?

[ This Message was edited by: derekph on 2002-07-24 03:05 ]

[Emb_Enh]

I recommend a series of books. Get book 1 called:

"The Jock McKenzie Tutor Book For Young Brass Players" by con moto publications

To accompany them yourself, get the Piano accompaniment book which comes with a free CD, if'n you can't "tickle the ivories," in which case you'll need a CD player in lessons.These are available online from Tony Cresswell at http://www.mostynmusic.com

This series of books goes up to [so far] book 2. Have fun!..there are tunes with [Piano/CD] accompniment right away!

8. As a supplement to this series also buy books 1+2 of :
"Studies+ Melodious Etudes for Cornet" by Weber/Vincent a Warner bros publication

You may also want to keep up some buzzing games with Jim Thompson's buzzing basics books. Available from Rob Roy McGregor at
http://home.earthlink.net/~balqmusic [tons of great stuff]

Start them as soon as possible on the "Standard of Excellence Jazz Ensemble Method" -Pearson / Sorenson Kjos publications...along with eventually Jamey Aebersolds Vol.42 "Blues in all keys"..and more..

I realise that time/money constraints are always an issue, it is up to us as teachers to find the answers.

I hope they enjoy soem of this...

Roddy o-iii<O
_________________
Regards, Roddy o-iii RoddyTpt@aol.com

"E M B O U C H U R E___E N H A N C E M E N T"
BOOK 1 also... BOOK 2 + demo CD

[Self Analysis and Diagnostic Trumpet Method]

[derekph]

Thanks yo. Right now I'm using the Rubank Elementary Method book, but I only really use one page of it. The rest is a bit trite. I'm not the best piano player in the world, but maybe this'll get me in shape.

[_Don Herman]

You could always use a fake book, or just pick up some compilations of popular tunes (popular to them, hopefully, but chances are any popular tunes will be OK for starters) and have them play them as written (add transposing if you like, and think they're ready). Or, have them transcribe a tune they like every week.

FWIW - Don
_________________
Don Herman/Monument, CO
"After silence, that which best expresses the inexpressible, is music." - Aldous Huxley

[Lex Grantham]

In June, I assumed the musical directorship of a county-wide orchestra in East Texas (Wood County)...it is actually a concert band with a couple of violins so far. The organization was started about 10 months ago, but the director who was at the helm did not wish to continue. At present, we are in a heavy recruiting period to entice past members and new ones, as well.

In my initial rehearsals (only three thus far), I have passed out samples of various rhythms, articulations, accents, etc as they occur within the pieces of music we are currently working on. By showing the players how to practice examples and applying the examples to actual music, I (hope) I have kept the interests of the group in mind. After last night's session, a few of the players told me at the end that they felt they now played better than before.

That was "MUSIC" to my ears.

Sincerely,

Lex Grantham

P.S. I realize that the original post was regarding beginning students. In a way, building a musical organization is similar to beginners, as the musical director has to take matters from a beginning stage to mold the ensemble in thinking "alike" for success.

[trjeam]

I taught a beginer once. ( I posted about teaching him on the old forums and I got screamed at)

Anyway he came up to me and said he wanted to play trumpet and make it in the honors band like me he was 12 so I gave him a horn I made him join the school band and I made him promise me that He would come every single day to practice for 1 hour.

Anyway during the lessons it was hard to keep his mind focus but I kept telling him about how trumpet playing wasn't easy at all. And at every practice I use to scream at him and tell him " Don't you want this bad enough!!!!"

I only screamed at him when he wouldn't play the major scales to me perfect 10 times in a row. But I wouldn't bore him to death either. We would also do sight reading, and play cool music like "La Bamba" Cha Cha Cha" and fun stuff like that. And one day i wrote a arrangement of outkast " So fresh and so clean clean" and had him play it. I had just finished watching the move " Mr Hollands Opus" and he played threw the song and he was like hey this is outkast. and he was shocked to see how easy it was. And I said to him music is about feelings and having fun with it (I copied of the movie) anyway that got him motivated. He then tried out for the Honors band (Juniors) and got 2nd chair.

[Nicholas Dyson]

Man, that post frightens me! You screamed at him? Not a great way to communicate, as it looks like you found out in a round about kind of way.

My suggestion goes along with the mouthpiece buzzing. Every week I ask my students to memorize the tune to their fav radio hit (at one lesson per week, Billboard Top 40 and I seem to be cranking stuff out at about the same clip ) and learn to buzz it on the mouthpiece.

I find that it gets their ears burning and gets /keeps their attention, as most of my younger students show up knowing 4 or 5 a week once they realize how easy it is. You hear everything from Britney Spears, INSTINK, and Mandy Moore to Limp Bizkit, Blink 182 and The Beastie Boys. I tried this with my older students as well, as a way of mixing it up and stopped when in 2 back to back lessons I heard 'Crazy' by Patsy Cline and 'Margaritaville' by Jimmy Buffet. I thought I left that crap out on the cruise ship!

Anyway, to make a long suggestion longer... If the student holds the mp correctly, and doesn't apply undue pressure, he/she gets the nicest sound out of that mouthpiece, and is able to play along and work themselves out where they are most comfortable. I've found that lack of pressure translates MUCH easier to the horn than saying 'don't push too hard'.. etc.

Just a thought...
_________________
Nicholas Dyson
Ottawa, Canada

[trjeam]

[Nicholas Dyson]

[trjeam]

[SHS_Trumpet]

I think their are some teens who are good teachers. Maybe it's because of the common language/understanding. I know that when our assisstant band director who is a pretty darn good trumpet PLAYER teaches the section we don't get as many coments as when I and the assistant squad leader teach the section. My section seams to understand/like my pedagogal aproach better than that of their private teachers and our well intending BD.
_________________
Andrew Fowler
MYNWA
"90% of trumpet music is below high C"

[sfenick]

As far as keeping students interested......there is a secret that is works extremely well. What I do is find some common ground with the students, and work from there. It involves knowing your students (which any good teacher will tell you is an absolute must to teach effectively). From there, you establish that common ground. One of my young students is a Revolutionary War buff, and just spending a second talking about that gets him more involved in what we are doing in the lesson. Another student likes the group No Doubt, so the fact that I know who they are (and own one of their albums) impressed her greatly. It seems counterproductive to say that spending a little bit of lesson time talking about non-trumpet issues works, but it does. It piques the students' interest, and gives me a measure of credibility that I would not necessarily have with the younger players (remember, they only have the other trumpet players in their school band as a reference point, so the fact that you can play a lot better than them does not necessarily mean a lot). Anyway, sorry for the long post, but this does effectively sum up the way I keep my students interested, and I will say it works with all my students, regardless of age.
Thank you,
Steve Fenick

[Palestrina]

A great (and kinda cheesy) motivational tool is any of those TV Theme Books and Star Wars books for trumpet. I know, it sounds lame. However, it totally works on all my students, age 10-20! They do all the real trumpet stuff and play out of those books as a treat. Hey, if it'll keep them playing and enjoying it, why not? What kid doesn't dream of playing Star Wars in the London Symphony?
_________________
Bb: Yamaha Xeno 8335 RGS
C: Bach L 239
Picc: Stomvi Elite
Mouthpieces: Monette B3, C3, AP3

[Tricky]

Unfortunately, I HAVE to teach some kids at school. I hate it, but I'm 1st trumpet and the brass section is sub-par to say the least.

Mostly, I just help them with band stuff, but sometimes I encourage them by saying that if they master the 'boring' band stuff that I'll treat them by writing out the music for a song that they like for them. It works on them sometimes, but sometimes its useless trying to motivate them.

Tricky
_________________

[Still Trying]

As far as keeping younger students motivated, have you tried to involve the parents in the "motivation" department? The reason I ask is because my Dad started teaching me trumpet when I was 6 years old. I went to a school that was so small, we didn't have a music teacher, except twice a week and we didn't have a band program at all. I practiced for 6 years by my self at home in my bedroom with no place to play and no one to play with. What was my motivation, (because for the first 3 or 4 years it was anything, but fun)? Well, my motivation was my Mom standing in the bedroom door saying something like, "If you ever want to get out of this bedroom and go play baseball with your friends this evening, you might as well go ahead and get your practicing over with"! I wasn't a willing student. But now I owe my Mom and Dad a debt I can never replay, because all that practicing eventually paid off. As soon as I entered 7th grade and got in a school band, it turned out that I was way ahead of anybody else in school. I was playing high school level music in the 7th grade. We had Junior Highs then instead of Middle Schools, but I was issued a high school band uniform in junior high and performed with the high school band regularly. It was a AAAA high school also (before they had a AAAAA classification), so it wasn't because they only had two cornet players in the high school band.

So it may not be politically acceptable, but Mom and Dad, who are no doubt paying for the lessons, might be a powerful motivator.

I have three teaching fields in Texas, and I taught secondary mathematics for 10 years. It is my experience that not everything a student needs to learn can be made to be "fun". Some times a teacher just has to say, "Learn it, Son, or your education in this subject is going to come to a screeching halt". Learning anything is not a passive activity. The student has to put forth an effort. Students, being human, have a tendency to seek the path of least resistance, and that means doing as little work as possible. This is a generalization of course. Many student will surprise you with their dedication. But also in general, involement of the parents in the student's education activities is very beneficial. Explain to them, if your child is going to improve, he MUST learn to play these exercises. I need your help to see that he practices this music.

As far as students teaching students, if I was TrJeam's or Andrew's or whoever's band director, I would want to be certain that he was proficient in what ever skill I might want him to share with another student. Then I would utilize his teaching abilities every time I could. When I was teaching high school algebra and trig, I discovered that students are great teachers of other students. Many times a kid is much more likely to ask another student a question than he is the teacher. Some kids are just too shy or intimidated to ask a teacher, if they think the question is "dumb". But they don't mind discussing it with another student. And many times I could explain something until I was blue in the face without being able to reach the whole class, then I would split the class up into study groups to do homework in class, and the better students would pick up my slack in a heart beat. Mathematics is a little more cut and dried than trumpet playing, but the principle is the same. The student teacher, however, must be faithful to consult his teacher, if questions or circumstances start to get over his head with his student.
_________________
S. T.

What do we have that we did not receive, and if we received it, why do we glory, as if we received it not?

[pair of kings]

S.T. - that is pretty much my answer. I tell them if they do that "boring" stuff and become proficient on the instrument, they will have the ability to play whatever they want. Kids who are in sports understand the importance of fundamentals and it is a transferable concept. Playing music isn't fun if it is a struggle, and if you want the rewards you have to do the work. I don't think you can be a good teacher though if it is something you hate. I know some teachers who seem to think it is below them to teach beginners. Personally I love it, and find it exciting to see them breaking new ground and mastering new concepts. I also tell them that certain instruments come with a 'set of notes' like a piano. with trumpet, we need to build and develop by pratcicing those Caruso exercises or whatever it is you are using. I don't think your job is necessarily to entertain, but they all need encouragement. So when they do well, tell them - that serves as motivation more than you might realize.

[Still Trying]

Pair of Kings,

Very good point about the praise for a job well done. That's very important, and for a while at the beginning of one's trumpet career, the satisfaction of hearing praise from your teacher is the only satisfaction one gets. I also know what you mean about some teachers not caring to teach beginners. It's hard to teach a beginner. It's much easier to add to somebody's foundation than to build the foundation. But it's the same thing in all school subjects. Some folks prefer to teach grammer school and some prefer to teach secondary. Others prefer to teach college. But I've known some very fine secondary teachers, who would go totally beserk in a kindergarten classroom.
_________________
S. T.

What do we have that we did not receive, and if we received it, why do we glory, as if we received it not?

[derekph]

Thanks guys. All this stuff helps immensely. Sometimes I'm wary of parents. Usually it's them who's making their kid take lessons in the first place so I'm afraid to push that button and tell the parent that it's alright for them to make their child practice. It's a fine line. I have friends who took piano as a youngster and ended up quitting because it wasn't fun to be made to practice by their father or mother. I guess some are made to be musicians and some are not. I will take your advice and try to get the parents more involved. Thankyou.

[Nicholas Dyson]