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Mendez and the Maggio System



 
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nestbeast
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 31, 2007 8:06 am    Post subject: Mendez and the Maggio System Reply with quote

Many years ago I studied briefly with Carlton Macbeth. He taught the Maggio System. he told me that Mendez was also a Maggio student.
Mendez never mentions Maggio. I was told that Maggio help Raphael get over a lip injury. Does anyone know anything about this?
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trpt.hick
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 31, 2007 8:56 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Your facts are a little turned around. Mendez taught Maggio how to play pedals.

When Mendez was young, he loved to play pedals. He often used them as part of his warm-up. When Mendez and Maggio played together in one of the Detroit theaters (Maggio was second trumpet to Mendez, even though he was much older), Maggio asked Mendez what those notes were and why he used them.

When Mendez had his lip accident (swinging door hit his bell while playing) in Detroit, Mendez had a major lip infection. The infection was literally burned out of his lip by a Mexican doctor who used a soldering iron!! Anyway, scar tissue prevented Mendez from being able to play at all.

Mendez went to several of the greatest teachers -- Schlossberg, Walter Smith, Gustat, and Clarke -- but none could get him to sound a single note. Mendez then went back home to take lessons with his father, a band leader who could play all of the instruments a little. His father put him on tons of pedals.

Within 10 months, Mendez played better than he ever did. He went back to the US and rejoined the Detroit theater orchestras. Later, Mendez moved to New York City to play with Rudy Vallee. Maggio moved to Minneapolis. Eventually, Mendez ended up in Los Angeles.

Maggio had a horrible lip accident by falling on ice when crossing a street. He hit his mouth on a railroad spike in the trolly tracks. Not being able to play, he remembered that Mendez had recovered from a similar accident. He contacted Mendez in Los Angeles and moved there to study with Mendez.

Mendez taught Maggio all of the pedal exercises he had done. Although Maggio never ended up playing as well as he once did, he stayed in Los Angeles and began teaching pedals as a system to many students. Macbeth was one of them, as was Claude Gordon and Roger Spaulding.

Mendez and Maggio remained lifelong friends. Because Mendez traveled so much, his twin sons often took lessons with Maggio while Rafael was away. When Maggio died, Macbeth compiled many of the pedal exercises into a book called "The Maggio System for Brass."

There is an article about the Mendez/Maggio relationship by H. M. Lewis:

Lewis, H. M. "Rafael Mendez: Trumpeter Extraordinaire." ITG JOURNAL. Vol. 4, May, 1979, pp 13-16.

Dave Hickman
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Pops
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PostPosted: Sat Nov 03, 2007 12:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Carleton used to tell people that Mendez studied with Maggio.

He worded it in a way that was easy to misunderstand.

I couldn't tell you if that was an accident or not.

My hat is off to DH for setting the record straight.
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_TrumpeT_
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PostPosted: Sun Nov 04, 2007 9:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

This implies that all the pedal studies used by Claude Gordon, Roger Spaulding, Carlton Macbeth, James Stamp (I believe he also studied with Louis Maggio) and many others I may have missed out ultimately derived from Mendez.
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Trptbenge
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PostPosted: Sun Nov 04, 2007 11:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

David, thank you for setting the record straight. I talked Carlton a few times over the years and the only thing he mentioned to me about Mendez was that he used to fill in for Maggio occasionally and give lessons. I don't know if this was a one time thing or what but it might be unsettling to walk in for your lesson and find Raphael Mendez sitting there. A great opportunity for sure but boy would I be nervous.

Mike
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oj
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PostPosted: Mon Nov 05, 2007 1:29 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Dave, thanks for the Mendez/Maggio info!

Btw, I looked it up - the article is in the October 1979 issue.

When you look back in history, you find pedals long before Mendez (or his father). One example is Levy's Cornet Instructor Copyright 1895, by C G. Conn & Co., Elkhart, Ind.

Images of the whole book can be seen here:
http://sheetmusic.library.sc.edu/SearchMusicDetails.asp?page=1&MID=2991

Perhaps (this is only my personal speculation) when players went from a long natural trumpets (where you had the fundamental = a very low note) over to a half size cornet, they tried to get the "old notes" on these new instruments?

Pierre Thibaud told me in a letter that he had a booklet by Arban with pedal exercises. (I've never managed to get hold of this)

Ole
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oj
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PostPosted: Mon Nov 05, 2007 1:51 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Here (Nr. 302) is the example from Levy's book with pedals:

http://sheetmusic.library.sc.edu/SearchMusicDetails.asp?page=61&MID=2991

Ole
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dizbird
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PostPosted: Mon Nov 05, 2007 4:14 am    Post subject: Rafael Mendez Reply with quote

Ole:

Thank you for posting the Levy Method. I was particularly impressed with the apparent tremendous amount of respect he had for his students as reflected in his writing.
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