John Harner

[tomba51]

I thought that you all might be interested in a quick John Harner stroy. Around 1973 or 74, I was taking a lesson with Carmine. John Harner was in the office at the same time, and we got to talking. (For those of you who don't know who he is, John was the lead trumpet player with Stan Kenton. He played the awesome solo on "Send in the Clowns". He's now a music teacher. He occasionally posts on TPIN). Anyway, I asked John about what it was like to play with Kenton. He told me that he (John) had lasted longer with Kenton than several of the previous lead players. Apparently, some of them had developed chop problems because of all the high, loud playing that Kenton's book required. John felt that he was able to perform that difficult book, night after night, without chop problems, because of Carmine's teachings. Quite a testimonial to Carmine's method.

Hope that inspires some of you to practice Carmine's stuff.

Tom Barreca
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Tom Barreca

[_trumpetgod_02]

Tom,

Thanks for the note. As a "new" Caruso student I hope that one day I can say the same thing about my playing. It may be a while down the road yet, but I don't think that it will take too long to see some of the benfits to my playing that I would like to see. After one year of slacking I have seen my playing come full circle and am loving every second of playing now. I practice half as long as I used to every day, if even that long. And I have already seen the return of 90% of my range and concistancy. My tone is much better now than it ever was (in my opinion) All in just about four weeks or so. Imagine the possibilities of a couple years....

Nick
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www.trumpetherald.com

[benge78]

I'm new to the MCFB method, just received my book and I'm gathering information. Ran across this John Harner post. Talk about a great advertisement for the method! Harner's time with Kenton really showcased his talent. I had the Kenton '76 album on vinyl in '76, wore it out, and now it's on CD in my collection. His solo on "Send in the Clowns" still brings chills every time I hear it. Nothing technical, just an awesome, full sound that is a thing of beauty. His work throughout is inspiring. My $.02 worth....

[larzanth]

I took lessons from John for 5 years while I was growing up. He introduced me to Carmine's method along with a few others.

I still use Carmine's method to this day. Though I don't play as regularly as I did in the past. Whenever I do pick it up, his method is the first I tackle. It's always a great way to get your embouchure back in shape.

[Jon Arnold]

John is a great guy! Just played a gig with him a few weeks ago. I have always been impressed that he gets such an open sound in the upper register.

Here's my Harner/Caruso story:

Over 20 years ago, a teacher of mine took me to a John Harner trumpet clinic up at Hauer Music in Dayton, OH. I was an aspiring lead player (a Junior in high school) at the time and had a solid range up to a high D. John talked about the method and the six magic notes. I started doing them every day. My range went from a high D to a full high G by my Senior year. My endurance was off the charts as well. I could literally play all day.

My path went into more solo playing. I usually am a section player and play the two book. I also do a lot of combo. Although I have a pretty good range, I do not consider myself to be a lead player.

I found that I had to do a lot of lip flexibilites or my chops would get real stiff.

The method definetly helps range and endurance.

It was humbling to play a gig with such a legend, and he is one of the nicest cats you will ever meet.

[shofar]