(Ukulele chords) Getting the most from your trumpet students!

October 30th, 2008 admin Posted in music |

By Earl Marsden

Teaching music is very difficult. Getting the most from your students is something extremely difficult, but it can be done. When engaging in music teaching, you must remember certain rules so you can mold your students into the best possible performers.

First, always give them technical studies. Yes, they’ll hate them. Why? Because they’re boring! Playing scales up and down or practicing the chromatic scale can be quite dull. Running the scales can do nothing but great things to their finger speed and future improvisation successes.

Other technical practices to be remembered are the all-to-boring tonguing exercises and finger dexterity exercises. Failing to use these skills while teaching music will lead to your students hitting an improvement wall going 70 mph!

Second, you’ll want to focus on breathing. Air is the source of life for the trumpet! Breathing exercises should be practiced regularly. Your students may become embarrassed while performing these but let them know that their success depends on they’re breathing capability.

Teach them the correct way to breathe so they don’t tense-up. Show the proper relaxed breathing techniques. Let them hear how much warmer the tones of the instrument are when they use proper breathing techniques!

Set standards! Teaching music is as difficult as it comes. You will find students becoming lazy…believe me! Always give standards. If you teach them once per week, make sure they have something prepared each and every time - something that will steadily increase their skill and performance.

Have them prepare scales with zero imperfections. Make them practice etudes and melodies to improve their skill. Without setting minimum standards, they will not be challenged into focusing while practicing. Without focus during practicing, the student will simply be wasting precious time.

Last but not the least; you must play with them at practice. Show them what it’s supposed to sound like. Show them how good you are and why. They will listen and want to strive to sound like you. You may not think too highly of your skills but they will and this motivation will allow them to vastly improve themselves. Teaching music is about this motivation and inspiration. Give it to them!

These are just ideas about music teaching that I wanted to share with you. I’ve learned these throughout my years of performing and teaching music to the younger generation. If there is one thing I’ve learned the most it’s that with a little motivation and encouragement, young students can become great musicians!

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The Story of Memphis Blues Music
By Phoenix Delray

The early 1900s saw the birth of Memphis blues music, and the sound of the Memphis blues has resonated through the country ever since. Some of the greatest blues musicians who helped to make the city famous for its music were Sleepy John Estes, Memphis Minnie, and Frank Stokes. Beale Street in Memphis was the area that Memphis blues music centered around, and most of the performances were given there, and most of the musicians made Beale Street their home.

There were many instruments that helped to make Memphis blues music what we know it as today. Guitars were used, along with jugs, harmonicas, some percussion, and even piano, although most instruments were more like hand made instruments. Some of the handmade instruments were from household objects such as spoons, stove pipe, washboards, and cans hit with sticks. In the very beginning of Memphis blues music, large gourds were even used to make home made guitars out of. They were flattened on one side, and then the musicians would carve a sound hole into it. Banjos were also sometimes made this way, and even though they didnt last for more than a few days before they rotted, the instruments sure worked.

Jug bands were a large part of the development of Memphis blues music. They were common in Memphis for years up until around the time of World War II, then after that, the electronic instruments began shooing the homemade instruments into history. The jugs that were used were held to the mouth, and blown across the top to make different pitches. Different jugs made different sounds, and most were made from stone or glass. Also, buzzing the lips a couple of inches away from the top of the jug also created different sounds and pitches.

Many African Americans who were living in the Mississippi Delta region and other poorer areas of the south left their homes in the early and mid 1900s to go to Memphis in search of a better life in a more urban setting. Many of the musicians who came to Memphis, and slowly the sound of Memphis music began to change. The Memphis blues music became a combination of the jug bands and homemade instruments and the songs of the African Americans, who often worked out in the fields and would sing songs all day while they worked hard.

Some of the most famous musicians who performed Memphis blues music were Howlin Wolf, Willie Nix, Ike Turner, and the famous B.B. King. They formed the genre known today as the Memphis classic electric blues, rhythm and blues (or R&B), and the beginnings of rock and roll. Without these musicians and many more like them, Memphis blues music would certainly not be all that it is today.

To know more about Memphis Blues Music please visit our website.

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