After years of playing with and teaching all sorts of trumpet players from all walks of life and all levels of playing from beginners to professionals, I have developed my own ideas why a trumpeter might fail when success was right around the corner:
Why some trumpeters unintentionally fail with my program or any other rigorous undertaking:
1) People don't believe what they read: They see here that they could get a free trumpet consultation by phone, yet, they don't take action and fill out the easy info sheet...takes 20 secs. I also have some people that fill out the form that are shocked I actually call them or email them to set up their free consult. Then, when they never get back to me about actually scheduling their consult, I email them and find out they thought I would never actually do a real consultation with them.....absolutely amazing! I guess it goes back to that Old American Saying: YOU CAN LEAD A HORSE TO WATER, BUT YOU CAN'T MAKE HIM DRINK!
2) Trumpet Lessons Over The Phone Can't Really Work: A Trumpeter might think a trumpet lesson by phone could not help them so they move on to another site....nothing could be further from the truth as so many of my students have made incredible progress by taking phone less
3) Don't wanna pay: I do get trumpeters here that take my free lesson, but then they want to keep getting more lessons for free! I have a trumpet program that guarantees you will see a decent increase to an incredible increase in your range, but I can't give you 3 months of lessons for free! Teaching Trumpet lessons is my job and how I provide for my family. I like doing it. People tell me I am good at it. I do require a tuition to be paid for the lessons after the free one. In fact, you should know, if you really want to become great, you need teachers to help you and you should be willing to pay them whether it is me or someone else.
CLICK HERE if you have had a setback or two, but have not given up!
4) Wishful Thinking: Not too long ago, I had a really excited middle aged professional trumpeter from the Southern East Coast area take my free lesson. He was so excited about my program, but in the end, he came up with excuses about being busy.....I recently checked out his Cover Band type group and he still sounds the same....no improvement and probably still way too busy! About a year ago I had a Grand Father in his early 50's tell me he wanted to get better so he could record some trumpet playing for his Grand Children. He took my free lesson, got excited about the possibilities, but then, when asked if he would have time to practice, he said he didn't think so....he never took my program and i am sure he is sitting down with his retired friends playing checkers somewhere still wishing he could play his trumpet well enough to make some recordings for his grand children.
5) Won't Practice: Yes, it's True! Some Students don't want to practice!!!! There are many trumpet players that take my free lesson and when considering signing up for my Upper Register Program, they ask me how much practicing my course involves. When I tell them that they need to at least start out at 30 minutes a day at a minimum and then gradually increase it to an hour per day, they balk and then bail! Can you believe that I would actually require you to do some practicing once I teach you something???? Incredible, right?
6) Going to finish the Arban's, the Clarke, etc...First! I get some trumpet students that take my free lesson, but then decide not to actually take my program because they want to finish the Arban's or Clarke Book first! They don't understand that the Arban's and the Clarke won't really help them when it comes to Lead Trumpet Playing, Extreme Register Playing, or Playing Maynard Ferguson Solos. If you look at some of the books I practice out of daily, You will notice I DO practice the Clarke and Arban's book, but I don't work out of these books for range and not for the power I need to play MacArthur Park, Gospel John, Give It One or any other Extreme Trumpet Solo! In fact, I do have a Free Double Tonguing and Technique Video that many students found helpful in their double and triple tonguing, etc..., but it won't really help you in your pursuit of playing better in the upper-register.
7) Hard Work! Working on your high notes, increasing your range, playing and practicing in the upper register is hard work. It's not easy. It is much more relaxing to get out your Aebersold stuff and practice your changes or get out your Clarke or Arban's book and play through etudes. You are really exerting a tremendous amount of energy when you are , for example, practicing in the Double C area as opposed to playing in the staff. Some people don't like hard work and consequently won't ever master the upper register.
CLICK HERE FOR FREE CONSULTATION ABOUT 4 MONTH TRUMPET UPPER REGISTER PROGRAM
So, there you have it! Why put up a page full of reasons why trumpeters fail at succeeding at trumpet...especially the pursuit of Playing Higher Notes????
Well, for one thing, if you fall into one of the above groups that fail, at least you will know the reason for your failure and that alone might motivate you to do something different. By knowing how other people fail, you at least now know some of the "MIND TRAPS" to avoid. This alone very well may help you succeed either with me or perhaps another trumpet teacher.
