Pretty Basic Stuff
My band director introduced me to a trumpet player with an Air Force Band, and we set up private lessons.
I’d been playing a few years and, being a trumpet player, was overly impressed with myself and my ability.
Our first lesson was on breathing.
I was getting my trumpet out of the case when he handed me a newspaper and told me to not get my horn out just yet.
Holding the now narrowly folded up newspaper about a hand length from the wall, I was to stick the paper to the wall using only my air. Suffice it to say that I couldn’t do that very well for several weeks.
Eventually in that first lesson, we opened up our cases and got our mouthpieces. Not our trumpets, just our mouthpieces. I already knew how to make a buzzing sound on it. I didn’t know how to play scales and arpeggios and melodies on just my mouthpiece. Again, suffice it say that I couldn’t do that for several weeks either.
We were out of time. My lesson was over. I never played my trumpet, and I never got to show off.
That came later. My first lesson was on breath control.
Pretty basic stuff, right?
So is John Wesley’s advice: “Read and pray daily. It is for your life. There is no other way.”