I recently came across a quote regarding the trumpet that struck me as crass but quite intuitive. The quote was, “the trumpet is not an instrument, it’s a personality disorder.” Now, I’ve heard some disparaging lines about trumpet players before, but wow! OK, well the quote may be a bit strong, but think about that for a moment. To be a good trumpet player, you definitely have to have a strong will. Not only does a good trumpet player have to be a good musician, but they must also be a self-counseling psychologist, a manager, a leader, a breath yogi, internally powered air compressor, and of course a musical gymnast. Each of these traits, of course, contains numerous subsets.
One trait I left out is that good trumpet players must be able to visualize whatever it is they are attempting to play, both legitimate and improvisational. Speaking of visuals, think about a trumpet sitting upon the lips of a human head, with a hydraulic hose beginning at the base of the throat area and extending downward. At the end of the hose sits this huge self-powered air compressor. The compressor sits on a set of human legs and feet, some better looking than others. That image is a pretty funny thought, don’t you think? Well, remember the line, it’s “not an instrument it’s a personality disorder.” Now, what I left out of this visual was the operating instructions for sound production and musical creation. Just like a compressor, our visually created trumpet player must have an energy source and a switch to turn it on. The energy and switch lies within each player’s head and body. Both are extremely important in this endeavor. Once this compressed air is produced it must be controlled. This is a tricky proposition. With an air compressor there are attachments that can be fitted onto the end of the hose to control how much air comes out of the hose and at what velocity. All that trumpet players have is their own lips that the trumpet mouthpiece is placed against. To be good trumpet players, we must be able to play loud and soft, high and low. As I’ve written elsewhere in this site, the air must come through the throat unrestricted, the lips, and the lips only, have to be the gatekeeper as to how much enters the horn at any given moment. That means soft passages must be supported with as much airflow as loud ones. This is a challenging proposition and one that must be practiced. Assuming the player has acquired a good set of equipment, i.e. mouthpiece and horn, the creation of sound, soft and loud, low, middle and high, must be practiced until like an athlete it can be produced on cue.
Speaking of athletes, since the Beijing Olympics are being conducted as I write, an excellent topic comes to mind. A very famous brass instructor left us with a book I would strongly advise each of you to purchase immediately, entitled, ‘Musical Calisthenics for Brass.’ This book was out of print for a period, but I presently have it included within my Trumpet Superstore.
Although I did not have the good fortune to study with Mr. Caruso personally, my former teacher, Jack Thompson did. As youngsters we witnessed Jack’s playing transform itself during his period of traveling to New York to study with Mr. Caruso. The improvement was phenomenal. A short time later, my good friend and fellow trumpet player, Michael Manthey also proceeded to travel to New York to study with Carmine. Imagine a thirteen year old traveling to Times Square to take lessons from a person who didn’t even know how to play a brass instrument. That’s right, Mr. Caruso was a woodwind player. He, however, had developed an intuitive sense of the problems that brass players faced and developed a system of instruction and exercises that is amazing. In his own words, Carmine said this, “when playing an instrument, the musician is dealing with numerous body motions. It’s the synchronization of these motions that produce the desired results. Synchronization requires perfect timing of all muscular movements. Therefore, timing is of the utmost importance.”
Carmine’s approach worked well. Michael Manthey is now one of the best players on the scene today, as are several other of Carmine’s students such as Lew Soloff, Marvin Stamm, Chuck Findley, Randy Brecker, among many others, including, Charly Raymond. Mr. Raymond has kindly set up a memorial site in honor of Carmine Caruso. Please check it out, it will help you get a glimpse of the master’s mind and help you when you begin working through his book. In particular, read what former students had to say about Carmines’ approach. Great site, http://www.carminecaruso.net/.
Of course, I didn’t touch on the musician aspect of trumpet playing in this piece, but we have to start somewhere in order to handle the disorder of our “personality.” As a former Caruso student aptly stated, “Carmine’s powerful callisthenic approach and his rules of implementation were the tools that he used to bring out the musical soul of the student.”
Purchase Carmine Caruso’s book, by either clicking the link below, or by entering my Trumpet Superstore link on this page. Breath deep and enjoy your journey, fellow disordered ones.
Trumpetdude
