Systematic Approach to Daily Practice for Trumpet: How to Practice What to Practice When to Practice

A book on trumpet playing can NEVER replace a good trumpet teacher...but this book IS a great trumpet teacher! Books on how to play trumpet are typically concise to say the least, with a minimum of words accompanying the exercises.I remember as a very young student blowing through Brubank, Arban, Clarke, Collins and Saint Jacome - WITH a teacher , and never really stopping to think WHY I was practicing what I was practicing. I just remember it was often tedious - I had no way of registering progress, which is what most trumpet players want...Gordon doesn't really spoon feed you his philosophy in words either, but his minimalist introduction sort of says it all and is very personal. Over the few months I have spent with this book I have found that by doing the exercises he prescribes daily, my body registers the changes and progress and understands where he is heading!Trusting the Gordon knew what the heck he was doing I have thus added two octaves of pedal tones to the bottom of my range and almost one octave to the top. More importantly, my strength and endurance in playing, physically and mentally, has greatly improved, as has my tone and air flow.Gordon's best advice: Rest as long as you play!This book takes at least one year to complete,Gordon insists. I'd give it more - 2 or 3 years for most people! The valuable lesson being that patience is a virtue for improving brass players, and that time flies in good company! "Systematic Approach" is a classic that delivers on all it promises, provided you're willing to put the work in yourself - and - go easy!

Book is filled with exercises from the pedal tones to double Hi c. Most trumpet exercise books do not do this. This book is written for the advanced trumpet player who wishes to play lead trumpet. Most other books a written that are not conducive to the modern trumpet player. This book is!

I've only just started with this book but here's a list of additional, required, resources. Technical Studies for the Cornet (English, German and French Edition) needed on week 4. Lip Flexibility on the Trumpet needed on week 13. Grand Method for Trumpet or Cornet needed on week 22. This one is expensive! But you only need a few pages, and it's old enough to be in public domain. Suggest locating a PDF and printing the needed pages. Advanced Lip Flexibilities for Trumpet (Complete Volumes 1-3) needed on week 23. For some reason there's a large number of amazon listings for this one. O2281 - Characteristic Studies for the Cornet needed on week 29. O21X - Arban Complete Conservatory Method for Trumpet (New Authentic Edition with Accompaniment and Performance CD) (English, French and German Edition) needed on week 36.So probably if you have one it's the Arbans, and if you have another one it's Clarke, so you might be good for the first few months. But if you don't have Clarke I would suggest ordering it at the same time as it's needed first. Note that these resources do not appear to optional extras; they are integral to Gordon's method.

I have only just started on lesson one ( developing breath stamina ).Each lesson takes at least a week of dedicated practice and there areover 50 lessons. This is not for the faint of heart. It takes a real commitmentand dedication to each lesson and time spent. Don't expect instant results.I think following this approach will, in the long run, significantly improve myplaying but since it is too early to tell I give it four stars.

This is a great study. I've tried others but I feel with this one, I'm actually getting better. I joined a community marching band after a 15 year hiatus (Tr 2 player in HS) . I've been getting serious about my practice routine for about a month and already I can hear a big improvement (better than ever actually) . Can't wait till marching season starts.The only thing I would suggest as an improvement would be if the fingering were listed as it has a ton of notes I've never seen before.From a time commitment stand point, your looking at 1.5 to 2 hours per lesson. If you are looking for a simple 30 minute routine, this is not the book for you. If you want to up your abilities and aren't lazy, you should certainly consider this purchase.

So far so good. I couldn't pin point what exactly helped my range as I have been doing a complete regime of exercises with my 16 year old son. But suffice it to say it took me 48 years (ok 35 years playing on and off, mostly off for the last 20) to finally hit a double C.In 2 months (we stayed on each lesson for 2 weeks) my son went from struggling with a G to playing bb easily. And after 20 years off I can play musically and effortlessly in high C to E.This works. I haven't played steady since I gave up my Trumpet scholarship in college 28 years ago, This method is excellent for the returning player to build up their chops. i can play high and easier now than when I was playing 4-6 hours a day years ago. Which i had the disciplne to follow this method all those years ago.

A good book full of valuable studies for any level trumpet player. However you will need additional books to effectively use this one. Clarke, Arban, Lip Flexibilities, and a couple more. I gave this 4 stars and not 5 because the book is not well made. I’ve only had it for 2 weeks and 5 pages have already fallen out. Very frustrating.

When I tell other trumpet players I'm doing Claude Gordon, they tend to say things like "OMG, it's tedious, boring, etc". Maybe to some people it is, but it's not posing as MUSIC - it's physical lip development of the most practical kind. Trumpet is a long-term study, and you get nowhere by shirking. In fact, Claude Gordon is known to have said "If you're lazy, don't bother to learn the trumpet". I would second that. Nevertheless, those of you who are still with me, I can say that in the first three weeks, my range increased by a full third, and stability was better in all registers.Gordon himself was a pupil of Herbert Clarke and Louis Maggio, and Clarke was a pupil of the great Arban himself. So the pedigree goes back through the greatest cornet and trumpet players of all times. It's like as if you were a pianist, being taught by someone who had lessons from Rachmaninov.Time consuming it is, but it really does work. You rebuild your embouchure from the bottom up every day, and it becomes solid as a rock.If you're a serious intermediate player, or adult re-starter, you couldn't get better than this - bearing in mind that it's purely physical. You need to practise music as well. It's equally useful whether you play jazz, classical, rock, or any other style.

Arrived on time and in pristine condition, looks to be a useful practice aid

If you are starting out o going back to your instrument...like me. This is great.

If you are learning the trumpet then this will help you on your way

Very useful practice tool