Adam's Horn Store and Display
Q: I am, alas, not taking lessons. And I don't really have any goals. I guess I spend (on average) 45 minutes a day noodling around with the cornet. Mostly I'm trying to figure how to do some of the things I know how to do on the fiddle on brass. So I play a lot of scales and arpeggios, vi-ii-V7-I chord progressions and 12 bar blues. I keep trying to extend the keys I can play in. So far I've worked from Bb thru A (though I have to confess I'm only confident with F thru D).
Also I work on pieces from the Doflien books. Do you know this series? It's for violin, and I used it years ago when I was studying classical. It was put together back in the 1930's by this hip avante-guarde German couple who wanted to update string pedagogy, and it's chock full of these wonderful little pieces from Renaissance/Baroque sources, up thru Carl Orf & Bella Bartok. .
This summer I tried to play with friends, who know me as a fiddler. I could manage a bit with my accordian friends (they play a lot of Middle Europe/Jewish tunes in flat keys) but my efforts to play blues with my guitar friends failed completely, as they wanted to do everything in their non-transposed A or E. For mouthpieces, I use a Bach 1 1/2 C and a Besson 5-star. That's probably far more than you wanted to know about my efforts to play brass! Unless I hear otherwise from you, sounds like I should go for the Eastman.
This whole brass world is quite intimidating, as regards finding an appropriate instrument. I'm very grateful for your help.
A: Forty five minutes a day on the cornet is enough to get really good really fast if you're practicing the right stuff. A funny thing about brass instruments is you can only practice so long before you are doing more harm than good. The biggest thing to remember with brass instruments is that it is a physical undertaking and a lot of what you need to practice to get good will not be particularly musical.
A fantastic place to start is a book called physical approach by Claude Gordon. And also Arban's Cornet Method, which is essentially the bible for a lot of us brass players. I'd be happy to send you a few scans from each if you are interested. The Gordon book will help you build up the strength you need for brass playing and the Arban's book has all your scales, tonguing exercises, some etudes, etc.
You said you don't have an instructor. The physical approach book is ordered in "Lessons" and in each Lesson the author references supplementary material out of Saint-Jacome's Grand Method for Trumpet or Cornet to go with the lesson. The Saint Jacome book is a giant bible of exercises and etudes like Arban, but it just
has never been as popular for whatever reason. So you might get that instead of Arban's if you haven't ordered Arban yet. I usually get stuff from sheetmusicplus.com because they tend to have the books i need more so than other places. Just a thought. When you get the gordon book, physical approach, it is EXTREMELY important to read all the text and make sure you are doing the exercises right. Flipping through it it may seem basic but if you practice it like the author has written, it will really improve your playing.
Getting back to equipment, the more I read about it, I think that eastman will be a very nice horn for you. Although I just yesterday bought a Getzen Eterna from the 60s that might be perfect for you, but it probably will be three or four weeks before I have it in the condition I need it to be in to sell it. It will probably be $350 -$500, depending on how it plays and how it looks.
If you buy the Eastman, I'd love to hear what you think of it, the build quality, the valve action, etc. Don't be gentle on the valves when you test it out, be a little mean to them and strike them hard and wiggle them and make sure you get a horn where the valves don't stick.
Regarding mouthpieces, my advice is to get a nice open mouthpiece like a Bach 1 1/2 C (which you have) or even a 3C, a Marciekiwicz CG personal, or similar, and don't change around much. You can sabotage your playing with too many mouthpiece changes or using a tight mouthpiece.
Also I work on pieces from the Doflien books. Do you know this series? It's for violin, and I used it years ago when I was studying classical. It was put together back in the 1930's by this hip avante-guarde German couple who wanted to update string pedagogy, and it's chock full of these wonderful little pieces from Renaissance/Baroque sources, up thru Carl Orf & Bella Bartok. .
This summer I tried to play with friends, who know me as a fiddler. I could manage a bit with my accordian friends (they play a lot of Middle Europe/Jewish tunes in flat keys) but my efforts to play blues with my guitar friends failed completely, as they wanted to do everything in their non-transposed A or E. For mouthpieces, I use a Bach 1 1/2 C and a Besson 5-star. That's probably far more than you wanted to know about my efforts to play brass! Unless I hear otherwise from you, sounds like I should go for the Eastman.
This whole brass world is quite intimidating, as regards finding an appropriate instrument. I'm very grateful for your help.
A: Forty five minutes a day on the cornet is enough to get really good really fast if you're practicing the right stuff. A funny thing about brass instruments is you can only practice so long before you are doing more harm than good. The biggest thing to remember with brass instruments is that it is a physical undertaking and a lot of what you need to practice to get good will not be particularly musical.
A fantastic place to start is a book called physical approach by Claude Gordon. And also Arban's Cornet Method, which is essentially the bible for a lot of us brass players. I'd be happy to send you a few scans from each if you are interested. The Gordon book will help you build up the strength you need for brass playing and the Arban's book has all your scales, tonguing exercises, some etudes, etc.
You said you don't have an instructor. The physical approach book is ordered in "Lessons" and in each Lesson the author references supplementary material out of Saint-Jacome's Grand Method for Trumpet or Cornet to go with the lesson. The Saint Jacome book is a giant bible of exercises and etudes like Arban, but it just
has never been as popular for whatever reason. So you might get that instead of Arban's if you haven't ordered Arban yet. I usually get stuff from sheetmusicplus.com because they tend to have the books i need more so than other places. Just a thought. When you get the gordon book, physical approach, it is EXTREMELY important to read all the text and make sure you are doing the exercises right. Flipping through it it may seem basic but if you practice it like the author has written, it will really improve your playing.
Getting back to equipment, the more I read about it, I think that eastman will be a very nice horn for you. Although I just yesterday bought a Getzen Eterna from the 60s that might be perfect for you, but it probably will be three or four weeks before I have it in the condition I need it to be in to sell it. It will probably be $350 -$500, depending on how it plays and how it looks.
If you buy the Eastman, I'd love to hear what you think of it, the build quality, the valve action, etc. Don't be gentle on the valves when you test it out, be a little mean to them and strike them hard and wiggle them and make sure you get a horn where the valves don't stick.
Regarding mouthpieces, my advice is to get a nice open mouthpiece like a Bach 1 1/2 C (which you have) or even a 3C, a Marciekiwicz CG personal, or similar, and don't change around much. You can sabotage your playing with too many mouthpiece changes or using a tight mouthpiece.
Q: I've been looking at your Benge 3x, as described in Adam's Horn Store (having gotten there via your posting in trumpetherald). Maybe you could help me out a little? I've played fiddle for 30 years. A couple of years ago I acted on a long held desire to noodle around with brass and bought an Olds Ambassdor cornet on ebay for 130$. I don't play well but I really love it, and now want to see what trumpets are all about. I'm trying to decide whether I should spend 350$ for the new Eastman trumpet that Sam Ash is selling, or 600$ for your Benge. On the one hand, I can just about afford the Eastman & can't really afford the Benge. On the other hand, maybe I can rob a liquor store, or eat Kraft macorni and cheese for the next 12 months, or whatever... Can you help with this? I know that the Eastman is made in China, which is generally a no-no, but reviews I've read on the net are very positive. Many thanks for your advice! I was very impressed with the article you posted "Buying a Beginner Trumpet" -- you seem very thoughtful & honest.
A: Thanks for the kind words and I'm glad you're enjoying your cornet! The olds ambassadors are fine horns, although you'll probably find the valves a bit stodgy as you progress. They were never built for speed!
As much as I would love to sell you the Benge, I don't think it will be the ideal trumpet for you. It is very lightweight and has a very free blow -- this means it is super responsive, but the other side of that is it can be difficult to center the pitch and lower notes tend to spread thin on less developed embouchures. On the other hand, if
you see yourself putting in serious hours on the trumpet, it may be a good choice.
I really need to play one of those Eastman horns, I have heard good things about them and there is no technical reason why asia can't produce good horns. Something to consider is technicians may not be able to easily find parts for it when it needs to be fixed. A lot of the new imported horns just aren't made to be worked on in the same way that the Getzens, Kanstuls, Benges, and Bachs are.
I would say go play the Eastman and see how it feels. The more time you can play it the better. Sometimes it isn't until you've played a horn for 10 or 15 minutes that you can start to understand its quirks. You might take your cornet and go back and forth to compare.
If you can manage to scrape together six or seven hundred dollars, you could buy a pretty good used horn. A used Kanstul or Getzen would fall into that price range for sure. I think it depends on what your goals are with the cornet and trumpet. If you see yourself as a weekend or occasional player, you probably will never see a big
benefit from a higher-level horn. If you see yourself playing ten or fifteen hours per week, then I think it would be best to save up some money and get something a little nicer, particularly for the valves. If I go back to a student horn, the valves are the one part I find almost completely unbearable.
I hope this helped some. I'd be curious to hear what your goals are with the instrument, if you're taking lessons, and how you practice. I could then make some better recommendations on horns. Also, what kind of mouthpiece do you use with your cornet?
Adam
A: Thanks for the kind words and I'm glad you're enjoying your cornet! The olds ambassadors are fine horns, although you'll probably find the valves a bit stodgy as you progress. They were never built for speed!
As much as I would love to sell you the Benge, I don't think it will be the ideal trumpet for you. It is very lightweight and has a very free blow -- this means it is super responsive, but the other side of that is it can be difficult to center the pitch and lower notes tend to spread thin on less developed embouchures. On the other hand, if
you see yourself putting in serious hours on the trumpet, it may be a good choice.
I really need to play one of those Eastman horns, I have heard good things about them and there is no technical reason why asia can't produce good horns. Something to consider is technicians may not be able to easily find parts for it when it needs to be fixed. A lot of the new imported horns just aren't made to be worked on in the same way that the Getzens, Kanstuls, Benges, and Bachs are.
I would say go play the Eastman and see how it feels. The more time you can play it the better. Sometimes it isn't until you've played a horn for 10 or 15 minutes that you can start to understand its quirks. You might take your cornet and go back and forth to compare.
If you can manage to scrape together six or seven hundred dollars, you could buy a pretty good used horn. A used Kanstul or Getzen would fall into that price range for sure. I think it depends on what your goals are with the cornet and trumpet. If you see yourself as a weekend or occasional player, you probably will never see a big
benefit from a higher-level horn. If you see yourself playing ten or fifteen hours per week, then I think it would be best to save up some money and get something a little nicer, particularly for the valves. If I go back to a student horn, the valves are the one part I find almost completely unbearable.
I hope this helped some. I'd be curious to hear what your goals are with the instrument, if you're taking lessons, and how you practice. I could then make some better recommendations on horns. Also, what kind of mouthpiece do you use with your cornet?
Adam
Q: I'm looking for a quality affordable student trumpet for an adult beginner. Are there any additional considerations in selecting a used horn for an adult beginner as opposed to a child (for instance, should I consider something other than a student horn)?
Thank you!
A: Thanks for the email.
A student horn is a good place for an adult beginner to start. The first couple years of development are largely physical and getting a feel for how to play - there really isn't an advantage to having a pro horn until you get to the intermediate-advanced levels of playing; on the other hand, there isn't a disadvantage either and some will choose a pro horn out the gate knowing they won't have to buy a second horn down the road (little, of course, do they know that once you start playing, you'll end up with a third and fourth horn anyways regardless just because of the nature of the hobby :) ).
A note about the differences between student and pro horns. Basically a student horn is made with less exacting tolerances. The valves aren't quite as tight, some of the joints might not be as perfect - more of the student horn is made on an assembly line whereas the pro horns are more custom made, tested to exacting standards, and also there is a far higher level of customization in pro horns (bore size options, slide options, etc.). More experienced players will notice that a student horn may not respond as well with fast octave + jumps or may feel tight in the very high registers. Honestly, nothing that you'll notice for quite a while.
Hope this helps. Good luck with your search! Only regular practice will get you where you want to be, but a good student horn will definitely keep up with you for quite a while. For what its worth, I would perform with it.
Adam
Thank you!
A: Thanks for the email.
A student horn is a good place for an adult beginner to start. The first couple years of development are largely physical and getting a feel for how to play - there really isn't an advantage to having a pro horn until you get to the intermediate-advanced levels of playing; on the other hand, there isn't a disadvantage either and some will choose a pro horn out the gate knowing they won't have to buy a second horn down the road (little, of course, do they know that once you start playing, you'll end up with a third and fourth horn anyways regardless just because of the nature of the hobby :) ).
A note about the differences between student and pro horns. Basically a student horn is made with less exacting tolerances. The valves aren't quite as tight, some of the joints might not be as perfect - more of the student horn is made on an assembly line whereas the pro horns are more custom made, tested to exacting standards, and also there is a far higher level of customization in pro horns (bore size options, slide options, etc.). More experienced players will notice that a student horn may not respond as well with fast octave + jumps or may feel tight in the very high registers. Honestly, nothing that you'll notice for quite a while.
Hope this helps. Good luck with your search! Only regular practice will get you where you want to be, but a good student horn will definitely keep up with you for quite a while. For what its worth, I would perform with it.
Adam
Create a free website with
Weebly
