The Top 10 Things to aim for when starting the trumpet....

I get asked all the time, so here is my story, and I am sticking to it!

Trumpet is a frustrating beast sometimes... but here are my basic suggestions... 

1. Take relaxed, full breaths. Keep air support steady, and lift and push with your diaphragm muscles when you you want to play higher and/or louder. Don't close off your throat ever!
2. Play softly and keep the lips together to get a clear tone, especially at first. Pucker your lips slightly forward... don't smile/stretch your lips. Putting your lips to the horn in a relaxed natural manner is the best route and is the most sustainable when you start to play harder.
3. Play long tones... DAILY... aim for 30 seconds without wavering. Start in the middle of your natural range and move up the notes in 1/2 steps
4. Rest as often as you play , ie: ON for 1 minute, OFF for one minute, working up to ON for 5 minutes, OFF for 5, 10, etc   
5. It is better to play 10 minutes every day than 30 minutes every 3 days, but 30 mins every day is a good goal for a newbie. Two hours a day for pros...
6. Listen carefully to what you are playing and what pitch and rhythm is happening around you, whether playing with a group or with records.. playing with ANY records/CD is good. 
7. Make every note count: Try to 'hear it' in your head before it ever comes out, and when it does, 'place it' accurately and confidently  
8. Learn to READ music and learn to LISTEN to music, you need both skills to improvise and make the trumpet fun!
9. Use a metronome if possible and learn your chromatic scale as high and low as you can go, fluid and smooth... start slow and make it even. Add major, minor, etc scales as you go.
10. K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple Stupid) Playing a few confident well chosen or pretty notes is way more satisfying than spewing a hot mess.... ;)

Gabriel's Starpixie moves up Billboard charts again!

After five weeks the first single from Kissed By The Sun is now at #15 on Billboard.....
Nestled in with some great company, too ....
Many thanks to Neil Sapper at New World 'n' Jazz, all the loyal and supportive MDs, my guest performers, and my 'partner in crime' Jeff Lorber, for his mad skills! GMH

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Www.Gabrieljazz.com

A new FOUR STAR (out of four) CD review from Europe: http://www.smoothjazz.eu

Gabriel Mark Hasselbach - KISSED BY THE SUN
  • Gabriel Mark Hasselbach  - 
  • KISSED BY THE SUN (2012) 
  • Wind Tunnel Records
  • Nr.: WT 361399
  • Distributor: Independent
  • Website: http://www.amazon.com/Kissed-Sun-Gabriel-Mark-Hasselbach/dp/B0086GEFHE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1347296670&sr=8-1&keywords=gabriel+mark+hasselbach+kissed+by+the+sun
  • Rating: 

    • After his success album ‘Told Ya So’ and receiving ‘Album of the Year’ and ‘Instrumentalist of the Year’ honours, trumpeter Gabriel Mark Hasselbach is back with a new recording. Here, a lot of special guests lend him a hand, like Jeff Lorber, Chuck Loeb, Brian Bromberg, Rob Tardik, Rock Hendricks and Walle Larson. And Gabriel surely delivers! Together with Lorber, he wrote and produced every track on the CD. When you hear ‘King James’, you’ll think of the funk of James Brown. Rock Hendricks adds his saxophone to the tune. With ‘Lock It Up’ we arrive in a more funky jazzy surrounding. The sax is passed on to Walle Larsson. ‘Kindness’ is a softer track, nice smooth jazz. Chuck Loeb on guitar and Brian Bromberg on bass come together with Gabriel for the calm, smooth and traditional ‘Funk In Deep Freeze’. On ‘Unreal Blues’ I hear the keyboard of Jeff Lorber in duet with Gabriel’s trumpet, while the title track flows by nice and smoothly. Rob Tardik’s guitar gives ‘It’s Real’ a romantic mid-tempo atmosphere, followed by the first single ‘Starpixie’. This track breathes again Jeff Lorber’s touch on the keys, and Gabriel follows in those steps with his trumpet. If you are ‘Ready When You Are’, you’ll hear a wonderful romantic tune. And we close this CD with the funk drenched ‘No One Like You’, on the edge of Lorber’s contemporary jazz. On the whole, this is an outstanding album with fine collaborations! Gabriel has done it again!            Patrick Van de Wiele

    Kissed By The Sun moves up again!

    Very, Very cool... ...alexander Boynton jr. Sent from my iPhone

    On 2012-09-04, at 8:13 PM, Gabriel M H wrote:

    > Eighteen new spins this week moves KBTS up the ladder! Thanks MDs and PDs for your enthusiasm and continued support...... 300+ is in sight!
    > >
    > > > Currently in Quebec City on a five day performance event...
    > > All content, merchandise, and shows updated at www.GabrielJazz.com
    >