Group 1
Please read the assignments below before watching!
Description
Join Ethan Chilton, lead at tonebase trumpet, for a two-week intensive class designed to give you structured guidance on producing a better sound. Whatever your preferred style to play, creating a balance between air and vibration can help us discover a more resonant and flowing sound!
What to Expect:
- 🔗 Guided Exercises: Each of the 4 lessons provides a simple, concrete exercise that builds on the previous one, from long tones and pitch bends to a simple flow etude. Learn by example as Ethan demonstrates and discusses the principles that make it work.
- 🎶 Expert Guidance: Led by Ethan Chilton, professional LA-based trumpeter who built the tonebase trumpet library, these sessions offer a unique insight into the tools and concepts that working trumpeters rely on every single day to have the most beautiful sound possible.
- 🤝 Community Interaction: Share your experiences, receive feedback from peers and your instructor, and engage in a supportive community of fellow music enthusiasts and aspiring producers.
Who Should Attend:
This course is tailored for a trumpeter at any level looking for some structure toward their pursuit of improving or refining their sound. No pre-requisite knowledge is required, though basic proficiency with the trumpet is highly recommended.
What is Covered:
Participants will explore how our concept of sound impacts the result, how “poo” attacks can help us balance air with vibration, what the role of the tongue is in producing an efficient sound, and how we can build flow (connection from note to note)!
No special equipment is needed to get started; just bring your enthusiasm, a working trumpet, and whatever recording tools you have—your journey to a beautiful sound begins here!
Timeline:
- Sign-Up : April 25th - April 28th
- Course Period: April 29th - May 10th
- Optional check-In via Zoom: May 6th
- Delivery of Final Feedback: May 10th
Assignments
Week 1:
Monday 4/29: Lesson 1: Introduction and Sound Concept
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbA0-jkO_rc
- Assignment: Identify 3-5 adjectives that describe the sound that YOU want for yourself. Avoid the words “bright” and “dark.” You can optionally provide the names of 3-5 players whose sounds you’d like to assimilate in some way in the way that you play. These will provide references for you as you continue in this course!
Wednesday 5/1: Lesson 2: Air and Vibration
- Assignment: Practice the long tone and bend sequence every day for the rest of this two-week intensive (and optionally, beyond!) Optionally, post a video of yourself playing the sequence, and Ethan will personally respond to every post!
Friday 5/3: Lesson 3: Engaging the Tongue / James Stamp
- Assignment: In addition to your long tone and bend sequences, practice Stamp No. 3 every day (the score is provided at the bottom of the workbook), thinking about tongue engagement and maintaining flow. Post a video of yourself playing the sequence in a few keys, and Ethan will personally respond to every post! Ask any questions that you might have in the forum below, so others can learn with you.
Week 2:
Monday 5/6: Zoom Check-In with Ethan (Optional) →
Join here from 11:00 - 11:30 AM PST
https://zoom.us/j/97436684859?pwd=UnhJNlJWNE0vUUtoWkZmYjBzR2hXUT09
Or, if you can't make this time, ask me a question and I'll send you a response!
Wednesday 5/8: Lesson 4: Concone Lyrical Etude
- Assignment: To bring it all together, submit a video recording of yourself playing Concone Lyrical Etude No. 1 (the score is provided at the bottom of the PDF Workbook). Focus on tone, flow, sound concept, and engaging the tongue. Additionally, write a short paragraph with your video about what was easy, what was challenging, and what you’d like to improve about your performance.
Friday 5/10: Final day for video submissions / last day of feedback
How to submit your assignments:
Write your assignments in a comment on this forum post (not as YouTube comment).
For submitting videos, we recommend filming videos from a smartphone and then uploading them to YouTube from your desktop computer. Set the Visibility to Unlisted (not Private). Then copy and paste the video link into your comment! Please let me know if you have any issues or questions and we will try to assist ASAP.
Best of luck to everyone, and happy practicing! 🎺
13 replies
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Whenever you have completed a lesson, please submit your assignments as a comment here! Thanks, and excited to hear you all :)
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Warm, relaxed, open, broad, clear. For lead work, I'd add commanding. For some intimate jazz work add smokey or airy.
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Hi everyone - I'm opening up my Zoom room at 11 AM PST (30 minutes from now) at the link below! I'll be around for half an hour, come stop by and we can talk about any questions you may have had with the assignment!
If you can't make this time, no sweat - you can always drop me a message!
https://zoom.us/j/97436684859?pwd=UnhJNlJWNE0vUUtoWkZmYjBzR2hXUT09
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A few lip bends; a little Stampp 3
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Lesson 4 Concone #1 Group 1
This lyrical study was more challenging than it looks. A number of elements are added beyond a long tone, all affecting sound to some degree. Tempo, pitch, note counting, some wide intervals. The most challenging parts for me were the decrescendos while the notes were climbing.
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Lesson 4: https://youtu.be/FnzwXMs4FFw
This one is deceptive. It's easy to play, hard to play well. It's very naked, and it exposes all the flaws in tone. I'm a comeback player with about 6 months of dedicated practice since picking back up, and you can hear I'm still having trouble keeping my notes centered and staying open as the pitch gets above a D. Attacks are also pretty rough still, especially when trying to do soft attacks in this piece. And of course my dynamics are pretty non-existent.