Top Ten Trumpet Teaching Tips
How to develop a pupil from a complete beginner to Grade 5 standard whilst maintaining their excitement for brass playing and keeping yourself sane!
Teaching is at its most satisfying when you can see steady improvement in your pupils and there’s a special feeling when you know that it’s your hard work which has taken them from their first note and shaped them into young musicians. Here are my top ten tips on how to achieve this.
Take pride in your skills as a teacher
‘When teaching becomes as much about you as it does the pupil, everybody benefits’
Your pupil has heard a trumpet on the radio, tv, or at a live concert which you’ve arranged your self and decided that they want to be able to make that magical sound that they’ve heard at the start of a ‘Star Wars' film as well. Great. That’s half your job done! Now that they’re sat down for their first lesson, how do you bottle that excitement and keep it going lesson upon lesson, week on week?
Be as excited for their lesson as they are. See their learning as a personal achievement and take pride in your skills as a teacher. Guide them through each stage of learning the instrument correctly. Every pupil will encounter different obstacles for which you’ll need to adapt your teaching method, use this to improve yourself as a teacher. When teaching becomes as much about you as it does the pupil, everybody benefits.
This mindset can be difficult to maintain towards the end of a long day of teaching, so try spreading your lessons out as much as you can. Multiple days when possible or even just scheduling breaks for yourself throughout the day. Less is more.
2) Get to know your pupil
‘Play a positive role in their personal as well as their musical development.’
Ask yourself, “How did I become a brass player?” For me the answer is that my early lessons were fun. My teacher was charismatic, engaging, enthusiastic and always encouraging. Every lesson there was something to laugh or smile about and they were an exciting part of the week. Be passionate about ensuring that your pupil is given the same experiences as you were afforded.
Building a strong relationship with your pupil will be key in knowing the right approach to tackle any problems as they arise. Ask them how they are, what they’ve been up to over the weekend, who their favourite musicians are, what are their hobbies… anything! Create that relationship with the pupil and share your own stories too. Remember the answers and follow up on it at the next lesson. Learning an instrument enhances and develops the essential skills needed to produce independent and hardworking individuals, and so it’s your responsibility to play a positive role in their personal as well as their musical development.
Good communication with parents and the school will help give you a broader understanding of each pupil’s specific needs.
3) Learn how to get your ideas across
‘Criticism disguised in a positive sandwich is much more easily digested’
Constructive criticism is essential, but how you say something can have a huge impact on whether or not it’s received in the right way and achieves the results you’re after. Rather than listing off the negatives in their playing which can be discouraging to a young student, frame your advice with some compliments, making sure that they’re aware of the things that are going well as well as what needs to improve. Criticism disguised in a positive sandwich is much more easily digested.
Keep these critiques simple, no more than two ideas per lesson to focus upon. Overloading a pupil with information will mean that none of it will sink in, whereas focusing on a few aspects at a time will help embed your advice into their playing style. Don’t be afraid to repeat yourself as many times as it takes and try rewording your point if it doesn’t sink in after the first few times. Don’t be afraid to repeat yourself. Don’t be afraid to repeat yourself.
Encouraging body language and tone of voice play a big part in how you come across to your pupil. If you don’t feel it, act it!
4) Form good habits early
‘It’s a marathon not a sprint’
Taking your time in the early stages will help immeasurably as your pupil progresses. If a parent is keen to move straight onto graded exams, do your best to persuade them that patience is key in setting a foundation for a young brass player. Steady progress rather than rushing through the lessons will allow time for your ideas to be fully realised. Be patient. You’ll find that your pupils will improve at vastly different rates and so your lesson plans need to alter accordingly. Encourage the pupil to keep a practice journal and check it at the beginning of each lesson whilst also keeping your own notes on the work you’ve done and want to achieve. Don’t go for quick results, it’s a marathon not a sprint. Be strict with the maintaining of correct posture but find a fun and creative way to reinforce these ideas which could otherwise become tedious.
Some typical early bad habits to watch out for ;
Using breath attack instead of the tongue
Slouching whilst playing
Overblowing
5) Have the right material
‘If they like it they’ll play it’
Having a beginner’s book that takes you through the learning process step by step with numbered achievements will make the learning process fun and challenging. Sticking to one will leave a simple and clear message to the student but don’t be afraid to go ‘off-piste’ and work on something ‘current’ such as a Christmas song in December, ’Somewhere Over the Rainbow’ during lockdown or using the motif from Frozen 2 as your mouthpiece buzzing warm up. Once you find out a bit about their background you could find a piece of music from their country or something from their favourite artist that you could make a simple arrangement of. The more they relate to the music that they’re playing the more likely they are to practice and perform at home to parents or guardians.
Don’t be afraid to use technology as long as you’re staying within the school’ or your own safeguarding policy. Encourage them to listen to brass music on YouTube, to record themselves during practice, to play along to backing tracks.
Some beginner’s books to consider include ‘Essential Elements’, ‘Tune a Day’ by C. Paul Herfurth, ‘Simple Studies for Beginner Brass’ by John Miller, ‘Team Brass’ by Richard Duckett ‘A New Tune a Day’ by Brian Thompson ‘Abracadabra Trumpet’ by Alan Tomlinson. Many beginner books come with backing track C.D.’s and the voice memo app on most android phones will produce a good enough recording.
6) Turn learning into play
‘We don’t work music, we play music’
Most children are naturally competitive and love being set challenges. Try to make learning the instrument as fun as possible by setting both short term and long-term tasks. The long-term tasks such as completing the beginner book or working towards their grades come quite easily, but short-term goal setting can be vital in how engaged your pupil will remain in the process. During early lessons use simple tasks such as ‘time yourself and see how long you can hold that note’ or the paper challenge- ‘how long can you hold a piece of paper up on the wall with your breath’. We don’t work music, we play music, turn your lessons into a game.
7) Know your teaching philosophy
Think about the way you approach brass playing and try to pass that on to your student. I aim for a sound led approach and encourage the pupil to be thinking about creating a beautiful sound above all else. Your approach may be different but it’s important to have thought about what your teaching philosophy is so that all your lessons have an underlying continuity to them. Read up on some other brass teachings such as ‘The Trumpet- it’s practice and performance’ by Howard Snell, ‘Teaching Brass’ by Kristian Steenstrup or ‘Arnold Jacobs: Song and Wind’ by Brian Frederiksen to give yourself a better idea of the approach that suits your style.
8) Play during lessons
Your pupil will learn just as much from hearing you play as they will from listening to what you say. Give examples of the passages that you’re asking them to learn and play both with them and in a question and answer scenario. Try to create a ‘performance situation as often as possible by asking them to introduce the piece before a run through at the end of the lesson, suggesting that they play the piece at home to anyone that will listen or look for performance opportunities within the school. It’s also important that you keep on top of the pupil’s sight-reading skills by introducing new pieces as and when you can and working on the theory behind the music and what to look out for when confronted with a new piece.
9) Top up your safeguarding knowledge
If you are working within a school then you will need to read and fully understand their safeguarding policy, which will include information on who to speak to if you notice anything that you feel should be reported. It’s also a good idea to draft up your own safeguarding policy for any private lessons that you teach, especially when teaching online. Use a school’s policy as a reference point and invite the parents to add anything that they feel would be suitable as well.
Here are some suggestions for online safeguarding policy suggestions;
- lessons should take place with a family member present (within hearing distance to the lesson)
- lessons should take place in a communal area of the house
- if the lesson platform allows (Zoom/Skype), the lesson will be recorded
- the online link will be created between myself and the parent or guardians contact details, never the pupils.
10) ‘Kids Rules’
Here’s a list of ‘Kids Rules’ I found on a poster in Clapham Market, if you can encourage your pupil to do these things whilst developing their technical ability on the instrument, you’re doing well.
Be Kind - Find your passions - Don’t give up - Do hard things - Have fun - Make your voice heard - Believe in the impossible - Be yourself - Keep learning - Rest.