Trumpet Pioneer Tonalization Studies

Description

Trumpet Pioneer Tonalization Studies

by Eddie Lewis

Are you looking for a scale book for beginner trumpet students?

The Trumpet Pioneer Tonalization Studies book is the first book in our Tonalization Study series of books. It takes the beginner from two notes of C major to playing three major keys from low F sharp to third space C.

If beginner trumpet students follow the instructions properly, then they will have established a firm foundation upon which they will build a wonderful trumpet career. The key is to practice the exercises properly, with the correct number of repetitions and being sure of the fingerings before you play the exercises.

Contents

The Trumpet Pioneer Tonalization Studies book has three types of exercise; major scale expansion studies, beginner tonalization studies, and range limited, more advanced tonalization studies. The exercises were originally published on our old website as modules. We discontinued those modules when we upgraded to the current website platform.

We made the decision to combine all three of the modules into a single book. The main reason for this was to make the materials easier to use. The first half of the Trumpet Pioneer Tonalization Studies book is in sequential order. In the old, modular system, the students had to hop from module to module in order to use the materials correctly. With this new setup, we anticipate more students will execute the materials correctly, thereby greatly enhancing their benefits.

Expansion Studies

The expansion studies used to be a separate set of exercises that I assigned to my students who struggled with scales or playing in different keys. Over the years, I learned that the expansion studies work for everyone, especially the beginners.

The expansion studies take more time and patience than the Tonalization Studies. So I want to spend a little time here writing about the rewards of doing them properly, with the full ten repetitions of each exercise. The older I get as a teacher, the more often I find myself helping students FIX problems that they practiced into their trumpet playing. Most of the time, those problems could have been avoided by being more careful and more thorough it the students practice time.

The music we read is framed within tonal structures that we call “keys”. Mastering those keys gives our minds the freedom to think about the other aspects of music. If we don’t need to think about notes, then we are free to think about other things like rhythms and dynamics.

Everyone who practices the expansion studies knows that they are “too easy”. On exercise number one, even the earliest beginners can play them right all ten times. The expansion studies are not about “can you get it right”. They are about programming your mind to play those notes automatically. To get the full benefit of the exercises, you MUST play them correctly a full ten times.

Let’s put it this way, if the expansion studies are not too easy for you, then you better do something about that before you practice. If these exercises are difficult enough that you keep missing fingerings, then you weren’t careful enough to know those fingerings before you started.

Also worth noting here is that the expansion studies are only done once. They are an introductory exercise and when you complete them, you never need to return to them again.

Beginner Tonalization Studies

Beginner Tonalization Studies have had the rhythms changed in order to give the students more time to think between patterns. Instead of eighth-notes, the exercises are quarter, quarter, half. The half note is designed to give you time to think about the next three notes.

These are to be done only after you have completed the expansion studies for that key. Notice the Steps in the book. They are given in sequential order so there is no confusion.

Do the beginner Tonalization Studies once per day for ten days. Let’s be clear about that. There are four beginner tonalization studies in each key. When you practice them, do all four of them, then stop. That’s all you need for that day. There is no benefit to practicing them again on the same day.

Tomorrow, when you practice again, do all four beginner Tonalization Studies again. Do this for ten days before moving on to the next key.

When you finish all three beginner keys, then you can alternate ten days at a time in the different keys. This is is all spelled out in the book.

Range Limited Tonalization Studies

The last part of the Trumpet Pioneer Tonalization Studies book contains 20 Tonalization Studies in all 12 keys. They are range limited to C in the staff. These are meant to be used by more advanced students in the range limiting described in our One Range book.

As a beginner, you can explore the more advanced studies in this book if you approach them with the proper procedure. But the true value of these exercises will come into play when you graduate to the higher levels in our method.