How to Improve Your Sight Reading

Sight reading is an area in which many musicians struggle. I think that in order to be a good musician, you need to be strong in all areas of your technique. Here are some tips to help you improve your sight reading:

1. Work out the speed in your head before you start. Look at the time signature, clap a pulse and go through the music in your head.
2. Rhythm. Look at any difficult rhythms and clap them out loud whilst keeping the pulse in your head.
3. Look at the key signature. An important step to work out any sharps or naturals that you have to play.
4. Pitch notes in your head before you play them. This step is especially important for brass players to ensure there are no split notes. 
5. Look at dynamics, articulation, changes in tempo etc. The final step to make your performance musical and to add expression to the music. 

Player Insight: Tine Thing Helseth

Tine Thing Helseth is a Norwegian trumpet player, specialising in classical music. As well as a solo career she also runs an all female brass ensemble called 'TenThing' who performed at the BBC Proms in 2013. She has definitely had an impact on adjusting the male stereotype of the trumpet along with other players such as Alison Balsom.

She has a recording contract with EMI at present and has a few different albums:

• My Heart is Ever Present
• Trumpet Concertos 
• Storyteller 
• Tine
• 10 (TenThing)

My favourite album is her trumpet concertos album. I think she has interpreted the classics Haydn, Hummel and Neruda beautifully and is definitely worth a listen.

One of my favourite performances by Tine was when she played 'Libertango' at the 100th anniversary of the woman's right to vote in Norway. Listen below:

She has a beautiful rich tone and uses a Bach 1 1/4 C mouthpiece on all of her trumpets except the piccolo, on which she uses a 7F.

Watch a brilliant interview with Tine below on 'Sarah's Horn Hangout':



Visit her website here.

Music Gifts I Received for Christmas 2013

Hope everyone had a lovely Christmas. I certainly did and wanted to share some of the music related gifts that I received with you all.

Jo-Ral Copper Bubble Mute
This is the gift that I am most excited to receive. The mute has a beautiful rich sound and is especially perfect for jazz musicians.

Denis Wick Cup Mute
This is a mute that I have used before, but never owned. It is a very popular mute used by many professional musicians. The cup is adjustable, making it very versatile.

Protec Triple Mouthpiece Pouch
I really love this mouthpiece pouch. It is made of a nylon material, is very sturdy and definitely has enough protection for my mouthpieces.

Protec Single Mouthpiece Pouch
I wanted this for my cornet mouthpiece and as with the triple pouch, it does the job perfectly.

Claude Gordon's Systematic Approach to Daily Practice
This is something that I have had my eye on for a while and I am very happy to have received it. It aims to build up your range, endurance, stamina etc over a year. It contains 52 lessons, each to be carried out for at least a week. I want to do a full review of this product once I have tested it out for a few weeks. One thing I will say after trying it out today is that each of the exercises are very time consuming, but if you are serious about improving your technique then I would definitely recommend having a look at this book.

Music Journal
I also received this beautiful little A5 music journal. It has very thick cream-coloured paper, each double page spread including lines to write on as well as staves to jot down music. A highly recommended gift!

Music Calendar 
With 2014 fast approaching, I also received a musical instrument themed calendar. It contains beautiful illustrations of many different instruments and is a perfect size for me (note that it is about A5 size).

The Trumpets of Famous Trumpet Players

I have spent the morning searching the internet to find out the brands of trumpets used by some of my

favourite professionals. Here is a few that I have found:

Alison Balsom - Malone-converted Bach C trumpet

Wynton Marsalis - One of a kind trumpet made especially for him by Dave Monette.

Maynard Ferguson - Monette MF PRANA

Jens Lindemann - Yamaha 24K gold plated trumpets

Malcolm McNab - B&S trumpets

Chris Jaudes - B&S JBX

Herb Alpert - Kanstul / Benge / King Silver Flair

Maurice Andre - Mainly Selmer Trumpets (Bach 1/2 C Mouthpiece)

Chris Botti - Martin Committee large bore handcraft trumpet (1939)

Francisco Pacho Flores - Stomvi

Do you know any more? What kind of trumpet do you play? leave a comment below :)

Free Hark! the Herald Angels Sing Trumpet Duet Download!

A duet of Hark! the Herald Angels Sing that I have arranged for 2 trumpets in Bb. 

I have transposed to F major to make it slightly lower for less able players. 1st trumpet plays the melody, while the 2nd trumpet plays the descant which would usually be much higher. This makes it suitable for two players at different levels.

Download for free here.

Listen below:

Yamaha Xeno Trumpet - 1 Year On

A year ago I purchased a Yamaha Xeno 8335 trumpet. After using it daily for the past year, I thought that it was time to do an updated review.

Considering I have used it on a daily basis for a year, it still looks in near perfect condition. The lacquer has held up extremely well and I have had absolutely no problems with it at all. The trumpet is extremely well constructed and I still love the way that the valves feel.

I find that this horn is perfectly suited to me. I have always used Yamaha and it is a brand that I definitely trust. I would definitely recommend trying before you buy though, as everyone is different. It is a very versatile trumpet that can be adapted to all styles of music and has a beautiful vibrant tone across all registers and volumes. It is very free blowing in all registers.

I personally really like the mouthpiece that comes with the horn and have continued using it for the year. It is a Yamaha Custom 16C4-GP. It is quite a large mouthpiece so definitely would not be recommended for less experienced players. It has an inbuilt tone 'booster' that, because of the added weight, helps to stabilise notes and allows better control whether you're playing loud or soft. It is gold plated on the inside that gives a warmer sound.

I have ditched the case for a smaller more portable gig bag, but it is a perfectly good case if you need to carry two trumpets or for added protection. The case is very well built and I personally find it has a very nice appearance in comparison to other cases. It is also lockable which is useful if you want added security.

Find out more about the Yamaha Xeno range here.

Watch the video below to hear how the Xeno sounds: