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Shifting Emphasis
Before I write about the Trumpet Pioneer Tonalization Studies, I want to get everyone up to date on why we are putting the compositions on hold for a while.
We are currently shifting emphasis for our business from compositions to books. This is not because we finished publishing the compositions. I have a drawer full of unpublished pieces that greatly need my attention.
And in fact, the shift towards publishing books instead was a difficult one, because I really want to finish these pieces. I truly believe that people are going to enjoy the trumpet ensembles in that drawer.
As much as I really want to publish these pieces, it was even more important to start publishing books again.
We haven’t published any new books in over a year. I think our most recent book was the Trumpet Hymn Duets book, which we published in 2021. We went all of 2022 without publishing a single book.
And maybe that sounds to you like it’s nothing to complain about. When I see a year go by without any books being published, I begin to panic. We have a list of twenty books we want to publish, and another ten ideas that we want to explore.
Of these, several of them are just over the edge of being ready to publish. In fact, it is my hope (God willing) that we will be able to publish four books in the first half of 2023.
I hope you can see this from my perspective. Most of my books exist because they have the potential to help people. When I see the book publishing stagnate the way it has, I see it as a loss of opportunity to help people who need it.
Trumpet Pioneer Tonalization Studies
And THAT’S why we prioritized the Pioneer Tonalization Studies over the other books that are ready to publish. The Pioneer Tonalization Studies book has the greatest potential to help trumpet players around the world.
One of the things that I am very good at, as a trumpet teacher, is helping beginners get started off on the right track.
By the way, I am also very good at helping them fix their problems when they get off on the wrong track! But I can attest to the fact that it is ALWAYS better to learn to play trumpet correctly the first time and avoid having to fix problems.
With the Trumpet Pioneer Tonalization Studies, I can share part of my beginner method with people who are unfamiliar with the way I teach. There is more to it than just mastering the scales, but this is an important part of how I teach my beginner trumpet students. And now, you have access to part of that method in book form.
Three Books in One
Most of the musical material in the Trumpet Pioneer Tonalization Studies book is not new. Years ago, we published these exercises in three separate ebooks that we called “Modules”. In our old concept of ecommerce, we defined “Modules” as very short eBooks.
We still like the module concept, but not under our old definition. And I won’t go into that here.
For the new version of the Trumpet Pioneer Tonalization Studies, we combined three pre-existing modules, dovetailed them into a sequential method, and then added pedagogical text so everyone will know precisely what to do with the exercises.
In that regard, I believe it is the best Tonalization Study book we’ve published. It is far more plug-n-play than the old versions used to be.
The Pedagogical Text
I made a very difficult decision about the text of the book, based on the idea that almost everyone will chose to NOT read the text. Those who do will want the best descriptions and instructions that I have to offer.
So I did NOT tone the language down to the level we would expect for beginners. Some might believe that this is because most of my students are adults. But even the adults tend to not read the text.
No, I wrote the text for the teachers. The Trumpet Pioneer Tonalization Studies book is part a trumpet pedagogical method. It’s a method that works and has been put to the test hundreds of times over the past several decades.
My greatest desire for the text is clarity. I want people around the world to understand precisely how the method works.
I encourage children who have difficulty with the text to ask their teachers or their parents for help understanding it.
Book Content
Aside from the pedagogical text, the exercises in the book consist of major scale expansion studies, beginner tonalization studies, and range limited tonalization studies in all twelve keys.
As I said before, each of these used to be a separate module in our old system. They went unpublished for years before we decided to put them together in book form.
The Pioneer Tonalization Studies in book form are greatly improved from their previous modular format in that the exercises are presented in the order for which the students need them. In the old modular format, the students were required to jump around from module to module to execute the method correctly.
The Pioneer Tonalization Studies book presents the exercises in clearly defined “Steps” that someone who doesn’t read the text will probably know exactly what to do anyway. We’ve even added check boxes to keep track of your progress.
Commercial Viability?
I don’t expect this book to make a lot of money at first. In fact, I anticipate that my own beginner students (those who sign up after the book is published) will use it more than the general public.
Part of the reason for this is the way people tend to learn how to play an instrument. They first begin by “trying” on their own. This “trying” is in no way educational or structured. It is very rare for me to get a student who thought it was best to learn with a teacher from the very beginning.
In fact, most of my beginner students are trumpet players who have been playing for a few months, couldn’t figure it out, and decided it was time to have a teacher help them. But by that point, the damage can be very severe.
Truly.
It’s not hopeless. But it is difficult!
It is ALWAYS better to start your first days of trumpet playing with a teacher who knows how to teach beginners. Someone with a proven method.
But yes, the truth is, most people don’t approach learning an instrument that way. They jump in, make all sorts of dreadful mistakes, then later hope someone can help them unlearn what they learned wrong.
There is much greater potential for the Pioneer Tonalization Studies book to be used by trumpet teachers, but most of them already have their own methods. In most cases, these are methods that were handed down to them from their own teachers.
And that’s fine.
But as you can see, there probably will not be a lot of sales of this book. Most people who buy this book will be using it to help fix the problems they created when they learned wrong in their first days on the trumpet.
Fixing Old Problems
That said, the Pioneer Tonalization Studies can do a great job at resetting after learning things wrong. Just keep in mind, when you learn something wrong, it takes a long time and lots of effort to correct. This is because what you are trying to correct is in your own mind. When you learn something wrong, in music, and then try to fix it, what you are fixing is inside of your head.
Unfortunately, most people don’t know how to do that.
Great for Come Back Players
Comeback trumpet students come with their own set of unique problems. If you have been away from the trumpet for many years, then instead of trying to just JUMP IN and regain your past prowess overnight, it’s better to be more surefooted.
Yes, the Pioneer Tonalization Studies book is part of my beginner method. Yes, this material will be far too easy for you. You won’t get a thrill out of playing these scales or following this system.
What you will get, however, is a solid footing on which to base the rest of your trumpet comeback.
Questions or Comments?
I encourage you to post your questions or comments here, or to contact me on our contact page. Tell us your stories about how you started on the trumpet. Was it good? Or were there problems?
