Pratica strumentale

Tarr, Edward H.

The Baroque trumpet, the high trumpet and the so-called Bach trumpet

Edward H. Tarr examines the Baroque trumpet and clarifies the origins and meaning of the so-called “Bach trumpet.”

Baumann, Hermann

Which Horn for which Music?

Article discussing the choice of horn according to repertoire, comparing instruments, sound ideals and stylistic requirements.

Aebi, Willi

The inner acoustics of the horn

Study of the horn’s inner acoustics, explaining how its structure and air column influence tone production and intonation.

Tarr, Edward H.

The Baroque trumpet, the high trumpet and the so-called Bach trumpet

Continuation of Edward H. Tarr’s study on the Baroque trumpet, examining the high trumpet and further clarifying the concept of the “Bach trumpet.”

Globokar, Vinko

Possibilities for development of brass instruments (1967)

Experimental study by Vinko Globokar on extended techniques for brass instruments, covering microtonality, voice-instrument interaction and new sound production methods.

Krueger, Harold E.

An American trumpet player's impressions of european brass performances

An American trumpet player reflects on European brass traditions, comparing education, amateur practice and professional performance across both continents.

Knodt, Heinz

Singing lessons for brass players?

Explores how vocal training can benefit brass players, improving breathing, phrasing, tone production and musical expression.

Bouché, Robert

The column of air

A System of Breathing for Brass Players

Explains the role of the air column in brass playing, focusing on breath support, airflow control and their impact on tone, articulation and sound quality.

Mertens, Albert

The trombone in Belgium

Published in memory of its author, this article reflects on the trombone tradition in Belgium and his lasting contribution.

Lloyd, Leno

Lip vibration characteristics

of the trombone embouchure in performance

Study of lip vibration in trombone performance, analyzing embouchure behavior and its impact on sound production and control.

Saxton, Earl S.

Horn singing

Earl S. Saxton advocates a “singing” approach to horn playing, emphasizing tone production through vibration, breath control and vocal-inspired technique.

Janetzky, Kurt

Impossible?

Kurt Janetzky challenges the notion of the “impossible” in brass playing, arguing that technical limits evolve and that demanding repertoire—past or present—should never be dismissed as unplayable.

Orval, Francis

The F/Bb horn with whole-tone ascending 3rd valve

A different horn, a different approach: Francis Orval explores how an ascending 3rd valve reshapes technique, intonation and response.

Perantoni, Daniel

Contemporary systems and trends for the tuba

New music, new rules: Daniel Perantoni explores extended techniques, graphic notation and the evolving language of the tuba.

Tucci, Robert

The tuba in Europe

Why does the tuba sound different across Europe? Robert Tucci explores national styles, instruments and orchestral traditions.

Huber, Heinrich

The trombone: changing times, changing slide positions

Did trombonists always use seven positions? Heinrich Huber reveals how history, theory and early music reshaped the slide.

Krol, Bernhard

Why pretend to be Mozart?

The concerto’s cadenza: copy of style — or bold but true?

Should a cadenza imitate the past—or speak in today’s voice? Bernhard Krol questions the tradition of stylistic imitation and argues for cadenzas that bridge past and present with authenticity.

Bing, William W.

A scientific study of pulmonary function

As applied to wind instrument playing, with emphasis on the study of lung function in trumpet playing

Do trumpet players breathe differently? William W. Bing shows not really—except for greater lung capacity tied to endurance, with no harmful effects.

Fulkerson, James

Low register development for the trombone

Should you really drop the jaw for low notes? James Fulkerson challenges this idea and proposes a more stable approach to extend the low register.

Westhof, Theo

My new developed descant double horn

Why does the ideal horn not exist? Theo Westhof designs a new descant double horn to solve tuning and tone issues—without compromise.

Douay, Jean

The trombone in Maurice Ravel's Bolero

How should Boléro’s trombone solo be played? After 100 performances, Jean Douay challenges conventions and argues for a more supple, controlled approach.

Damm, Peter

Why pretend to be Mozart?

Reply to Bernhard Krol

Should a cadenza imitate Mozart? Peter Damm argues for stylistic fidelity without imitation—at the heart of a debate with Bernhard Krol.

Mathez, Jean-Pierre

A talk with Rolf Quinque

What if strength is the wrong approach? Rolf Quinque traces his shift from force to mastery through controlled breathing, discipline, and relaxed playing.

Höltzel, Michael

My contacts with the United States

From a simple request to an unexpected invitation: this account dives into Indiana University—between dazzling technique and the search for true musicality.

Willener, Alfred

Advices from an expert brass clinician: Robert Pichaureau, Paris

What if everything you control is wrong? This radical approach to brass playing shifts focus away from the embouchure — back to the true origin of breath and sound.

Mathez, Jean-Pierre

Editorial

Is sound something you control—or something you become? Jean-Pierre Mathez challenges technique, fashion, and pedagogy: sonority is a lifelong conquest of freedom.

Douay, Jean

The trombone in Maurice Ravel's Boléro

Boléro as ordeal: Jean Douay reveals stage fright, pressure, and the weight of the final solo—where one moment can elevate or undermine the entire orchestra.

Stancil, Daniel D.

Use of a spectral model in developing concepts of tuba timbre

Can great tuba sound be measured? This groundbreaking study turns timbre into data — offering a visual model that could transform how players hear and shape their sound.

Krumpfer, Hans-Joachim

Problems of teaching methods in brass instruction

Talent isn’t enough. Krumpfer argues that brass teaching must align physiology, psychology, and method—only then can young players reach their true potential.

Tarr, Edward H.

Cesare Bendinelli (1542-1617)

The Trumpet Method

The first trumpet method rediscovered: Edward H. Tarr reveals how Bendinelli’s 1614 treatise reshapes our understanding of trumpet technique, signals, and ensemble art.

Perrins, Barrie

Some thoughts on the euphonium and euphonium technique

The euphonium revealed: Barrie Perrins explores its history, technique, and expressive power—making a compelling case for its place as one of brass’s most versatile solo voices.

Damm, Peter

On the question of articulation in the horn concertos by W. A. Mozart

How should Mozart really sound? Peter Damm questions traditional editions and reveals how articulation—often missing—must be rebuilt through style, listening, and musical judgment.

Orvid, G. · Riaouzov, S.

Mikhail Innokentiévitch Tabakov (1877-1958)

Founder of the Soviet trumpet school

A towering figure of trumpet history: Tabakov shaped generations—including the legendary Timofei Dokchitzer—and laid the foundations of the Soviet trumpet school.

Kurath, Willi

Tuba and Euphonium today

A new era for low brass: Willy Kurath explores how modern tuba and euphonium design—driven by innovation and collaboration—redefines sound, technique, and solo potential.

Thein, Heinrich

The contrabass trombone

Picture and sketches, taking particularly into account the construction principles (1973)

Inside the workshop of innovation: Heinrich Thein reveals how rethinking every detail—from valves to bell—transforms the contrabass trombone into a modern orchestral instrument

Mathez, Jean-Pierre

Maurice André

Biography

Maurice André reflects on maturity—balancing performance, recordings and teaching, refining his approach to instruments and audience, and preparing for the limits of a virtuoso career.

Bloch, Colin

The bell-tuning trumpet

Colin Bloch examines bell- and slide-tuned trumpets, comparing intonation patterns through controlled tests and outlining structural causes behind observed deviations.

Ree Wekre, Frøydis

Being a woman brass player... So what?

Frøydis Ree Wekre reflects on women in brass playing, examining physical assumptions, psychological factors, and practical realities across performance and professional life.

Selianin, Anatoly

Vassily Gueorguievitch Brandt (1869–1923)

Biography

Sélianine traces Brandt’s life and artistry, from Bolshoi virtuoso to influential pedagogue, revealing the foundations of a distinctly Russian trumpet tradition.

Stevens, Thomas

The Trumpet in the USA

Across competitions, teaching and equipment in the U.S., trumpet practice exposes clashing ideas of musicality, raising the question of shared standards beyond national styles

Ree Wekre, Frøydis

The Leningrad School of Horn Playing

From St. Petersburg to the Soviet era, generations of horn players shaped a distinctive approach to sound, interpretation, and orchestral playing.

Mathez, Jean-Pierre

Barry Tuckwell

Interview

Between the London Symphony Orchestra, international solo tours and Mozart or Strauss concertos, Barry Tuckwell reflects on sound, risk and musical instinct.

Mathez, Jean-Pierre

Editorial

From cultural codes to personal sincerity, Jean-Pierre Mathez questions how musicians recognise truth across styles, traditions and musical languages.

Poncet, Jacques

On the sensitivity of brass instruments

Cold-hammered hunting horns retain a tactile memory of sound and playing, leading Jacques Poncet to question how brass instruments evolve in use.

Runyan, William E.

The alto trombone and contemporary concepts of trombone timbre

Alto trombone timbre from Vienna to Brahms, orchestral balance, period practice, and why bright brass sounds gradually disappeared.

Stevens, Thomas

The Trumpet in the USA

Gadgets I

From Schilke soundposts to piccolo trumpet extensions, American performers turned technical frustrations into specialized tools for modern playing.

Quinque, Rolf

ASA-Method

From Bach’s clarino tradition to modern piccolo trumpet playing, extreme high-register technique is tied here to breath support, pressure control and disciplined endurance.

Bobo, Roger

Dynamics in the 80's

From Reykjavik to the Hollywood Bowl, rising concert hall scale and amplified culture reshape orchestral sound, leaving acoustic limits exposed.

Agrell, Jeffrey

Zen and the Art of Horn playing

From meditation to distance running, horn playing becomes a way of quieting mental noise, linking breath, concentration, and daily life.

Ricquier, Michel

Relaxation and musical performance

Breath, fingers and muscular tension form a hidden technical chain in wind playing, as Michel Ricquier links virtuosity to bodily awareness.

Laplace, Michel

The founders of the French Trumpet School

Merri Franquin, Eugène Foveau and Raymond Sabarich

Franquin, Foveau and Sabarich appear through their Paris careers, teaching legacies, recordings and role in shaping modern French trumpet playing.

Stevens, Thomas

Editorial

So your trumpet plays in tune

Keyboard tuning, just intonation and string phrasing place brass players between conflicting pitch systems, as Thomas Stevens outlines practical compromises.

Stamp, James

Practical Hints

Built around Herbert L. Clarke’s Technical Studies, these practice routines refine flexibility, intonation and note placement through structured brass exercises.

Dokschidser, Timofey

Articulation or bowing on the trumpet

Trumpet articulation becomes a precise study of attack, sustain, release and legato, linking tongue, breath, lips and sound in Dokshitser’s method.

Ferron, Emile

On the sensitivity of brass instruments

Metal, pressure nodes and temperature shifts shape response, timbre and tuning, as Emile Ferron links instrument acoustics to the player’s imprint.

Ricquier, Michel

The use of the mind in instrumental performance

Relaxation, concentration and mental imagery reshape technical practice, linking self-confidence and instrumental control beyond physical training alone.

Janetzky, Kurt

300 Years of the Horn in Bohemia

An unsigned portrait from the Dresden court links the rise of Bohemian horn playing to the ceremonial world of Baroque hunting culture.

Dokschidser, Timofey

Articulation or bowing on the trumpet

Trumpet articulation becomes a full performing language, from détaché and staccato to legato, glissando, dynamics and score interpretation.

Sauer, Ralf

Transcription fundamentals

Between Bach fugues and Mozart concertos, Ralph Sauer questions where brass transcription renews a work — and where it merely imitates.

Sluchin, Benny

A Trombone Martyr

Auguste Léonard de la Tuilerie

A Paris apothecary turned trombone evangelist challenges 19th-century musical habits, imagining the slide trombone as the future voice of harmony.

Bishop, Ronald T.

Cleveland Orchestra Audition in 1966

George Szell’s demanding 1966 audition process unfolds through orchestral excerpts, dynamic extremes and the search for absolute ensemble precision.

Mathez, Jean-Pierre

Editorial

Progress by Stages

Between technical routine and lived experience, musical growth emerges through setbacks, observation and the gradual shaping of an individual voice.

Damm, Peter

300 Years of the Horn

in the Dresden Court Orchestra

From Dresden’s court musicians to Hampel’s hand-horn technique, virtuoso players and court repertoire shaped a decisive shift in horn playing and orchestral writing.

Elias, Joel

Basics in breathing

An Outline to a Better Sound

From breathing awareness to sound production, practical exercises link physical relaxation, air control and rhythmic precision in everyday brass playing.

Leuba, Christopher

A study of musical intonation

Resultant tones, harmonic series ratios and chord spacing challenge equal temperament, linking acoustics and practical ensemble intonation.

Agrell, Jeffrey

The first european horn symposium

A week in Trossingen brought leading horn players, Mozart debates, natural-horn controversies and lasting friendships at a landmark European gathering.

Mathez, Jean-Pierre

Empire Brass Quintet

Portrait in brief

From New York to Boston, five brass players built a chamber music identity rooted in Ewald, early music and a string-quartet approach to ensemble sound.

Stevens, Thomas

The Trumpet in the USA

Gadgets II

Mouthpiece backbores for piccolo and C trumpet are compared through practical performer testing, linking equipment choices to sound, volume and intonation.

Bobo, Roger

Arnold Jacobs

Interview

Two tuba giants meet in 1979 Chicago, where Arnold Jacobs turns technique, sound, orchestral life and pedagogy into a lasting musical ethic.

Stamp, James

Practical Hints

A single Clarke study becomes a lesson in note placement, breath control and continuity, as James Stamp reshapes a familiar exercise through preparation.

Ricquier, Michel

The subconscious, a useful friend

From yogic practices to auto-hypnosis, mental conditioning and visualisation are linked to performance, self-control, and the body's hidden responses.

Leuba, Christopher

A study of musical intonation

From harmonic-series tuning to valve-slide adjustments on the horn, practical listening and resonance become more reliable guides than equal temperament alone.

Ferron, Emile

Harmonics or partials?

Behind every brass note lies a compromise between acoustical theory and instrument design, as E. Ferron questions what players call a harmonic.

Mathez, Jean-Pierre

Editorial

Beyond technique and instruction, musical growth depends on trusted relationships, where friendship becomes both a measure of progress and a safeguard against isolation.

Leuba, Christopher

A study of musical intonation

From wind quintets to brass sections, balance, overtones and perception shape intonation in ways that often diverge from measurable frequency.

Cramer, William F.

Blowing as a body function

Breathing habits, posture and body mechanics converge in a practical view of tone production, where William F. Cramer questions prevailing assumptions.

Bobo, Roger

Arnold Jacobs

Interview

From Curtis to Chicago, a tuba player's path crosses Reiner, Koussevitzky and Ormandy, while teaching evolves toward breathing, thought and musical function.

Ferron, Emile

Instrument Making and the Ear

From hearing physiology to workshop testing, E. Ferron links instrument design, acoustics and perception, where no two ears judge sound in quite the same way.

Sommerhalder, Max

Working with the Posaunenchor

From Württemberg youth groups to mass brass gatherings in Ulm, a community tradition links faith, education and amateur brass playing across generations.

Sluchin, Benny

Playing and singing simultaneously on brass instruments

From Weber and Vivier to contemporary solo works, singing into the brass instrument becomes a multiphonic technique shaped by notation, acoustics, and practice.

Willener, Alfred

The Haydn Trumpet Concerto

As editions, instruments and traditions diverge, Haydn’s trumpet concerto becomes a lens on notation, style and the shifting meaning of performance.

Hiller, Albert

The Trumpet in the Works of Jean-Philippe Rameau

From court entertainments to operatic dances, Rameau’s trumpet writing reveals uncommon technical demands and a broader palette of Baroque brass practice.

Goodwin, John

Brass instrument research at Surrey University

Acoustics, materials, bore design, and player perception meet in Surrey research linking laboratory measurements with the realities of brass performance.

Sluchin, Benny

Playing and singing simultaneously on brass instruments

From interval production and tone generation to contemporary repertoire, simultaneous playing and singing becomes a demanding extension of brass technique.

Willener, Alfred

The Haydn Trumpet Concerto

André, Wobisch, Dokshitzer, Stringer and others reveal how tempo, phrasing, ornamentation and cadenzas reshape Haydn's trumpet concerto.

Weiner, Howard

The trombone: changing times, changing slide positions

From Virgiliano to Praetorius and Eisel, early sources reshape long-held assumptions about trombone tuning, slide positions and historical playing practice.

Sumerkin, Viktor

Pyotr Naumovich Volkov (1877-1933)

First trombone professor at St. Petersburg Conservatory

From imperial St. Petersburg to Soviet Leningrad, Volkov shaped a distinctive Russian trombone tradition through performance, teaching and generations of pupils.

Sluchin, Benny

Playing and singing simultaneously on brass instruments

From Weber's Concertino to Berlioz's chord writing, acoustic principles explain how combination tones emerge from simultaneous playing and singing on brass.

Willener, Alfred

The Haydn Trumpet Concerto

Haydn’s trumpet concerto becomes a study of manuscript detail, performance choices, and the fragile ways listeners receive a familiar work.

Quinque, Rolf

ASA-Method, ASA-Technic

Virtuosity grows from disciplined work on scales, articulation and reading, arguing that consistent fundamentals matter more than chasing the upper register.

Kenny, P. · Davies, John

The Measurement of Mouthpiece Pressure

Objective measurements on trumpet players challenge common beliefs about mouthpiece pressure, showing stable individual patterns across pitch, dynamics and playing level.

Burum, Heinz

My Experiences with Colleagues and Pupils

in 50 Years as trumpet player and trumpet teacher

Across five decades, Heinz Burum links trumpet embouchure, mouthpiece design and teaching practice to concrete cases from orchestras, pupils and colleagues.

Jones, Philip

1981 Geneva International Competition

Readers Letters

Philip Jones responds to the Geneva 1981 debate, arguing for fairer jury decisions, balanced repertoire, and the enduring value of international trumpet competitions.

Mathez, Jean-Pierre

Editorial

As concert life shifts away from brass, the future of the instrument depends on artistic standards, thoughtful programming and the commitment of every performer.

Hiller, Albert

Unknown Treasures for Trumpet Ensembles

Processional Music from 18th century Bavaria

Forgotten Bavarian monastery archives preserve hundreds of ceremonial trumpet works, where local tradition and practical performance survived long after their cultural world disappeared.

Bowsher, J. M. · Watkinson, P. S.

Manufacturers' Opinions about Brass Instruments

Between workshop lore and acoustic certainty, brass makers’ claims expose a restless debate over metal, finish, resonance, and playing quality.

Willener, Alfred

James Stamp, subtle teaching

Intonation, held notes and mouthpiece work shape James Stamp's subtle approach to trumpet playing, where listening and physical economy guide technique.

Bourgue, Daniel

The French Hunting horn, its history, its technique and its music

Centuries-old hunting signals still shape performance today, where technique, ritual and oral tradition preserved a musical language unlike any other brass practice.

Poncet, Jacques

The hunting horn

Long-held beliefs about the French hunting horn are challenged as forgotten playing practices and Baroque traditions reshape its early history and repertoire.

Baechler, Christian

Nerves, Pills and Doping

Behind a debate once confined to musicians lies a wider shift in how performance anxiety, medication and professional responsibility began to be separated instead of confused.

Mathez, Jean-Pierre

Yamaha, an ambitious giant

Behind the rise of a future industrial giant lies an unexpected lesson in craftsmanship, cultural exchange and the discipline that reshaped wind instrument making.

Bürger, Edgar

Mouthpiece pressure in Horn Playing

Graduation project in technical method

Long before sensors entered the practice room, one horn student measured embouchure pressure by hand, challenging assumptions that still shape brass pedagogy.

Agrell, Jeffrey

Jazz and the Horn

The horn was once considered incompatible with jazz until changing ideas of sound and musicians like John Graas quietly overturned that certainty.

Barantsev, Anatoly

Akim Alexeyevich Kozlov

A Trombone Artist

Behind decades of orchestral excellence, one trombonist shaped a school of playing whose influence reached far beyond Leningrad and the concert hall.

Holland, Jack

An Introduction to "In Tune"

the Scale of Just Intonation

Long before electronic tuners, brass players faced a choice between mathematical order and acoustic truth, with consequences that still shape ensemble playing today.

Lewy, Rudolf

The Wrong Brass?

Between blind fidelity and reckless modernisation, instrument substitutions force performers to decide when the score’s wording serves—or betrays—the music.

Davidson, Louis

The attack

Precision often begins with doing less, not more—a principle Louis Davidson places at the heart of trumpet playing with surprising practical consequences.

Agrell, Jeffrey

Jazz and the Horn

Julius Watkins

A pioneering career, landmark recordings and collaborations with jazz legends gave the French horn a place it had never occupied before.

Dejonker, Philippe-Henri · Orval, Francis · Miller, R. · Sneppe, R.

Oscillatory Mechanism of the Glotis in Horn Playing

A horn note may begin before it is heard, as subtle vocal-fold oscillations appear to prepare the airflow that the lips will ultimately shape.

Gorovoj, Sergej

Science and Technology in Trombone Teaching

What if tone production depended less on instinct than on understanding how the instrument, the lips and the air function as one interconnected system?

Damm, Peter

Ornaments in 18th-century Horn Concertos?

Performance once depended as much on informed invention as on written notes, and early horn concertos still carry that forgotten freedom in plain sight.

Laplace, Michel

The Trumpet and the Cornet in Jazz and Popular Music

Before Louis Armstrong became the defining figure, jazz already carried competing traditions of tone, style and technique shaped by cornet players across New Orleans and beyond.

Agrell, Jeffrey

Jazz and the Horn

Getting started

For the classically trained horn player, jazz replaces the security of the printed page with listening, swing and improvisation—and a different kind of discipline.

Usov, Yuri

Sergey Nikolaevich Yeryomin (1903-1975)

The Distinguished Soviet Trumpeter and Teacher

Between Soviet military bands, the Bolshoi and the Moscow Conservatory, Yeryomin helped shape a trumpet tradition in which virtuosity remained a means, not an end.

Damm, Peter

Ornaments in 18th-century Horn Concertos?

Essential ornaments

Natural horn technique left little room for excess: Peter Damm sets 18th-century ornamentation against the practical limits of range, style and notation.

Laplace, Michel

The Trumpet and the Cornet in Jazz and Popular Music

The “Classical” Period 1927-1945 — The Golden Age of the Trumpet

Between Armstrong’s rise and bebop’s arrival, the trumpet became jazz’s dominant voice, reshaping technique, orchestras, sound, mutes and virtuosity.

Stevens, Thomas

The Trumpet in the USA

Diverse makers

As trumpet makers rethink their standard instruments, Monette, Malone and Blackburn bring leadpipe design into a new dialogue between players and workshops.

Blümel, Christian · Radeke, Gerd

Conversation with Ludwig Güttler

Between Bach, historical instruments and modern virtuosity, Ludwig Güttler argues for a trumpet tradition shaped by declamation, research and a refusal of musical purism.

Davidson, Louis

Tonguing

A tiny shift in tongue movement changes speed, endurance and clarity, turning articulation from a mechanical attack into one of the trumpet player’s subtlest tools.

Damm, Peter

Ornaments in 18th-century Horn Concertos?

Deliberate divisions

Improvisation, articulation and ornament were once inseparable: Peter Damm recovers an 18th-century horn practice later narrowed by increasingly precise notation.

Laplace, Michel

The Trumpet and the Cornet in Jazz and Popular Music

The pluralism of the so-called “modern” forms (1945 to the present)

Bebop, Miles Davis and the rise of the flugelhorn mark a postwar jazz landscape in which trumpet playing splintered into competing sounds and ideals.

Mathez, Jean-Pierre

Editorial

Between disciplined practice and creative folly, musicianship emerges where scales and systems give way to imagination, instinct and the unsettling freedom to think.

Perl, Benjamin

Brass in the Operas of Berlioz

Berlioz turned a changing brass section into a dramatic force, using horns, trombones, cornets and saxhorns to shape colour, distance, ceremony and fear.

Agrell, Jeffrey

Jazz and the Horn

Thomas Bacon

Classical discipline meets jazz-rock freedom as Thomas Bacon confronts improvisation, stylistic crossover and the physical demands placed on the horn.

Laplace, Michel

The Trumpet and the Cornet in Jazz and Popular Music

The instrument for jazz

Jazz trumpet playing balances equipment, embouchure and articulation, as changing sound ideals reshape mouthpieces, technique and the physical approach to playing.

Damm, Peter

Ornaments in 18th-century Horn Concertos?

Changes and modifications of tempo

Tempo, dynamics and cadenzas expose how much an 18th-century horn concerto once depended on choices that modern notation and instruments can easily obscure.