Technique

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.

By P. Kenny, John Davies

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.

By Heinrich Huber

Horn models in high E flat

By Engelberg Schmid

Part 4

A player’s first years

The opinion of an expert

By Horst Rapp

A guide to commercial tuba playing in the Los Angeles area

Hollywood reality check: Tommy Johnson reveals what it really takes to become a commercial tuba player in Los Angeles—skill, versatility… and patience.

By Tommy Johnson

Brass Techniques Series • Part 6

Posture

By Jean-Pierre Mathez

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.

By Louis Davidson

The Pitch Finder

A 1980 attempt to make trumpet intonation mechanical shifts familiar pitch corrections from the embouchure to the fingers, with striking consequences for playing.

By Jack Holland

Reading music

By Michel Ricquier

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.

By Jean-Pierre Mathez

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.

By Edgar Bürger

The lead trumpet player

A survey of training, practice and equipment

Article on lead trumpet playing, covering training, practice methods and equipment for achieving accuracy, endurance and style.

By John Harding

Brass Techniques Series • Part 4

Breathing

By Jean-Pierre Mathez

Circular Breathing for Brass Player

By Kevin H. Thompson

Thoughts on the Bass Trombone

Long before modern standards took hold, bass trombones existed in many forms, raising questions that still shape orchestral writing and performance today.

By Jean Gotthold

Part 4

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.

By James Stamp

Making mute handling easier

By Benny Sluchin

Part 7

DSA - Digital analysis of intonation and sound

Measurement of the FFT

By Robert Meissner

Part 2

Practical Hints

A simplified preparation method adapted from Herbert L. Clarke links transposition, tempo variation and repetition to technical fluency and mental anticipation.

By James Stamp

Part 1

DSA - Digital analysis of intonation and sound

By Robert Meissner

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.

By Barrie Perrins

B.E.R.P ?

Interview with Mario Guarneri

By Jean-Pierre Mathez

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.

By Jack Holland

Part 2

DSA Digital Analysis of Intonation and Sound

Calculation of intonation using frequency

By Robert Meissner