After the first two minutes of playing in your day, how many times have you smiled and said, “I feel great today” or slumped and said “I feel awful today.”?  “I Feel” is a very personal statement that carries a lot of emotion with it.  Too often we put all our emotional energy into the first 10 minutes of our performance preparation, and as a result experience very inconsistent  results and no emotional energy left for the musical practice portion of our practice.

What 3 aspects of your performance do mutes most affect?

Denis Wick Ambassador Kelly Langenberg has come up with a few tricks to help both student and teacher get through those first few months without boring yourselves to death and in the meantime improve your student’s skills!

Mouthpiece trials can be a dangerous sport! While Denis Wick don’t suggest wearing a helmet, there are some steps you can take that will protect the sensitive area of your lips and muscles from damage. Follow the steps below and you should be able to walk out of your trial session unscathed and hopefully with a new mouthpiece!

After a student has learned how to make a sound on their new brass instrument, and make it consistently, their next focus is on improving that sound. Since sound starts with the mouthpiece, your first upgrade should logically be the mouthpiece. But when and how do you find the right one? Use these tips to understand the process and help you student take their fist steps to expanding their sound and skills.

Can it be this simple?  Find a "high note mouthpiece" or the "endurance" mouthpiece, put it in the instrument and you'll have better range/endurance?