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Like Walter Matthau in "A New Leaf," we know that valves can be a problem (note: there may be a short commercial at the beginning of the video).



In Walter's case the problem was with his Ferrari, which was constantly plagued with "carbon on the valves." In our case, as brass players, it is probably something else on the valves. In both cases, the valves don't like it!

There are several possible reason for sluggish ...

Many previously-available items come back online now and then. Fortunately for us, three classic euphonium books are now available.

The first are the two volumes of Arthur Lehman's "The Art of Euphonium." These were originally distributed with an LP, but the printed books themselves are still quite useful. If you also want the recordings, there are high-quality MP3 files available in the links below. The recordings are with the U.S. Marine Band, Arthur's "home" for 20 years.
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Mark Glover is a euphoniumist whose style is representative of modern playing without being too identified with any one niche (i.e. he does not sound particularly American, British, or...). He has a good understanding of the musical needs of the pieces he is playing, and I suspect the currently-living composers represented here would be pleased with the way he performs their work.

The CD contains diverse selections, all within a "listenable" style. There ...

Here are three videos I did specifically to help people understand the differences within the euphonium family.

• The baritone demonstrated here is a Besson 955 3-valve compensating with a .515" bore.
• The double-bell euphonium is a Holton, and it demonstrates two things. First you can hear the contrast between the bells, which in this case is about the most simple example of using the horn. But the second concept is the sound of the large bell. This is just the same as the typical American

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People often ask how I make the YouTube videos of my playing. I have two methods, and choose which one depending on conditions.

The best results are with a quality stereo microphone, a digital recorder, and a digital camcorder. Here is equipment similar to what I use:

Audio-Technical Stereo Microphone



Zoom Audio Recorder, 4 Channel



Canon Camcorder

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The is a re-mastered video that I originally posted a few years ago, but its aspect ratio got distorted when YouTube changed its tagging rules. The song is from the movie of the same name, which was an inspirational story about faith in God. The composer is Bruce Broughton (who was a euphonium player many years ago). He is an Academy Award winning composer (think Silverado for starters). The tune works well without the words, but I had the words project on our church's screen - that is what the ...

This is the first in a new series of posts that are about playing popular (pop, Broadway, movie music, etc.) music on the euphonium. Many times in programming a recital I have included a pop song or two. It's a nice change of pace and freshens your audience. And it is a great way to improve your sense of phrasing, which will apply to other styles of music in many ways.

This song is from "Showboat," by Jerome Kern. The song here, "Bill," is a love song describing a boyfriend who appears ...

I recently received an early Christmas from Tom, one of my students, and I was encouraged to open it before Christmas. Inside the sizable package was a Hercules Tuba/Euphonium floor stand! I had been considering getting one of these for a while, although I had not yet sorted through what was a good fit for my use among the brands available. Tom saved me the trouble, because he had chosen well.

There were two basic types of instrument stands that I had used. One is an upright stand with ...

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