Lessons recommendations…

[iMav]

I think it would be beneficial to take some external direction in the form of regular lessons.

I have waffled back and forth between online and in person lessons. Where I live, in person lessons would likely be at the college by a primary trumpet professor (who does the lessons for most of the brass players (small school)). The main option for lessons from a euphonium teacher would be online. (I could, potentially, travel about an hour (two hour round trip) to find someone…but that isn’t all that feasible for me.

Thoughts on a trumpet professor giving lessons? Online lessons? (Teacher recommendations? (Feel free to recommend yourself! LOL))

[MikeS]

Two people who are both very good teachers and also very good at teaching online are Doug Elliott and Dave Wilken.

You can contact Doug at DEMouthpieces (at) aol.com

Contact info for Dave is at:

https://jazztromboneteachingtips.com/trombone-lessons/

Whether taking lessons from a trumpet professor is a good idea or not depends entirely on the teacher. There are some aspects of brass playing that are universal. That said, there are a lot of things that work for trumpet playing that do not translate well to euphonium. I know several people who have worked with Doug and Dave and all of them are very satisfied.

[euphlight]

Not sure where how far you are from Grand Forks but contact Dr. Joel Pugh from University of North Dakota. Real great guy and euphonium and trombone player. Not sure if he does online lessons.

[iMav]

Not sure where how far you are from Grand Forks but contact Dr. Joel Pugh from University of North Dakota. Real great guy and euphonium and trombone player. Not sure if he does online lessons.

I'm two hours from Grand Forks. (in the late 80s, I was a music performance major at UND...before drinking myself out of college and joining the Air Force.) Went to school in Thompson (7 miles south of GF).

[tokuno]

I hazard a guess that the potential benefit of online lessons depends on your playing level and what you seek, but in my family's experience, in-person is comparably way better than online.

My two youngest (trumpet & euphonium, coincidentally), switched from in-person to online lessons during the Covid shutdown.
Iirc, a fair summation of online lessons would be: perhaps a little better than nothing, but far worse than in-person. Very inefficient, and the loss of sound-nuance drove the instruction toward a conceptual focus on musical and technical concepts.
In addition to other concerns, much, if not all, of the "Wait a second, that note/phrase/arpeggio/etc., lost resonance (or cleanliness, shape, etc.), let's go back and check what you're doing there." is missed, because it doesn't transmit over the devices.
They returned to in-person lessons asap and greatly appreciated resuming their pace of progress.
Incidentally, both of them lean heavily on tonal concept (renown university guest conductor called my daughter out amidst an honor band rehearsal as "billion - no, trillion - dollar tone"), so they're perhaps more sensitive to the difference between online & in-person, but my daughter felt that her chief rival - known more for technical capability - who continued with online lessons, fell behind her. Also, as far as taking instruction from a trumpet teacher, I've attended some of my daughter's trumpet lessons, and idly considered sending my son to him for a few sessions - thought it would greatly benefit him, irrespective of instrument.

[iMav]

Thanks for that, tokuno. I was placed first chair in a section of 8 euphonium players one summer at the International Music Camp as a 18 year old (1988) by James Thornton (https://internationalmusiccamp.com/w...ornton-Bio.pdf) even though the 6 German euphonium players occupying seats 2-7 were jaw-droppingly amazing from a technical standpoint (at least IMHO). From a small school, I did lack some broader music theory education…but was always complimented on my sound and musicality.

(not sure what remains 35 years later. LOL)

I DO have a decent space to do lessons (sound dampening on the walls, decent dynamic mics (using Shure SM7B currently but have some condenser mics as well if that is more helpful).

[CousinJack]

To start with lessons from your local trumpet playing brass teacher probably isn't a bad idea. If you've never had lessons before you will find a lot of value in some lessons with any brass player. You also wouldn't need to commit long term to anyone just yet, and can always ask for a consultation lesson to see how you get on a teacher before committing to regular lessons. Getting on with your teacher is very important. My advice would be to have a consultation with your local teacher first, and then maybe some online teachers should you find you don't get on with the local teacher

[iMav]

I had lessons through high school and my time in college (was a music performance major before I dropped out). But has definitely been quite a while!

[ann reid]

Agreeing with tokuno, for several reasons.

I found myself desperate for lessons during the waves of lockdowns and reinfections in my geographic area, but continued to practice an hour EVERY DAY and even when my teacher, (whom I’d studied with since the first time I picked up the plastic euphonium), offered online or nothing, I couldn’t bring myself to even give it a try. I did, however, upgrade my equipment TWICE, first with my Conn constellation (late 70s) and then with my Willson 2704 (age I determined), and knew that each was a significant step up.

When my lessons resumed I found that they were even more meaningful than before the LONG BREAK. Do I wonder where I would have been if the pandemic hadn’t happened? Of course.

Very interesting that mention by tokuno of “tonal concept”. I study with someone who was not my first choice pedagogically, but our collaboration has turned out to be much better than I would have expected when I started. After the initial shock of meeting me he was fairly easy to convince that I was wildly serious about playing the best I could, and has made me a far better player than I might have expected.

Bottom line always starts with “BLOW THROUGH THE HORN”, but we now refine, pick apart, dissect, readdress, - all elements that are harder or impossible to do when separated by a computer screen.

I originally wanted to attempt tuba lessons but he wisely finessed me into euphonium, and after three years, I agree (a little grudgingly) that he was right about that.

It may be that I have my music Ed. degree that my situation survived without lessons or may have been my intense eagerness to play high level wind ensemble literature or the boredom that forced me to practice every day, but whatever, I survived the lockdowns AND a 5 week COVID infection, and am still here, old enough to be almost everyone's older whatever, AND STILL PLAYING. Try a sample lesson with the most experienced teacher you can find in person, and see how it turns out.

[rgorscak]

Unfortunately, easier said than done. I had to give up searching for someone experienced enough to give in-person lessons in my area and I do not live in the boonies