Excellent questions. Thanks very much. Each of these was a deliberate choice and intended to increase the likelihood that students would transition to using the play-along recording.

1. I want the student to feel like a soloist and play without the distraction of "some other guy" having already recorded the melody. I don't think I'd feel as motivated to play along with a recording of someone else playing an exercise that's not very inspiring in the first place, so I left it out. But I could certainly upload an accompanying version with the melody, resembling the Hal Leonard Play-Along CDs.

2. Yes, I considered varying the tempo. The exercise is intended to be played with a metronome, with the notes played smoothly and evenly. The student should concentrate on making each note should even and equal. Varying the tempo might distract students from this objective. I thought that if I made the recording follow the structure and discipline of a metronome there would be an easy transition and a greater chance that people would give it a go.

3. Indeed 11 bars is unusual. The original exercise is a 4-bar phrase, repeated, with the held note on the 9th bar then a pause (over the double bar line) before proceeding to the next line. Check the sample copy below. I reasoned that it is common for students to play the exercise as a 5-bar phrase, then repeated as if the repeat sign were at the end of bar 5 instead of bar 4. So I moved it to create a 10-bar phrase. Then I chose to account for the pause as a single bar rest that could also serve as the key modulation for a less-abrupt key change, making a total of 11 bars. It is unusual, but I think more playable.

I felt that every decision I made was a trade-off for something else. In my experience music tutors usually follow a set routine for the students with little deviation from the well-trodden path. So I tried to structure the exercise to closely resemble the way that I think it is commonly taught, to make the transition from solo trumpet and metronome to Band-in-a-Box accompaniment as easy as possible.

Thanks again for your questions, and for taking the time to listen and consider. Very much appreciated!


Gary Badger
Trumpet Player
http://garybadger.com