"Air is the only action in trumpet playing;
the lips and tongue are merely reactions
to a basically good air flow."

Mr. DiMartino's main topic for this session was warming up. The above statement was central to most of the themes presented in this very informative master class. His emphasis was on using the warm-up time as time for self-improvement. The main attributes of this self-improvement practice are:

• that it builds confidence
• that it is a valuable self-development session.

One should concentrate on the sound when starting the playing session. The player should always choose to make one's sound better every day. Warming up in dead rooms can be better than in live halls because all the aspects of the sound are audible—you can hear what you really sound like. The player should always be objective about how things are going; note particulars you like and also what you don't. Strive to work on parts of one's playing that need attention. It is certainly good to try new concepts and always attempt to improve.

He further emphasized concentration on the sound, not only of one particular note, but the octave below and above that one note—the player has to be ready for anything in performance. If there is something you fear to play, you're in trouble; this can be a good way to tear down confidence. Mr. DiMartino went on to state, if something isn't working, don't keep doing it. His philosophy is that every student can be a good player. Repetition is good but must be constructive. If you sound bad and keep doing it, you're getting good at sounding bad. He stressed that the student shouldn't be afraid to change some aspect of playing if it will allow the student to go further. We shouldn't be afraid to experiment and discover something. You never forget those great discoveries! He related the general concepts of his basic approach to that of driving a car on a long trip—one wouldn't begin the journey without knowing the car is in good shape and ready to hit the road. Likewise concerning self-improvement, he related that to getting more mileage out of the vehicle.

It is obvious he loves to teach and still make it fun for his students.

Mr. DiMartino next covered the topic of ear training. He feels it is more important than practising the trumpet! One should be able to sing anything one can play—your ear and the rhythm tells you how to play. He then demonstrated singing a short passage and then played it on the trumpet. The phrases got longer and more complex as he went along. The topic of tuning surfaced, and he advised the player to play the note first and then look at the tuner to adjust. We should always endeavour to improve our ear and rhythm in the warm-up.

All the ideas already stated are involved in the warm-up—remembering that this time is really a time for self-improvement Basically, he advocated a warm-up of about 15 minutes. Starting off with some breathing exercises and a free-flowing approach to playing, he made certain to emphasize there should be no tension in one's playing. Tonguing shouldn't be introduced too early either, as it will increase the potential for unwanted constriction As another aspect of the warm-up he also demonstrated the technique of bending notes which requires good airflow as well as keeping the tongue low in the mouth.

In his ongoing effort to keep things as simple as possible, he has summarized trumpet playing into three main points. The trumpet can:

1. Play higher or lower (speed of the air makes the difference)

2. Play louder or softer (amount of air—not velocity—makes louder notes)

3. Play faster or slower (duration of the note—time between the events)

In addition to these ideas, he also showed that a certain amount of lip tension must be used to keep tension the same in all registers. The airstream remains constant and he advocated getting the "tube" to work for us. Mr. DiMartino played some free, unaccompanied jazz improvization to demonstrate his ability to feel the same (pressure) in all registers, being careful not to think about the mechanical part of playing. As he played from low G to high g''' with effortless phrasing, the audience certainly understood this point.

Many points were consistently stressed as the basis for his outlook on playing the trumpet. Fundamentally, the trumpet is a simple device, and he tries not to make it more complicated than it needs to be. It is obvious he loves to practice and constantly strives to improve and solve day-to-day problems. He feels anybody can play the trumpet as long as they are taught individually at a basic level. The details should be kept to a minimum; simplify things whenever possible and search for the lowest common denominator. Acknowledging that we all have bad days, he suggested that we not dwell on them—there's always tomorrow.

In the self-improvement time, each player must be able to analyze his or her own playing, and how things work for each individual. It's important to realize that we won't have a teacher the rest of our lives, therefore we need to be able to make changes on our own. It's crucial to have the ability to figure these things out for ourselves. He told a humorous story, the moral of which was just this—to find the answers by yourself. In the effort for self-improvement, we need to use information gleaned from other sources and put it all together for our own playing.

A student performed Charlier's Etude #2. In working with the young player, DiMartino emphasized some of the basic aspects of musicianship—tension and release. Along with emphasizing a relaxed exhalation, intonation of the opening F was addressed. The use of rubato was discussed in relation to phrasing of this etude—keeping in mind that it is a give-and-take of the tempo but only for that measure. Advice on the efficient movement of air helped the student blow more freely and gain a heightened sense of unity in the musical line. Other technical issues discussed included the constant lip pressure and resistance in all registers, maintaining the embouchure as if lip-slurring, and keeping a resonant sound. He opined that all players can have "acquired" pitch by listening (and playing) a lot and increasing one's aural skills.