pedigogical materials
Duet Etudes for Trumpet
The Duet Etude project concept was brought to me by Mark Ponzo, the professor of trumpet at Northern Illinois University. He had a need for additional duet materials for use in lessons with high school and university students and asked me to consider writing a series of etudes, each dealing with some facet of brass performance.
I saw this as an opportunity to write in a variety of styles and technical situations, providing me with challenges that I did not necessarily frequently encounter. Over several months I wrote 33 etudes, of which 24 were selected for this first volume.
The etudes are roughly grouped with easier ones at the front and the more difficult at the back. Note that the difficulty is not always technical. Tuning those pesky perfect fourths, fifths and octaves is there too.