Teaching Trumpet Technique to Mariachi Students

Noé Sánchez has started seven mariachi programs in San Antonio, Texas. He has published mariachi curriculum guides for schools starting mariachi programs, as well as a mariachi method book and several mariachi arrangements.

William Gradante has taught mariachi since 1980 in Fort Worth, Texas. He is a respected scholar in the field of Colombian regional folk music and is the author of a definitive article on José Alfredo Jiménez.

Steve Carrillo of Tucson, Arizona, has been playing mariachi music for 40 years. He is the musical director of Mariachi Cobre, which he started in 1971 with his brother Randy. He was also a member of the first U.S. mariachi juvenil.

As is true for any instrumental music student, mariachi trumpet players require a systematic program of instruction in all aspects of their instrument. However, due to the inherent differences in the educational policies and philosophies of individual school districts, administrators, and the teachers themselves, this may take any number of forms. In some school districts, mariachi trumpet players may be required to participate in the band program. However, this should not present a problem for the mariachi instructor, as long as the relationship between the band program and the mariachi program is one characterized by cooperation rather than by competition, mutual distrust, or exclusivity.

Trumpet instruction at the developmental level should be largely the same whether the ultimate goal is to perform band or mariachi repertoire. Certainly, all trumpet students require instruction in:

1. The manner in which the instrument works
2. The parts of the instrument
3. Proper maintenance procedures (daily, weekly, and monthly activities)
4. Correct sitting and standing posture
5. Proper hand position and finger angles
6. How to discern and replicate a basic musical pulse
7. How to consistently produce the instrument’s characteristic sound
8. How to read music (notes and rhythms)
9. How to translate written notes into specific pitches
10. How to interpret written notation (expression, dynamics, tempo, timbre)
11. How to disassemble and reassemble the instrument
12. Basic breathing techniques and embouchure development.

Other than the last two items, this list represents areas of fundamental instruction applicable to all beginning instrumentalists, whether they’ve enrolled in band, orchestra, or mariachi class.

Trumpet students who are taught the keys, scales, and characteristic articulations of both band and mariachi music are certainly the better for it—and, ultimately, so are both the band and mariachi ensembles. As these students mature musically and intellectually, they become increasingly able to perceive and distinguish the inherent stylistic differences between the characteristic band and mariachi sounds. It’s the responsibility of the band and mariachi instructors to provide appropriate listening opportunities—in both recorded and live concert contexts—so our students will internalize these stylistic differences and then apply them in performance. In this manner, they become students of their instrument, and not simply of a specific repertoire.

Our students’ daily experience is that of a multicultural society in which love for and performance of multiple forms, genres, and styles of music is a highly desirable goal. Our goal should be to produce musicians whose training prepares them for future exploration of all types of music—from classical to contemporary and country western, from jazz to mariachi and marching band—wherever their future tastes and sensibilities might guide them. We should focus on opening up opportunities rather than shutting them down.

This article, then, addresses itself to those mariachi programs in which the trumpet students—for whatever reason—are not concurrently enrolled in the band program and, thus, look to the mariachi teacher as the sole source of their trumpet instruction. It is the opinion of the members of the MENC National Mariachi Advisory Committee that, whenever possible, instruction of beginning mariachi students should be delivered in instrumentally homogeneous classes. At the developmental level, integration of the trumpet players into a mariachi ensemble alongside the violinists and armonías players may best be accomplished in before- and after-school ensemble rehearsals once the students have reached a reasonable level of instrumental proficiency. Whenever possible, instruction of beginning mariachi students should be delivered in instrumentally homogeneous classes.

In this manner, each young musician in each of the ensemble’s sections is allowed to develop his or her level of musical competence at a pedagogically appropriate rate, not according to the dictates of an ensemble’s needs.

Instrument Acquisition

During the first month of class, beginner trumpet players should be given a syllabus describing the kinds of things they will learn during the course of the year. This can be especially effective if the teacher performs the scales and some of the songs that the students can look forward to learning, indicating the month by which they can expect to have mastered them. At the same time, students may be given daily grades for turning in the paperwork necessary for participation in the mariachi program, such as field trip permission forms, media release forms, and, if the student’s parents have decided to rent a trumpet from the school district, the instrument use form. Students also need to bring in money for a uniform dry cleaning deposit and for the purchase of whichever method book has been adopted by the mariachi trumpet instructor.

It’s rarely a good idea to encourage parents of beginners to acquire instruments on their own, because they too often end up with unsuitable ones. Ask parents to wait until the end of the first year to let their children decide whether they plan to continue playing in the mariachi ensemble before making any significant expenditure. Most families decide to either enroll in the school district’s in-house instrument rental program or, especially with more advanced students, to exercise the option to engage in a rent-to-own arrangement with a local dealer. To the latter end, the director should invite several local musical instrument dealers to the school for a formalized “Mariachi Instrument Drive.” Soliciting the participation of multiple music stores is important to avoid alienating any of the individual local dealers. Cultivating good, working relationships with these key members of the local music community can prove advantageous over time.

Informational letters in both English and Spanish (or the language spoken in the home) should be sent home with the students well in advance of the event. This activity can be coordinated with the violin and guitar students into one big “Instrument Night” or held separately to provide a more intimate, informational setting in which to invite and address individual parent questions and concerns. Dealers can also discuss the desirability of purchasing instrument insurance. In cooperation with both parents and the instrument providers, a deadline for instrument acquisition should be clearly established. This will help insure that, when the teacher decides to begin actual instruction on the trumpet, every student in the class has an acceptable horn in his or her lap.

Parts and Care of the Trumpet

Young instrumentalists need to be able to converse intelligently about making music with their instruments, and learning the names of the various parts is a logical place to start. Having the students make a drawing of the trumpet—including all the valves, slides, and keys—can be an enjoyable activity for the students, as well as a good icebreaker during the first week of school. Proceeding from the mouthpiece to the bell, the names of various parts of the trumpet can be identified and discussed. If, as is often the case, the students speak at least some Spanish, this exercise should be performed bilingually. Good, professional-quality diagrams of trumpets are available in virtually any beginner method book the teacher may choose to adopt as the classroom text. These might include:

• Premier Performance: An Innovative and Comprehensive Band Method, by Ed Sueta. Ed Sueta Music Publications, 1999.
• Essential Elements: A Comprehensive Band Method, by Tom C. Rhodes, Donald Bierschenk, Tim Lautzenheiser, John Higgins. Hal Leonard, 1991.
• First Division Band Method, by Fred Weber. First Division Publishing Corporation, 1962.
• Standard of Excellence: Comprehensive Band Method, by Bruce Pearson. Kjos Music Company, 1996.

Once the students are able to name and label all the parts on a written test, it’s time for them to disassemble the trumpet, part by part, following your instructions. Before reassembling, demonstrate the use of specially made brushes for cleaning mouthpieces and valve casings, a lead-pipe cleaning “snake,” and the proper procedures for applying valve oil and slide grease. Consistently emphasize the importance of overall cleanliness. Once the trumpet has been reassembled, you can test for student success by having them try to produce a tone, for unless all valves and slides have been reassembled correctly, no sound can be produced.

As with any musical instrument, trumpets should not be left unattended in places such as the schoolyard, cafeteria, gym, back porch, the houses of friends and relatives, or anywhere that they would be exposed to extreme temperatures. Each student should be assigned designated cabinet space in the Mariachi Room to store his or her instrument during the school day.

Music Literacy

As the thoroughness of students’ preparation in the area of music literacy is often quite varied, a safe strategy is to presume no prior knowledge on the part of students and to begin by introducing note names, lines and spaces, note values, and so forth. The adopted trumpet method book will present this in a sequential fashion, leading up to performance on the instrument.

As the deadline for trumpet acquisition approaches, the teacher can alternate teaching the fundamentals of musical literacy with the teaching and testing of trumpet part names and maintenance procedures. When teaching young beginners, this practice of varying the instructional activities has the added benefit of appreciably lengthening students’ attention span. Then, when the deadline arrives, the entire class can hit the ground running, making the connection between theory and practice.

Sitting Posture and Breathing Technique

Show students proper performance posture by having them study illustrations in the method book and compare these pictures with observation of the teacher. Demonstrate your own personal performance posture—standing and sitting, both with and without a trumpet—for the students to imitate. Explain the importance of maintaining a gentle curvature of the right hand fingers and wrist to avoid possible injuries such as carpal tunnel syndrome. Emphasize that all these techniques are to be mastered before performance on actual instruments begins. This tends to make the students work extra hard to perform these exercises conscientiously.

There are numerous exercises designed to develop proper breathing practices. Hissing exercises are beneficial for improving long-tone production. Without the use of the trumpet, students simply imitate the hissing sound of a snake for a specified number of beats:

Students are instructed to pay careful attention to the steady intensity and speed of the airstream produced. They can begin with whole notes, half notes, and quarter notes and then expand to include two or three tied whole notes (8–12 beats) in the exercises.

These fundamental exercises should be performed with great care and precision, as the inculcation of proper breathing techniques is prerequisite to the production of a good, solid trumpet tone.

Embouchure

One way to illustrate proper embouchure is to have the students blow through a straw. The lips will be forced to tighten on the sides while leaving an aperture in the center to allow air to pass through. Later, students can be given pieces of paper upon which to practice buzzing techniques. The only way they can make the paper buzz is through tightening the corners of their lips.

When the students are able to consistently produce a strong buzzing sound, it is time to place the mouthpiece on the lips after careful explanation by the teacher. A common error against which students should be cautioned is pressing the mouthpiece too tightly against the lips.

Common axioms recommend either positioning the mouthpiece evenly over the upper and lower lips or allocating one-third of the mouthpiece to the upper lip and two-thirds to the lower lip. Steve Carrillo, lead trumpeter for Mariachi Cobre, on the other hand, puts two-thirds of the mouthpiece over the upper lip and one-third over the lower lip. Thus, we must acknowledge that there is no “one-size-fits-all” formula at work here. What is important is finding a comfortable individual embouchure that will allow each student to be successful. Remember, each person is physically unique, and the ultimate goal is a beautiful tone.

Students can become comfortable with the production of the buzzing sound by performing the “Hissing Exercises” while buzzing on the mouthpiece. Proficiency, however, may be acquired only after a few weeks of daily practice, but once this step is mastered, it is time to place the mouthpiece into the trumpet itself. I recommended that students begin with a 7C mouthpiece size, as its characteristic shape is amenable to most beginners. As skill levels develop, however, aperture size and cup depth become a matter of personal preference and comfort. Again, since each student’s mouth and teeth are inherently different, experimentation with various mouthpieces is recommended before any final decisions are made.

When students begin performing on the assembled trumpet, the immediate goal is the consistent production of a good, solid, characteristic tone. This might best be achieved through the performance of long-tone exercises, beginning on middle C. Students should begin with whole notes, breathing through the nose or the corners of the mouth—without actually removing the mouthpiece from the lips. After they are consistently able to produce a good sound on this note, they may proceed up a full step to D. Instruct the students to pull out the third valve slide about a half-inch to ensure good intonation. This process should continue up the C Major scale until the students reach G on the second line of the staff, and downward to the A below middle C. When most members of the class are able to demonstrate a consistently good tone on all these notes, it’s time to move more systematically into the method book. Click here for suggestions on how to select a method book and establish a daily routine.

Practicing

We often forget to teach students precisely how to practice. Although the concept is seemingly easily understood by adults, many youngsters take their instruments home without really knowing how to go about practicing. Many develop the habit of pulling their instruments out of their cases and going straight to their repertoire. A productive home practice session should include a specific routine by which the student can:

• warm up effectively;
• review and reinforce known skills;
• work on improving technique;
• develop new skills; and
• apply these skills to the performance of specific repertoire.

Click here for a handout on “How to Practice at Home” that will help reinforce what the instructor is teaching in the class setting at school.

Students should practice in front of a mirror so that they can make adjustments and correct themselves, since the teacher will not be present. Provide students with mutes if family members complain that the trumpet is too loud. Unless it is absolutely necessary, however, try to avoid this practice, as it will not help your beginners produce the solid characteristic tone desired at this stage. Insist that your students warm up properly every time they play, and emphasize practicing softly. When it comes to trumpet, one doesn’t play the way one practices.

Beginner trumpet players need to take short breaks between exercises. It is not beneficial to continue playing with fatigued lips, as this may result in physical damage. Many middle school students wear braces on their teeth. They should have no real problems playing the trumpet, but they may wish to protect their lips with a wax or plastic mouth guard, usually available from their orthodontist. Warn all students against using the right pinky finger to apply excessive pressure with the mouthpiece against the lips; they should concentrate on tightening the corners of the lips. [Note: The right-hand pinkie finger should remain relaxed, resting gently on top of the “hook” or “finger ring” located on the lead pipe. It should not be inserted into the ring itself, as this will greatly diminish the mobility of the ring finger due to the unique biological arrangement of the tendons in the hand.]

Mariachi trumpet students find themselves in an educationally advantageous situation. They will learn fundamentals from a band method book, which will—at least initially—tend to focus on performing in flat keys. They will simultaneously be introduced by their mariachi teacher to the sharp keys typically favored by the mariachi’s historic instrumentation, which features violins and the indigenous or folk instruments—the vihuela, guitar, guitarra de golpe, and guitarrón. As mentioned earlier, students should follow a progression of keys from low to high: Concert G, A, B♭, C, D, E, and F Major.

By the second semester the students’ ranges will improve as the instructor demonstrates the proper technique for reaching the higher notes. After performing a proper warm-up, this would include:

• maintaining solid breath support
• producing a faster airstream
• tightening of the corners of the lips, and
• going from a “tu” to a “tee” vowel sound inside the mouth.

Students are encouraged to become comfortable with the fact that improvement on the trumpet is gradual at the beginning. They must faithfully adhere to their daily routine and persevere in the method book. Ensure that the level of the ensemble repertoire matches that of the method book lessons and the technical abilities of the students. Therefore, if a mariachi arrangement is purchased, the range and rhythms should be carefully considered.

Mariachi Trumpet Style, Vibrato, and Tonguing

Other important issues involved in teaching mariachi trumpet include mariachi style, vibrato, and tonguing. Click here for a detailed explanation of each, as well as music examples to help your students practice these concepts.

Conclusion

In summary, the curriculum of instruction for mariachi trumpet players should be directed toward the sequential development of a solid technical foundation. It is of utmost importance that trumpet players consistently practice a warm-up sequence such as that shown on the “How to Practice at Home” page. Using a standard method book is highly recommended as well. Choose repertoire suitable for young trumpet players as to range and rhythm patterns.

If a published arrangement seems perfectly suited to the other instruments of the mariachi ensemble but is not pedagogically appropriate for your trumpeters, take the time to rearrange the trumpet parts to match the specific needs of your students. Temporarily transposing the higher trumpet part down an octave may be the only adjustment necessary. Make the various tonguing and vibrato exercises presented here available to your students, and encourage them to incorporate them in their daily performance. Finally, make a habit with your students of critically listening to recordings of leading mariachi trumpet players, as this is absolutely essential to the development of an appreciation for and understanding of the unique style used in the characteristic interpretation of traditional mariachi repertoire.