James Stamp Trumpet Method

James Stamp (1904–1985) was an American professional musician.

Background[edit]

Stamp was a professional musician from the age of 16, starting in the Mayo Clinic Band at Rochester, Minnesota. After having played in different Minneapolis theatres he was asked to play 4th trumpet in the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra. Playing 4th trumpet didn't allow for enough performances and the first trumpet player treated him like a valet. Later, after an argument with the 1st trumpet he was asked to play the 1st part on the Brahms 2nd Symphony while on tour to Cincinnati. He was then given a contract as 1st trumpet for the next season immediately after the concert. James Stamp held a position with the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra for 17 years playing Trumpet under conductors such as Henri Verbrugghen, Eugene Ormandy and his favorite Dimitri Mitropoulos.^[1][2]

Later after Eugene Ormandy left the Orchestra and Dimitri Mitropoulos became conductor the orchestra's finances were not very good. So, in 1944 he decided to sell his house and move to California. Mitropoulos tried to talk him out of leaving, but the house was already sold and he had made his decision. Stamp relocated to California, where he was immediately asked to play in studio orchestras in Hollywood, as well as radio and television programs. He suffered a heart attack in 1954, after which he devoted more time to teaching. He wrote an instructional book, Warm-ups + Studies which was first published in 1978.^[3] He died on December 22, 1985.

Laurie Frink's Method of Trumpet Instruction. 'An Analysis and Comparison of the Brass Methods by James Stamp, Donald Reinhardt, Carmine Caruso. Schlossberg, Max – Daily Drills and Technical Studies for Trumpet Stamp, James.Resist the urge to practice during the warm up-if you make a mistake, move on. James Stamp Method The mouthpiece and trumpet are only the amplifier – the buzzing of the lips is where the sound is formed. Daily Drills and Technical Studies for Trumpet James Stamp, Warm-Ups + Studies Etudes.Small. Anthony Plog - Method for Trumpet - Book 6, Low, High, Power & Strength Exercises & Etudes. James Stamp: Warm up.

Thomas Stevens, former Principal Trumpeter of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra said, 'I believe James Stamp was one of the finest teachers in the world. His approach was so flexible that I have never seen him fail to improve a player, whether it be an established symphony musician, jazz or lead player or a twelve-year-old student.'

James Stamp Trumpet Book

Bibliography[edit]

• Warm-ups + Studies: trumpet & other brass instruments in treble clef, CD in C and Bflat (1995)

Articles[edit]

Articles in the Brass Bulletin, International Magazine for Brass Players:

• Brass Bulletin 39, III-1982 (p. 14-21), Alfred Willener, Subtle Teaching
• Brass Bulletin 53, I-1986 (p. 3-4), Jean-Pierre Mathez/Thomas Stevens, Editorial 'Homage to James Stamp'
• Brass Bulletin 100, IV-1997 (p. 59-65), Jean-Christophe Wiener, James Stamp, Master in Listening part 1

References[edit]

1. ^http://www.malcolmmcnab.com/jimmystamp/
2. ^https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oN8c_IaZYtA
3. ^http://www.editions-bim.com/james-stamp-warm-ups-and-studies-for-trumpet-with-cd-accompaniment-in-b-flat-and-c.html

External links[edit]

Many of my colleagues, and indeed trumpeters the world over, swear by the practice routines of James Stamp. I hear lots of players warming up to these exercises and repeating them all through the day.

Personally, I don't like to get tied to any particular list of exercises, the reasons have been stated many times in other posts on this blog. I bought the Editions BIM Stamp book when I was at school at fifteen years old. I tried it for a while but didn't stick with it. I revisited it at college for a few months and several times over the years for extended periods. I also bought Roy Poper's excellent book explaining the studies more fully.

Schlossberg, Max – Daily Drills and Technical Studies for Trumpet Stamp, James – Warm-Ups and Studies (Editions BIM). *Resist the urge to practice during the warm up--if you make a mistake, move on. If you make consistent mistakes, choose easier material or slow the tempo down. Allen Vizzutti Trumpet Method Book 1. Uploader avatar Harlan Almeida. 111336753 James Stamp Warm Ups. Uploader avatar.

Some trumpeter colleagues of mine went over to Loa Angeles to study with the widely respected pedagog Boyde Hood, himself a student of Stamp. Boyde's routine is said to be written with Stamp at the end of James Stamp's life and are considered by many to be Stamp's definitive routine. I copied the routine for myself, including the extensive mouthpiece routines. I haven't included the mouthpiece studies here, but would willingly post them if requested.

This time, I stuck with the routine for ages. I gave up on the mouthpiece routines first. I realised that for me, and I do a little mouthpiece playing at the onset of my playing day (and a little throughout the day's work), I would rather play mouthpiece studies of a more musical nature. I do a little mouthpiece ‘solfeg' out of the Kodaly book or I may play some hymns or anything really. This works better for me.

The full Stamp routine, pictured in full at the end of this post, simply took me too long and even after a year or two my chops were quite stiff, sore and my mouthpiece never felt good on my chops etc. Things really improved when I gave up the routine altogether. I also began to be ‘addicted' to the routine and would struggle to play unless I had laboriously gone through all the pages!

For me, the full routine has too many pedal tones, covers too much range unnecessarily in each exercise, and the studies aren't especially musical. So I stopped! From time to time I do a much shortened version just to get my chops going – I do this as a change so that I don't do the same exercises every day and get stuck in a rut. I only go down to low F sharp and as high as top C. no pedal tones! Then I get straight to the music; maybe a solo piece, then I work on what I have to learn for work. I am fully aware of the many top players whop do the full routine every day. It just doesn't work for me. Here is my short version followed by Boyde Hood's full routine…

Stamp?Hood Full Routine

Stamp, James

Warm-Ups & Studies, w/MP3 Download

James Stamp Trumpet Method Pdf

James Stamp Trumpet Book

The Stamp exercises, perhaps more than other brass methods, emphasize musical principles as much as physical concepts to accomplish the desired technical results. Perhaps the most famous Stamp aphorism was that if it sounded correct (i.e. «in-tune») thenone was doing it correctly. Or, conversely, if one did not play correctly it would not sound correct. Indeed, everything that has been said or written about Mr. Stamp and his teaching/playing concepts reinforces this basic idea.

To implement his concepts, James Stamp would play the Warm-Ups/ Exercises on the piano keyboard while the students would simultaneously play them on the mouthpiece or the instrument. This method imposed a certain discipline and minimized the need for an inordinate amount of verbal instructions and analyses since any problems would become known almost immediately and consequently could be addressed early in the training process. -the publisher

James Stamp Trumpet Method

James Stamp Trumpet Method

Accompaniments, formerly included on CD, are now available as a free MP3 download for Bb or C trumpet.

James Stamp Trumpet Method Pdf

James Stamp Trumpet Method Pdf

(Breathing)
(Preliminary Warm-Ups)
(Basic Warm-Up)
(Slur Exercises)
(Scale Velocity)
(Three for Stamp)
(Bb Trumpet Accompaniments)
(C Trumpet Accompaniments)