AboutMike Pawul Expertise I am familiar with most trumpets, cornets, and flugelhorns. I can answer most questions about playing and musicality. Best of all, if I can't answer it directly I play regularly in five bands and have several "old timers" that are familiar with most things that I am not. I collect, repair, and refinish old horns and have sold over 350 with more than 230 on ebay
Experience I have played since 1965 and studied with many directors and trumpeters. I have been collecting since 2002 and have over 150 horns in my personal collection. I have done repair and refinsh since 2003 and have done over 500 horns.
Organizations Kosair Shrine Brass Band and Dance Band, The Notables, The Mello Tones, Bourbon City Brass Band,
River Cities Concert Band,
University of Louisville Community Band,
Member of Trumpet Players International Network (TPIN),
Bugles Across America (BAA),
Education/Credentials I played at Brunswick High School. I played through college and have a BS in Business Administration from Trinity College.
Awards and Honors Without being vain, numerous awards and have played in several honor bands.
Question I played trumpet in high school and 2 years of college and was very good at the time. I had private lessons for 8 years, got the "50 yard line" solo, and was paid for small church performances. I played all the time in band, jazz band, orch, school plays, and churches. Unfortunately, computers were my bigger passion and that career took over my life. I've taken a liking to a local band and know the leader. He has a sax player in on some sets, and I kidded with a friend about brushing off the dust and playing, if at first just a practices. And here's the rub - I was "book smart" playing off of music. I was in a jazz band 4 years but never jammed. Maybe this is a learn by doing proposition and that's the answer to the question: How can one learn to play along with a band? Or is it "innate" and not something one can learn? I've tried to "play along" on some Maynard Ferguson tunes and felt like I didn't know what to do. Can you help me get back into playing as a hobby? Thank you! -Bill
Answer Bill, Welcome back to the trumpet community! One of the hardest things to learn for many people is to improvise. It requires a lot of trial and error and thinking. You need to get as many of your scales down as possible and then you can begin to experiment. I have found the best way to learn is to use a play along book. Jamie Abersold has a great line of books with CD that will walk you through easy to hard improvising. Here is a link to a few: http://aebersold.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=TRUIMP
Anyone can learn to do improvising and have fun with it. Just like your playing, you start with the basic scales and work out from there. Most of all just have fun with it. You will make a lot of mistakes at first but keep practicing with it.
