O5504 - My First Arban: Trumpet - An Introduction To Arban's Conservatory Method for Trumpet Paperback – January 1, 2001

I've always felt guilty having my middle and high school students buy the huge, hard-to-keep-open Arban's method. This book is an excellent alternative for beginning and intermediate players. It includes technical studies, slur exercises, and a progressive selection of duets and solos. Highly recommended.

If you spend any time shopping for trumpet method books, you will come across the Arban name. This book (My First Arban) is a basically a sampling from the massive Arban's Complete Conservatory Method for Trumpet (Cornet) or Eb Alto, Bb Tenor, Baritone, Euphonium and Bb Bass in Treble Clef, and was meant by the editor to be a less daunting introduction for beginners or intermediate players. Well, it is indeed less daunting, but the original is downright scary! :-)There are indeed many exercises in this book that should be easy enough for first or second year players. However, in my view, they are not isolated or grouped together in a sufficiently clear way that a student could work his/her way through the book unaided. In other words, on a single page there might be pieces of very different levels of difficulty.So, unlike the typical method or instruction book, this one does not go from easier to harder, as you go deeper into the book. Instead it is organized according to different playing skills (like dynamics, or tonguing, or breathing). The student really needs a teacher or somebody else who can assess the student's needs, and assign specific exercises from different parts of the book.Of course, this type of organization has its advantages, for students who need to focus on a particular element by itself. But it means that one is always jumping around the book somewhat rather than moving in a more coherent or familiar type of forward progress.And after all is said and done, I have some issues with the choices that the editor made for the simplification, because (for example) the book does not take the student into very advanced key signatures. Instead the book seems to emphasize expanding the upper register, and increasing the speed of playing (shorter and shorter notes).Besides the numerous exercises, there are a variety of musical pieces of varying difficulty, so the student doesn't get bored just playing notes and scales. However, quite a few of them are duets, so once again it seems that the book is really designed for a student who is under direct supervision of a teacher (who would theoretically play the other part of the duet), or a group lesson, or whatever.Given its low price here on Amazon, it was a pretty easy purchase decision and I'm glad we got it. But customers should not by any means believe that this book will suffice by itself as a way of learning cornet/trumpet skills; and students should be warned not to be intimidated or frustrated by some of the harder exercises they'll find mixed in here.The rating is tough. If you understand what you are getting, and have a guide to help you through the book, it is worth at least four stars, perhaps five. (Definitely five if you get it at the Amazon promotional price.) If you are buying it sight unseen because of the Arban name, expecting a helpful and friendly introduction to trumpet skills, the disappointment might make it worth three stars or less.

This book was recommended for purchase by my daughter's trumpet teacher. It has a variety of lessons in it including arpeggios, short songs and scales. This is a great tool for my daughter, a second year band student.

My sons private trumpet teacher recommended this book. His first time bringing it he got lots of homework!! Great price. Fast shipping.

very good book and good packing.5stars

The Arban's book is full of exercises that would be challenging to the best trumpet players in the world. It also contains a wealth of exercises that can be mastered by beginning trumpet students, that teach all the skills needed to advance one's trumpet abilities.The exercises reprinted here are notable for their familiarity (if you are a trumpet player, you probably drilled with many of these) and chosen for the breadth of skills they will exercise, to include tonguing and embouchure control, hi-low transitions, scales of all kinds, musical relationships of different scales, modes, long tones and difficult key/lip/register/slot transitions.Most of what is here occurs inside the staff, where beginning trumpeters live. Gain control of the exercises in this book, and you will possess the skills to make first chair in any high school band, and can move on to the full Arban's book to see how much there is to learn.I got this book for my daughter, and it got me to pull out my own horns, that had sat gathering dust for a decade and a half. She hasn't started band yet--she'll start 4th grade in the fall. But she's already gaining enough chops to get through a scale. I'm practicing the drills. By the time she's built up enough skill to do them, I might have enough skills re-learnt to teach her properly. I'm excited about the opportunity to practice together with her.If your child has picked up the trumpet at a young age, this book will be a tremendous introductory tool that will provide practice structure and just might get your own horn out of the case as well.

Using it to teach first year students. It helps in improving their technique. I believe students should be able to play in multiple keys early in the process.

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