Buzz to Brilliance engages students personally, technically and musically as they begin their study on the trumpet. The book journeys with students from the moment they first open their trumpet case to years later as they prepare for college auditions. It abounds with technical information and practical tips including buying a new trumpet, mouthpiece selection, adjusting to braces, and marching band.
Chapters on practice skills, sight-reading, and performing are a must-read for any musician, while special features give students a window into diverse worlds, from the workbench of a master repairman to the French horn studio of a master teacher. Drawings, diagrams and pictures invite students into each page, making even advanced technical concepts easy to understand.
Following the written portion of the book, a comprehensive set of scales and technique-building exercises address topics including breathing, high range, pedal tones, lip slurs, accuracy, articulation, and pedal tones. With practice schedules, mouthpiece comparison chart, pitch tendencies and more, this book is a treasure for any trumpet player.
Buzz to Brilliance is the perfect companion for any beginning method book, and the first text on the market that provides a comprehensive set of essential studies selected specifically for beginning and intermediate players.
Reviews & Raves:
"As a private trumpet instructor and public school band director of over 30 years, I am happy to see a book that is up-to-date on all aspects of playing the trumpet and fresh in its approach to trumpet instruction. Every aspiring young trumpet player with an eagerness to learn more about their instrument and music-making skills needs this book." --Kerry Taylor, Director of Bands, Westlake High School, Eanes ISD
"Buzz to Brilliance is a good resource for the beginning and intermediate player. It is thoughtful, insightful and positive - all good attributes for the aspiring trumpeter." --Jim Wilt, Associate Principal Trumpet Los Angeles Philharmonic
"Adrian Griffin has written a wonderful book for trumpet players at the beginning of their training. He covers all of the bases." --Tage Larsen, Fourth/Utility Trumpet, Chicago Symphony Orchestra
"Adrian's book is an amazingly thorough treatise on everything trumpet. For those looking for detailed instructions and step-by-step processes, this book is for you. It is well thought out and organized, and should have its place in every trumpet instructor's library." --Phil Collins, Retired Principal Trumpet, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
"A comprehensive, well thought out and practical guide for any beginner to intermediate trumpet player. In fact, I'm using Buzz to Brilliance as a guide for my own son's lessons. Bravo!" --James Ross, Trumpet, Metropolitan Opera
"This is possibly the most comprehensive and thorough book for the beginner that I have ever seen. Mr. Griffin has left no stone unturned, and this is a great book especially for those who are starting at the beginning, or for parents who want to help ensure that their children start out with good habits." --David Herzog, Principal Trumpet, New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, Tokyo
"An epic work. [I'm] totally impressed." --Denver D. Dill, Principal Bugle at West Point Band (The Hellcats)
"Buzz to Brilliance is a great way to get school-age trumpeters to play correctly from the very start. It's encyclopedic in it's scope and provides the best of the most famous methods to compound the benefits to ambitious youngsters. It cuts to the heart of the work that needs to be done and provides a big advantage." --Andrew Balio, Principal Trumpet,
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
"I feel Adrian's book Buzz to Brilliance is very useful, especially (but not limited to) young trumpeters that have to learn that playing well is not only holding the trumpet and making good "notes," but knowing how to master the art in a wider scope. Adrian has touched on some very important aspects of learning the trumpet and explained them in a simplistic manner. This book a must have for serious students, amateurs, teachers, and professionals alike. The contents of the book are most IMPRESSIVE!" --Gabriele Cassone, International Trumpet Soloist
"After reading through Buzz to Brilliance, I realized the trumpet community has never seen such a comprehensive guide for our art form. It covers from how to hold the trumpet to becoming the best musician an individual can aspire to be. The Arban book has been called the bible of the trumpet, so consider this the New Testament. Every trumpet player, young and old, amateur and professional, should own this book! Thank you to Adrian Griffin for this gift to the trumpet world!" --Anthony Prisk, Second Trumpet, Houston Symphony, and Faculty, University of Houston
"Griffin's 'B2B' is a rich addition to the trumpet methodology. This is a comprehensive primer for all--beginners to trumpet fans--who wish to understand the A-Z's of playing, practicing and performing on the trumpet." --Stephen Burns, Artistic Director, Fulcrum Point New Music Project
"I am pleased to welcome and recommend Adrian Griffin's Buzz to Brilliance: A Beginning and Intermediate Guide to Trumpet Playing to the trumpet studio at Baylor University. Though geared for younger players this book contains a wealth of information many of wish we had access to in our college years. This wonderfully comprehensive text will be an invaluable resource to aspiring young trumpeters and teachers. We are also using it as the text for the Trumpet Methods course and as a reference in the Brass Literature & Pedagogy class." --Wiff Rudd, Professor of Trumpet, Brass Area Coordinator, Baylor University School of Music
"As Brass Supervisor, Composer/Arranger for the 15-time DCI Champion Concord Blue Devils Drum & Bugle Corps, I find it imperative that my musicians have a concrete background in the fundamentals of their instrument. Adrian Griffin's Buzz to Brilliance does just that for the beginning and aspiring trumpeter. For new and experienced teachers alike, this comprehensive book will give them insight to better understand the mechanics of trumpet as an invaluable teaching tool. This book has set the tone for the next generation of trumpeters to be better prepared than ever before. Congratulations, Adrian!" --Wayne R. Downey, Concord Blue Devils Drum & Bugle Corps
"Buzz to Brilliance is a thorough and wonderful book for the ambitious young trumpeter. It is very well organized and thoughtful to aid not just the beginner/intermediate students, but their teachers as well." --Mark J. Inouye, Principal Trumpet, San Francisco Symphony