🎺 12-Week Beginner Trumpet Curriculum

Your Complete Guide to Building Solid Trumpet Fundamentals from Day One

Featuring method books by Clarke, Pearson, Gordon, Lautzenheiser, Longinotti, Johnson, Ridgeon, Robinson, and Wiggins


Week 1: Buzz, Breathe, Begin – Your First Steps on the Trumpet
• Focus: Posture, breathing, and mouthpiece buzzing
• Goal: Create your first sound and understand brass fundamentals
• Resources:
• Gordon: Physical Approach to Elementary Brass Playing
• Ridgeon: Brass for Beginners
• Daily Practice Plan:
• 5 mins: Breathing exercises and breath control
• 10 mins: Mouthpiece buzzing with pitch matching
• 5 mins: Holding the trumpet correctly

🎯 Call to Action: Develop your embouchure strength early—consistent buzzing builds long-term tone success.


Week 2: First Notes – C to G and Beyond
• Focus: Playing your first five notes (C-D-E-F-G)
• Goal: Build confidence with consistent tone and correct fingerings
• Resources:
• Pearson: Standard of Excellence, Book 1
• Lautzenheiser: Essential Elements for Band, Book 1
• Daily Practice Plan:
• 5 mins: Buzzing warm-up
• 10 mins: Play notes C–G from the method books
• 10 mins: Fingerings with flashcards or charts

🎺 Call to Action: Use beginner trumpet fingering charts to build fluency—print one from TrumpetStudio.com!


Week 3: Tone Building – Long Tones and Lip Control
• Focus: Steady tone, open notes, long tones
• Goal: Improve breath support, control, and tone quality
• Resources:
• Longinotti: l’Étude de la Trompette
• Johnson: The Art of Trumpet Playing
• Daily Practice Plan:
• 10 mins: Long tones on C-G
• 10 mins: Simple lip slurs between open positions
• 10 mins: Listening to recordings of professional trumpet tone

🔊 Call to Action: Consistent tone is the heart of great trumpet playing—start each day with beautiful long tones.


Week 4: Finger Gym – Lock In the Mechanics
• Focus: Developing accurate, fast finger movement
• Goal: Master the fingerings for one-octave C major and simple patterns
• Resources:
• Robinson: Rubank Elementary Method
• Wiggins: First Tunes and Studies
• Daily Practice Plan:
• 5 mins: Fingering drills (flashcards or apps)
• 10 mins: C-D-E-F-G-A exercises from Rubank
• 10 mins: Simple etudes from Wiggins

🎼 Call to Action: Solid fingering builds technical confidence—download free practice logs at TrumpetStudio.com.


Week 5: Feel the Rhythm – Pulse, Time, and Accuracy
• Focus: Reading and playing basic rhythms
• Goal: Perform in time with metronome and understand rests
• Resources:
• Pearson: Standard of Excellence
• Robinson: Rubank Elementary Method
• Daily Practice Plan:
• 10 mins: Clapping and counting exercises
• 10 mins: Playing with metronome – quarter and half note passages
• 10 mins: Duets or call-and-response rhythm drills

🕒 Call to Action: Rhythm is everything. Practice with a metronome to develop timing like the pros.


Week 6: First Songs – Let the Music Begin
• Focus: Performing short, simple melodies
• Goal: Play musical phrases with correct notes and timing
• Resources:
• Wiggins: First Tunes & Studies
• Ridgeon: Brass for Beginners
• Daily Practice Plan:
• 10 mins: Review long tones and slurs
• 10 mins: Simple melodies with attention to phrasing
• 10 mins: Record yourself for playback and improvement

🎵 Call to Action: Capture your progress—record your first melody and share it with a teacher or fellow player.


Week 7: Expand Your Range – Notes Above G
• Focus: New notes (A-B-C) and low F#
• Goal: Expand usable range and keep good tone at new pitches
• Resources:
• Clarke: Elementary Studies
• Lautzenheiser: Essential Elements
• Daily Practice Plan:
• 5 mins: Buzzing with focus on higher lip tension
• 10 mins: A-B-C scale exercises
• 10 mins: Clarke’s elementary flexibility drills

🚀 Call to Action: Expand your range with control. Never force—build it with focused daily reps.


Week 8: Lip Slurs – Flexibility = Freedom
• Focus: Smooth slurring across partials
• Goal: Connect notes fluidly with no breaks in tone
• Resources:
• Gordon: Physical Approach
• Johnson: The Art of Trumpet Playing
• Daily Practice Plan:
• 10 mins: Slur between open notes (C-G)
• 10 mins: Add valves for more complex lip slurs
• 10 mins: Flexibility etudes from Johnson

⚙️ Call to Action: Lip slurs are your secret weapon—master them now, and you’ll soar later.


Week 9: Play with Others – Matching Pitch and Pulse
• Focus: Play with audio, duet, or group practice
• Goal: Stay in sync with other players or backing tracks
• Resources:
• Pearson & Essential Elements backing tracks
• Daily Practice Plan:
• 10 mins: Play melodies with audio track
• 10 mins: Duet practice or virtual ensemble tracks
• 10 mins: Focus on intonation and blending

🎧 Call to Action: Playing alone is practice. Playing with others is music.


Week 10: Dynamics and Phrasing – Play with Emotion
• Focus: Loud and soft playing, musical phrases
• Goal: Add contrast and shape to your performance
• Resources:
• Rubank Elementary Method
• Longinotti
• Daily Practice Plan:
• 10 mins: Crescendo/decrescendo on long tones
• 10 mins: Practice shaping musical lines
• 10 mins: Phrase small tunes expressively

📣 Call to Action: Make your trumpet sing—play with dynamics and heart.


Week 11: Tonguing Technique – Clarity and Precision
• Focus: Tonguing basics: “ta” and “da”
• Goal: Develop clean articulation without strain
• Resources:
• Johnson: The Art of Trumpet Playing
• Clarke: Elementary Studies
• Daily Practice Plan:
• 5 mins: Speak and buzz “ta-ta-ta”
• 10 mins: Single tongue short passages
• 10 mins: Combine tonguing with scale runs

💬 Call to Action: Crisp articulation unlocks speed—start with clarity, then build tempo.


Week 12: Showcase Week – Your First Trumpet Performance
• Focus: Rehearse and perform 2–3 short songs
• Goal: Celebrate progress with a mini-recital
• Resources:
• Your favorite melodies from Wiggins, Rubank, or Essential Elements
• Daily Practice Plan:
• 10 mins: Warm-up + scales
• 15 mins: Rehearse chosen performance pieces
• 10 mins: Record and self-assess

🎤 Call to Action: Share your talent! Host a living room concert, record for YouTube, or join your school band with confidence.


🎯 Final Note: Your Trumpet Journey Starts Now

This 12-week program is built on proven trumpet pedagogy. From breathing and buzzing to phrasing and performance, every week builds the skills necessary for a lifetime of trumpet joy. The included method books—by Clarke, Gordon, Pearson, Wiggins, and others—provide tested exercises trusted by educators around the world.

🔥 Ready to Begin?
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Your trumpet deserves your time. Your sound deserves your effort.
Start playing like you mean it—today.

Elementary Methods

Clarke: Elementary Studies (C. Fischer)

Pearson: Standard of Excellence, Book 1

Gordon: Physical Approach to Elementary Brass Playing (C. Fischer)

Lautzenheiser: Essential Elements for Band, Book 1

Longinotti: l'Etude de la trompette (Editions Henn)

Johnson: The Art of Trumpet Playing

Ridgeon: Brass for Beginners (Boosey & Hawkes)

Robinson: Rubank Elementary Method (Rubank)

Wiggins: First Tunes & Studios (Oxford)