Kiku is currently performing trumpet exclusively on a Getzen 3001MV Artist Model Mike Vax trumpet

Think of some great American trumpet players. I’m sure everyone can come up with an impressive list of players both past and present. Now, go back through that list and pick out the women. What’s that you say? There aren’t any? Hmmm. Now take a look at your local band programs. How many females occupy the seats in the junior high, high school, or college trumpet sections? I’m guessing not too many. These are exactly the trends Kiku Collins is hoping to bring to an end.

Kiku started her trumpet career in a small, New Jersey town following in the footsteps of her older, trumpet playing brother. By the age of 12 her skills were becoming apparent despite being one of the only females in her school band. At age 16, after spending two summers in their National Music Camp, she earned herself a scholarship and a place in the prestigious Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan. From there, Kiku went on to study classical performance at the Manhattan School of Music under the tutelage of her mentor, Dr. Mel Broiles. He constantly encouraged her, as one of his few female students, to fight on and pursue her dreams. His words have stuck with her and have helped shape the successful career she has now.

In 2006, Kiku’s career took the biggest jump to date. After years of playing with her own group, sitting in with other artists, and countless studio sessions, she landed the role of Beyonce Knowles’ trumpet player. The next year was a whirlwind. Performing with Beyonce and her band for numerous television appearances, multiple music videos, and a world tour befitting a pop superstar.

Somehow, through it all, she was able to write, arrange, and record her own jazz album. Here With Me is an instrumental album featuring Kiku on flugelhorn and also her multi-tracking on trumpet and trombone. The album debuted to rave reviews, opening doors for the trumpeter including an invite to headline two brass festivals in Europe. First with The Brass Group in Palermo, Italy and second the Durham Brass Festival in Durham, England. Even more impressive is the fact that, despite performing with Beyonce and promoting her own album, Kiku still found the time and energy to continue with her hectic NYC schedule. Playing gigs around the city, sitting in on recording sessions with other artists, and most importantly raising her six year old daughter.

What does the future hold for Ms. Collins? She’s continuing to promote Here With Me while working on album number two. As usual, she can be found performing her solo work all over NYC. You can also catch her playing around town with other artists/groups like Psycho the Clown and Voltaire to name a few. Biggest of all is that she is joining Michael Bolton as the lead trumpet for his current American tour. Pretty good for a girl in a supposedly all boys club. A fact Kiku expects isn’t lost on her young fans. She hopes that her talent, style, and success can inspire the next generation of female trumpet players.

You can learn more about Kiku Collins by visiting her at www.myspace.com/kikucollins or at www.kikucollins.com. Her site includes a bio, blog, schedule, photo album, music samples, and more. Her album, Here With Me, is available from www.innova.mu, www.cdbaby.com, and for download via iTunes.

Tom Getzen (center) met with Mike Vax (right) following Mike’s performance with the University of Wisconsin Marching Band during their annual Spring Concert. Tom’s grandson Dylan Linhart, trombonist, attended the concert as well and was excited to get to meet Mike after the show.

By Mike Vax

The proper way to build range is to increase it gradually over a number of years, always using as natural an embouchure as possible. Students need to learn to let the air do the work instead of the chops. And always, always, always avoid false or trick embouchures like the plague!

Always remember that range comes from endurance, not the other way around! After you gain the support and muscle control to play for longer periods of time, you begin to have the basic foundation to start increasing your range. Working to extend range by half step increments, over a long period of time, insures control, confidence, and consistency in the upper register that will last for years. There is no deep dark secret that will increase your range overnight. It takes hours of hard practice and concentration. There is no shortcut!

Young players trying to stretch into the upper register too quickly can face quite a few problems. Gaining the ability to reach up high should be thought of as a marathon rather than a sprint. A student can injure muscles in the embouchure as well as other parts of the body by trying too hard to hit the upper registers without first having the knowledge and physical stamina to play up there correctly. Rushing it can also be a detriment to other aspects of playing.

There was never a time in my life that I spent hours a day just trying to “honk out” high notes. The upper register was just one of the many facets that I worked on with regard to my overall playing. Instead of focusing only on high notes, I try to point out to students the importance of working on technique, articulation, flexibility, reading, and endurance. If all of those are mastered, the ability to hit high notes will follow. I also stress to students that the measure of a player is not how high he/she can play for one, forced note. The real measure is how high he/she can play both consistently and musically. I urge them to remember, that the main consideration of trumpet playing is to achieve pure musical sound in all registers of the horn.

Things To Focus On To Extend Range

• Flexibility studies
• Long tones
• Pedal tones (with natural embouchure)
• Endurance builders (such as the characteristic studies in the back of the Arban’s Book and the Daily Set-Up drills of Herbert L. Clarke)
• Chords and scales that gradually go higher
• Breathing exercises. (AIR is your real “octave key”. When you SUPPORT your sound properly, playing high becomes much easier)
• Walking, running, biking, swimming, etc… (the better shape your body is in, the better chance you have with both endurance and high notes)

Warning Signs Young Players Are Rushing The Upper Register

• Loss of flexibility
• Airy tone
• Trouble with lower register
• Loss of control and consistency
• Loss of endurance
• Inability to center pitches

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In the fall of 2005, I was contacted by Mike Vax. Not a big surprise since Mike checks in with us at the factory quite a bit. This call was different. Mike was looking for our help. Some friends in I.T.G. had passed a story on to him that he thought we would be able to assist with. A group of musicians were having trouble getting instruments. Specifically a piccolo trumpet. The musicians were members of the Brandt Brass Band of Saratov, Russia. A very talented group rapidly making a name for themselves. Up until that point, the band was forced to borrow a piccolo trumpet from a neighboring town’s band. Not at all an ideal situation. In an effort to alleviate this, the members of the band were able to scrape together a few hundred dollars. By no means was that enough to purchase a new piccolo. They were hoping that through contacts in I.T.G. they would be able to find a used piccolo at a reasonable price. Enter Mike Vax.

Mike called us after he heard the tale and asked if there was anything we could do to help. Trumpet players around the U.S. had heard of the band’s troubles and were donating money to the cause hoping to boost the band’s buying power. Mike wanted to know if we had an old or seconds piccolo around that we could sell the band directly. We did not. After discussing the situation with my father Tom Getzen, we came up with a better solution. Rather than selling the band an old horn, we decided to give them, free of charge, a brand new 3916 Custom Series piccolo. From our standpoint, we had been fortunate in life and this was a perfect opportunity to pass that along. At the time, Tom relayed a lesson to me that my grandfather had taught him. At some point in life, you’ll have the chance to help someone else. While the time, effort, or dollar amount may not seem like much to you, to them it will mean the world. This was a perfect example of one of those situations.

Immediately, I got a hold of Mike and told him the good news. He was ecstatic and quickly passed the development on to his friends in I.T.G. The news spread fast and I was inundated with emails and phone calls thanking me for our donation. That’s not the reason we did it, but they were all appreciated. As word spread of our donation, trumpeters continued to donate money to the band. The new plan was that the band could use that money to help pay for a quality recording of the band with a CD to follow. I’m personally excited for that since I have heard nothing but praise for the band’s performances and I’m anxious to hear them for myself.

Soon after we decided to donate the horn, I was contacted by Mr. Gary Mortenson. He had great news. Gary had arranged for Steve Chenette, a former President of I.T.G, to deliver the horn and cash donations to the band during a visit to Russia. This was great, as it would ensure the horn made it to the band in good condition. Once the method of delivery had been established I had the piccolo prepped and shipped it to Steve. I also sent along several care kits (valve oil, cleaning cloths, etc…) for the band.

Once the piccolo was on the way to Steve and all the arrangements had been made, the members of the Brandt Brass Band emailed me to express their thanks. They asked me to pass on their “endless thankful words to all the people who some how took part in our life and help us to work better”. A few weeks later they also took the time to send me a nice Christmas greeting. I was honored that they would take the time and proud that they were so excited to get the instrument.

Fast forward to March of this year. Steve Chenette made his way to Russia with the piccolo and donations in tow. He emailed me from Saratov to tell me how excited the members of the band were upon his arrival. In fact, they couldn’t wait to try the horn. Instead, they spent nearly a week playing and practicing on it so they could use it in a concert shortly after the “official” presentation. After having the 3916 for a few days, Oleg Abramov emailed me to pass on their feelings. “Our trumpeters now behave like children.” Oleg said. “Everyone is trying to play it and they are always discussing it.” He went on to say, “Thanks a lot for the wonderful gift! We haven’t had such a trumpet until this in Saratov! So I think now it’s the most beautiful treasure in musical Saratov.” When asked how the players felt about the horn Oleg said, “Our piccolo player, Nikolay Khudoshin, is very delighted with the instrument. It’s very beautiful, has reach and a wonderful sound. It reacts on every breath you put into it!” “As our guys are joking,” Oleg wrote, “we have a beautiful blond, but we haven’t chosen her name yet. An enormous huge Thank You! If you’ll need something someday you must remember that you have 3 friends in Saratov, Russia that have close relations with one of your girls.” You cannot imagine my sense of pride. Knowing that not only were we able to help, but that the piccolo was met with such high regard. That, after all, is the most important thing. In July, Oleg Abramov contacted me to say that Nikolay Khudoshin enjoys the piccolo more with each practice. He went on to say that they have chosen music for their upcoming recording. The band will be performing Mozart’s The Night Queen’s Aria from The Magic Flute. I’m sure I’m not the only one anxiously awaiting its release.

All in all, this was a very rewarding experience for the company as a whole and for me personally. It was great to see the trumpet world come together to help their brothers in need. I am just glad that we could have a small part in the effort. Hopefully the piccolo will serve the band for years to come. I wish them and everyone who helped them continued success in all of their future endeavors.

News Coverage Videos: Channel IST | Channel Russia

Tom Getzen (far right) welcomed the Goteborg Brass Band to Elkhorn in October. The band members toured the factory and spent time play testing Getzen and Edwards instruments. The band and its members purchased several 3850 Bb and 3892 Eb cornets and 3895 flugelhorns to add to their impressive inventory of Getzen small brass.

For more information on the band visit www.goteborgbrassband.org.se.

Mike Vax (left) and Tom Getzen (center) listen on while Getzen artist Johnny Brit test drives the new 3001MV trumpet during the 2006 NAMM show in Anaheim, CA.

Tom Getzen welcomes Mike Vax to the Getzen Family

For more than forty years Mike Vax has wowed audiences with his trumpet playing, performing lead and solo work with the Stan Kenton Orchestra, the Clark Terry Big Bad Band, and the United States Navy Show Band. He’s had the chance to perform and/or record with such greats as Art Pepper, Al Grey, Freddy Hubbard, John Handy, The Glenn Miller and Jimmy Dorsey Orchestras, and the list goes on and on. Through out all those years and during all those shows Mike has learned one major lesson. A great player needs a great trumpet and that is what he has found with his new Getzen Custom Series.

Together with Byron Autrey and the dedicated staff in the Getzen ProShop, Mike put into effect the design ideas that he thought would make a great trumpet. What he came up with is the all new, 3001MV Custom Artist Mike Vax Model trumpet.

This new trumpet is based off of the tried and true 3001 Artist Model with a few tweaks. The first, and biggest, is the new #172 hand hammered, one piece bell made of light weight gold brass. This combination creates a wonderfully rich and colorful tone with outstanding response and projection. This makes the 3001MV perfect for anything from solo work in small settings or lead play in large concert halls. The second new feature is the addition of a lower tuning slide venturi tube. This helps focus and concentrate airflow before it enters the valve section reducing turbulence and adding response.

Mike at the Getzen booth at TMEA

During his week long visit to the factory in Elkhorn, Mike had a chance to watch the skilled Getzen craftsmen at work. The most impressive thing to him was the people. As Mike put it, “It’s great to see instruments being built by hand again. To see actual people doing the work.” Mike had a chance to see the fruits of this labor himself when he play tested the entire Getzen line of small brass instruments. From top to bottom, the entire line of small brass impressed Mike, especially when he found out they were all production horns taken off the shelf. He was particularly surprised with the quality of the 390/490 Student trumpets. During this play testing, Mike decided that in addition to the new trumpet, he needed a new cornet and flugelhorn. After trying them all, Mike went with an 800 Eterna and prototype 3895 small bore flugelhorn with a gold brass bell.

All in all, Mr. Vax was very pleased with what he saw, heard, and played during his visit. And now that he’s had a chance to perform on the new trumpet, his audiences and band mates are pleased as well. Often taking the time to comment on Mike’s fantastic “new” sound. A great player has indeed found himself a great trumpet.

by Mike Vax

The most important aspect of playing any wind instrument is getting air through that instrument. I believe that one of the best ways to practice proper use of the air is to do it away from the instrument. When you are practicing with your instrument there are too many other things to do, therefore you don’t concentrate enough on your airflow.

I have some exercises that I really believe will improve the student’s conception and use of the muscles of the diaphragmatic area. These exercises are designed to make the student completely aware of how to obtain the best use of the air column.

Please remember that when breathing, we make use of the diaphragmatic area to facilitate the in and out of the air. The diaphragmatic area includes the muscles of the upper abdomen, but not really the lower abdomen. The diaphragm muscle is located just below the center of the rib cage. It follows around the contour of the rib cage and connects with the back muscles. This is why a player who is breathing properly will have their back expanding when they inhale. When doing the exercises discussed here, I try to think of the center of my diaphragmatic area. This is the area just below the sternum. I try to center all my thought and feeling right in this area. Also remember that the lungs don’t do anything by themselves. The diaphragm makes the move. You should not think of breathing from your chest area. The lungs are only reservoirs that hold air and filters to clean the blood, not the means of getting air into the body. The only sensation you should feel in your chest is that of “filling up” with air.

Now that we have learned how we breathe, let’s work on how to control the air to make it work for us as wind instrumentalists. The following exercise must be done with complete concentration. Forget everything around you and just concentrate on proper breathing.

There are five steps to this exercise. I call one time through all five of these steps one cycle of the exercise.

1. Lie down on the floor on your back with your legs straight out and your arms at your side.
2. Concentrate on isolating your diaphragmatic area from the rest of your body. At first, you can put a heavy book on it or have someone apply light pressure with his\her foot over the center of your diaphragmatic area. Later, you can just put your hand over the area and use that to push against. Work toward the point where you can really feel the location of the center of the muscle. When you can feel this area and have it isolated, you are now ready for the third step.
3. Take air in slowly through a small hole in your mouth by raising the center of the diaphragmatic up towards the ceiling. With your hand on it you can actually see the movement. Keep taking air in slowly until you feel as if you are full, and then make yourself inhale even more air. In essence, stretching your lungs. Another way to think of raising the center of the diaphragmatic area is to pretend that there is someone standing above you with a string attached to your diaphragm and they are pulling on the string.
4. When you are completely filled up with air, don’t hold this air in for a long period. Start slowly pushing it out through the same small hole in your mouth. You need to do this by keeping the diaphragm muscles flexed. Even though you have raised the center of the area to take the air in, you still keep the raised sensation going. Still think of raising it up toward the ceiling as you push the air out. Try to stay flexed and remember that flexed does not mean tense. Try not to tense up during the exercise. You flex the muscles for control, but try not to over do it and overtax your muscles. The only difference in the exhaling process is that you should now get a feeling that the upper abdominal wall is pushing in to force the air out. After you think that you have pushed all the air out that you possibly can, make yourself push out even a little more. Really empty your lungs. When you have done this you are ready for the final step.
5. This is another relaxation step. It is not the deep relaxation of the first step, but simply a relaxing of the diaphragm as well as the whole body to let your diaphragmatic area rejuvenate itself and get ready for another cycle of the exercise

When you start this regimen, go through only 4 or 5 cycles at any one time. Doing any more may strain your muscles. As you progress, gradually increase the number of cycles. You will get the most out of the exercise if you do it twice a day. Ideally doing five cycles in the morning and five at night. Since the technique gives you a greater amount of oxygen than regular breathing, you’ll notice a nice energy boost in the morning and you will actually wake up faster. No more need for the coffee kick start.

If you do this exercise faithfully everyday, it will help your sound, endurance, flexibility, and even your range. Don’t be too impatient with the exercises since improvement will not happen overnight. Nothing worthwhile comes without hard work and constant practice. Remember too, your diaphragmatic area is always there with you so there is no excuse to skip the exercise. Also remember that your breathing while playing will not match exactly the way you do during the exercise. However, aspects of it will creep into your playing making your use of air much easier and more efficient as well as expanding your overall lung capacity.

by Robert Levy - Professor of Music, Lawrence University
Getzen Artist & Clinician

While Part I of this series addressed an approach in practicing by isolating Musical Elements, I’d like to backtrack a moment in Part II to the very beginning of our journey.

When starting out, young players have most likely been drawn to the trumpet for having heard someone play it – maybe a friend or relative. Or, perhaps they attended a concert and heard a soloist and were captivated by the glorious sound ringing throughout the auditorium or concert hall. At any rate, there was something captivating about this instrument for each of us from the very beginning and we made a conscious decision to get one and learn how to play it. Little did we know this would be on long journey!!

After many years I’m still amazed when I see raw beginners taking their very first steps as they learn the fundamentals of good hand and finger position, get their lips buzzing on the mouthpiece, and produce their beginning level tone qualities. They have such boundless enthusiasm and a yearning desire. They just want to get blowing the horn as quickly as possible with little regard for how they might sound. And this is understandable and I believe quite okay in the first few weeks of this learning process. I think the number one priority for teachers is to take advantage of this great enthusiasm that exists. All too often I see young teachers giving detailed lectures on the refined points of embouchure development, the importance of musical notation, and even a theoretical analysis! While all of these things are not only important and essential, I truly believe for a young student, age eleven to thirteen, the priority should be allowing them to play as soon as possible and take advantage of their desire to create a sound. Johnny and Susan don’t get this kind of opportunity in math or English class. We can work on refinement and all the other important concepts later as the long journey continues.

To hold the young student back from actually playing the instrument is like giving a four year old a new toy and keeping him/her from playing with it while you tell them all you know about it. He wants to play just as our new young trumpeter is excited about making those first sounds. In most cases they won’t be very beautiful, but they will be their own.

There is all too often a high attrition rate with young musicians and I believe this occurs because they become bored. If we can capture their excitement and enthusiasm it will get them up and running and many more young students will stay motivated playing their instruments.

Lastly, I believe very strongly in even the youngest students hearing models as early as three or four weeks after they’ve begun. They then have a long range goal before them. They’ll remember THAT sound and begin to formulate sound concepts. It can be done with the teacher making a point to play with the student (rather than strictly talking), by bringing in guest players, or by regularly playing recordings of outstanding players. Let’s remember the wonderful success with Suzucki teaching where the emphasis is on playing; reading comes later. I think there is a considerable amount to be learned from that technique.

Part III of this series will address the importance of sound concepts. Meanwhile, let’s keep our youngest students turned on to playing their horns!

by Robert Levy - Professor of Music, Lawrence University
Getzen Artist & Clinician

While I have spoken in previous issues of choosing the more beneficial aspects of playing and selecting a good daily routine, there are some additional thoughts I’m pleased to share. First, I want to thank those hundreds of trumpet students I’ve worked with over the past, nearly forty years, and my many musician friends who have given their time to share their thoughts and ideas in teaching.

I believe we sometimes simply take many things for granted including the belief students will be able to sort through an approach to learning on their own. If learning is, according to Webster, “the acquiring of skills or knowledge” there is a process we must go through to acquire those skills. I’d like to view this whole idea within a framework that leads to developing total musicianship. Yes, we all are continually learning new ways and new skills, and better ways of doing things, but I think we can find easier ways and possibly save time. This is what I refer to as “becoming a smart musician” rather than simply becoming a tongue and blow player. Perhaps this is oversimplification, but I have seen and worked with both types of musicians and seen my students make many mistakes that they could have avoided.

The “smart musician” can learn an approach to playing and practicing that is direct and concise and gets to the heart of the matter. It also ties in with reducing the complex to the simple. One non-musician friend many years ago was sitting in the audience with me attending a symphony concert. He remarked, “how is it possible for all these players to do all which is necessary to play together as they do?” I thought that was a fascinating comment, and as I thought about it, the idea is rather amazing. How many other fields or occupations are there where one person will multi task or think about so many things simultaneously: pitch, rhythm, intonation, balance, blend, style, articulation, releases, hand and finger positions, breathing, embouchure, trying to make a beautiful sound. Add to that phrasing, watching the conductor, and listening to everyone else on stage. When you stop to think about it, that’s truly amazing. Yet, we do it and many do it in terrific fashion.

Now, how might we approach things in the learning process? If an etude or musical composition appears difficult, we want to somehow “reduce the complex” to make it simpler and easier. This begins not just with slow practicing, but also by isolating the elements one at a time. First get your pitches, then get the rhythm (you can even speak it without playing), the work on the articulations, add the dynamics, accelerandos, retards, etc… Finally add phrasing and musicality and begin combining all of those elements while practicing it slowly and gradually increase the tempi as the passage becomes more comfortable for you. Last of all, listen carefully for good tuning and play with your best sound. The key is to isolate and learn each aspect separately when working on something difficult.

With these tips, you’ll learn the piece BETTER and FASTER. It’s another example of how you can become the “smart musician”.