We want you to become the best trumpeter that you can be. No matter the situation, we want you to be ready. That’s why we created the Versatile Trumpeter.
The Versatile Trumpeter: Duets Vol. 1
This groundbreaking book includes the following, and more!
16 duets spanning four styles
64 play a long tracks recorded by Josh, Roger, and a live band (no fake backing tracks)
Text for each chapter and duet that guides you in how to play that style more accurately and teaches you the history.
Tips on mutes, flugelhorn doubling, microphones, in ear monitors, and more!
The story of how this book came to be.
This book was first discussed in the fall of 2016. Roger and I had known each other for a few years, had played gigs together, and we wanted to collaborate on a project. More specifically, we wanted to get in the studio and record together, as we enjoyed playing duets when we got together and felt that we’d have a fun time in the studio and come out with a great recording.
Fast forward a few months, and we had brainstormed an idea of a duet book that we’d write and record together. Once we had the chance to get together a few more times we had a clear idea of what we were going to do - and this book is the end result.
In what started as a fun project between the two of us developed an idea that eventually would be a comprehensive study of jazz styles for the intermediate trumpet student. Using our collective performance and teaching experience, we’ve developed a book that we feel will help prepare all developing jazz trumpet players, as well as classical musicians looking to become more proficient in multiple jazz and commercial styles.
This book isn’t just notes, it’s a guide to help prepare you to be a working musician. This book will prepare you for the many situations and circumstances that you will find yourself in - be it playing with a rock band, latin jazz band, or a jazz combo. As a developing musician, many times on the bandstand you will encounter an unforeseen situation. We hope that this book will better prepare you for those situations so that you will feel confident and ready when the time comes.
Subjects that are not typically addressed in other books are discussed within this book. Including mute technique, interpretation of similar articulation markings between varying styles, learning to switch between trumpet and flugelhorn on the same song, and dealing with key changes.
Specifically, there are 16 original duets spanning over a multitude of styles including swing, bebop, latin, and pop/rock. Each style has a comprehensive introduction which includes listening guides and style notes. Each individual duet has a page that discusses new techniques, style, and includes an even more focused listening guide to help you absorb and understand the style even better. This all adds up to an extremely valuable resource for trumpeters ranging from intermediate to advanced levels.
We've also included a backing track because we think it's important to be able to hear examples of how to play these styles, and have the ability to play along with other part with a rhythm section. We encourage you to play along to all these duets with your friends, students, and colleagues.
Josh Rzepka