Groove Lab for Trumpet: Trumpet Book & CD

Energetic and accessible. The grooves sit comfortably within early-intermediate technical range while the rhythmic styles feel contemporary and engaging. Students experience the immediate gratification of playing real jazz, not theoretical exercises.

Young trumpet players with basic music reading ability who are ready to explore jazz language and improvisation. This book serves both individual learners working at home and classroom groups seeking an accessible entry point into jazz fundamentals.

• Listen through each backing track first without playing, tapping or conducting along to internalize the groove and harmonic movement before you pick up your trumpet.
• Start slow with the CD tempo and gradually increase speed only after you can play the written material cleanly and understand where you're improvising within the form.
• Record yourself playing over the backing tracks and listen back; you'll hear phrasing choices and rhythmic placement details you miss in the moment.
• Sing the improvised sections before playing them. Your voice naturally finds phrasing that translates to trumpet more musically than reading from a page.

Incorporate this into jazz ensemble courses for beginners, or use it as supplemental material in a band program to introduce improvisation to interested soloists. It works especially well as independent study during the school year or as directed practice material that supports group improvisation workshops.

• Basic jazz improvisation over simple harmonic changes
• Swing and contemporary jazz rhythmic feels
• Call-and-response phrasing
• Playing to a click and ensemble backing track
• Recognizing and using jazz articulation and phrasing