Essential Elements 2000: Comprehensive Band Method: B Flat Trumpet Book 1

Now the best-selling band method is even better! Book 1 B-flat Trumpet for absolute beginners includes a start-up video and much, much more, all on CD-ROM.

Features:
- Same great Essential Elements 2000 method
- 15-minute video/super lesson; for learning the basics
- Play-along mp3* tracks for all 185 exercises (featuring a professional player on your instrument)
- Tempo Adjustment Software
- Duets and Trios, Music Listening Library
- SmartMusic® Software for Exercises 1-100 (for use on PC/Mac) - practice, record, and email a performance with on-screen assessment

*mp3 files will play on most current CD or DVD players

Authors: Tim Lautzenheiser, John Higgins, Charles Menghini, Paul Lavender, Tom C. Rhodes, Don Bierschenk

Customer Reviews:

Great for Beginners

By Sara Swihart - November 11, 2003

First off, this book is for TRUMPET.The "Essential Elements 2000: A Comprehensive Band Method" is a great book for a young person who is learning an instrument for the first time. There is a fingering chart in the back of the book to make looking up fingerings quick and easy. The book starts off very basic with the parts of the instrument. The easiest notes to play and finger are presented first with exercises to practice them. This book comes with a play-along CD. This CD includes all solo exercises.Hal Leonard also offers (though not through Amazon) band sets for band directors. They are simple arrangements of music that correlate with the book. They are great for the first concert.There is an older version of this book called "Essential Elements: A Comprehensive Band Method". The book is purple and has many of the same features as this one, but the CDs have to purchased separately.

Key word is "Band Method"

By Sol Ut Press "Musician-friendly resources" - September 3, 2010

This is a good book with good information, and simply introduced, but keep in mind that it's a "band method." Lots of short and simple songs to help teach music-reading skills and not much extra information (which would come from the band director, ideally). The book's a sight-before-sound kind of method, meaning that the focus is more on reading the notation than making music, and it's designed to be used in a band where the director also teaches.

If you do buy this, consider a supplemental book that is more comprehensive (a chapter on cleaning the horn, how to practice, range, discography, etc.). It's an approach that also addresses listening and music-making:

Good for beginners, but....

By Jonathan D. Harnum - October 25, 2006

This is a pretty good book for beginners and has many of the essential elements necessary to begin playing trumpet, like fingerings, posture, and related basic material. That being said, more explanation of some techniques would be helpful, as well as suggestions about ways to practice, recordings to listen to, and maybe even some trumpet history. Though I recommend this book for beginners, a good supplement to it that includes all of the items listed above is: 'Sound the Trumpet: How to Blow Your Own Horn."