Håkan Hardenberger is a fan, (see Mark Dulin’s great January 2009 ITG Journal Interview), but so is Wayne Bergeron (see Derek Reaban’s write up of a 2008 Bergeron masterclass). You can’t swing a cat without hitting a trumpet player who uses a Stamp exercise or idea in their playing, and what’s really interesting to me is that players of every stripe seem to like Stamp. James Stamp was one of the most influential brass teachers of the 20th century, and his approach to the trumpet has only become more popular since his passing in 1985.
I’ve recently developed a practice tool that has helped me do a better job of putting a couple of his ideas into practice, and I’d like to share it here (more on that in a minute). Like most trumpet players, I use concepts from several different schools of thought in my own playing, but one of the people from whom I’ve borrowed the most is James Stamp. Getting the trumpet to consistently do what you want it to do is a lifelong process, and there are many legitimate ways to approach playing the horn.
