BRASS LESSONS

Buchanan Music offers lessons in brass instruments. Brass instruments bring a great dynamic to any Band & Orchestra Program (Professional or Academic).

A brass instrument is a musical instrument whose sound is produced by sympathetic vibration of air in a tubular resonator in sympathy with the vibration of the player's lips. Brass instruments are also called labrosones, literally meaning "lip-vibrated instruments".

There are several factors involved in producing different pitches on a brass instrument: One is alteration of the player's lip tension (or "embouchure"), and another is air flow. Also, slides (or valves) are used to change the length of the tubing, thus changing the harmonic series presented by the instrument to the player.

The view of most scholars is that the term "brass instrument" should be defined by the way the sound is made, as above, and not by whether the instrument is actually made of brass. Thus, as exceptional cases one finds brass instruments made of wood, like the alphorn, the cornett, the serpent and the didgeridoo, while some woodwind instruments are made of brass, like the saxophone.

John Kingsley

French Horn & Trumpet

John Kingsley is our trumpet instructor, and has been teaching music in public and private schools for over 34 years. John was the district coordinator for the Mesa Public Schools Elementary Honor Band for over 15 years when he was teaching at Ishikawa Elementary School. He is currently teaching band and general music at Grace Community Christian School in Tempe.

John has played professionally in the valley since 1975 in a variety of ensembles as well as a soloist. He is currently principal trumpet with Symphony of the Southwest, a position he has held since 1982 (then known as Mesa Symphony). He is also a member of the Salt River Brass, and plays in other ensembles around town. He has been teaching private trumpet lessons since 1980.

With his experience as a band director at the elementary level, John is also able to give instruction at the beginning level for the other brass instruments: French Horn, Trombone, Baritone, and Tuba.