With great excitement, we announce the first-time publication of AMEB Trumpet Series 2 Grades 5 & 6.
Sitting down with Suzane Wedding, AMEB Grade book Consultant for trumpet, we discovered her guiding principles behind the latest publications' repertoire.
Guiding principles of the latest AMEB Trumpet Grades
"I was delighted to get the phone call to do this because repertoire—and how it is a vehicle that carries students and scaffolds them up to the highest level—has long been a big passion of mine. So, working on these books has been quite a pleasure.
My overriding principles were recognising that a grade is a spectrum of ability levels—from students at the cusp of the required standard to those who need to be challenged comfortably at the required standard—a grade book must provide for all. You want to encourage children to want to go on. A piece of music should be a vehicle that takes someone somewhere.
When I choose a piece for a student, it should be a piece that I think, what is this going to do for them? Where am I going to take them with this? What am I going to teach them through this piece? By the time they get to the end of learning this piece, will they be a better player? You have to be able to answer all those questions before you go... Yeah, this is the right piece for the child.
To recognise that there is a spectrum of ability levels, you have to choose the right thing to capture the student's interest. It is really important.
My second overriding principle was the note range of the grade is not the overriding factor when selecting repertoire. Greater considerations of the level of musical maturity required, the technique needed to accomplish a pace, the rhythmic vocabulary used, and the tempi and complexity of the level of articulation.
Suppose you don't understand or feel comfortable with how you play your instrument and your basic underlying fundamentals playing are not correct—you'll never get the range anyway. We push kids into range way, way too early, creating endless lifelong problems on their instrument. And it probably stops a lot of people from moving forward.
My third overriding factor was students should be exposed to as many styles as possible for their musical development as performers and to maintain student engagement."
Workshop event with Suzanne Wedding in 2023
Join us online with Suzanne Wedding for a free Teachers’ Workshop exploring the new publications.
When: Sunday 12 February 2023, 2pm AEDT
Where: Online via Zoom
Register here: https://bit.ly/3z9A5xb
Suzanne Wedding
Suzanne Wedding has a Bachelor of Arts in Education as well as her AmusA and LmusA on the trumpet. She is an accomplished trumpet and horn player and music educator with a long career teaching, currently lecturing in Trumpet at The Melbourne University Conservatorium of Music. Suzanne has a strong interest in pedagogy and repertoire, and an incredibly vast music library collected over decades. Suzanne is heavily involved with the Musical Society of Victoria, which offers student performance opportunities on all instruments. With a pedagogical approach of breath and air efficiency, sound embouchure set up and imparting enthusiasm for the music and practice needed in order to achieve technical prowess, Suzanne teaches with passion, enthusiasm and excitement, which proves infectious for her students.