Lesson Rubric

Assessment Grade
Tone quality 8
Rhythmic Integrity 9
Technical Knowledge 10
Articulation 8
Intonation 7
Musicality 9
Air Flow 8

Coronation

Justus improved a lot since we first started working together. I know she had experience
on the trumpet from the Marching Royal Dukes. However, I did not realize how much ability she
actually obtained from the experience. She figured out notes very easily and did not really have a
problem with reading the music at all. I think her ability on her primary instrument showed
through when trying to play trumpet. The parts she struggled with were the parts that I expected,
anything stretching her fundamentals in any way. She told me that her private instructor told her
not to practice trumpet (during MRD season not related to brass tech) because it would mess up
her clarinet playing. We had a fun time reading duets and I realized that the problem was moving
around the horn. So, passages that had big leaps were a problem to hit and especially hard to
tune. I couldn’t blame her however, that is something I personally work on.
The final exam, Coronation by Timothy Johnson, went by a lot better than I had thought.
I told her to prepare it and I would listen to her play it twice. Once straight away then I would
give her feedback, then hear the excerpt again and that was what I was going to grade. The
problems I heard where exactly what I expected (problems with note accuracy and problems with
leaps) which most likely stems from lack of embouchure development and incorrect tonguing.
Regardless, from the first time I heard her play, her use of air has improved greatly, and her tone
has opened up a considerable amount. She worked well with the information I gave her and has
improved a lot in a short amount of time.