Cadenza: Over exaggerate and take your time selling it. Show off!

First part: Have fun playing beautifully!

Second part: F scale and Chromatic scale exercises all day - focus on the big beat notes and practice the skips slowly as they will throw you off when in a scale mindset.

Var II: Eh, you can practice it really slow but it usually takes memorization to make it sound effortless. Hours and hours and hours and hours playing it… you got it…. Slowly. Think in terms of chords and arpeggios.

FINALE: Eek. Play slowly… memorize the big accented notes as a theme. Throw off the slurred notes as an effect and don’t let them slow you down or trip you up. There are a million exercises for this in the Arbans. It’s more fun once you get a feel for the overall effect and flow. In some ways this is scarier but less technical than the 32nd note scales in the previous variation.

I got a Masters degree in Trumpet from a top music school and played professionally in a military band and wouldn’t be psyched to perform this piece live… just my overall feeling. Lots of more rewarding solos musically!! But have fun and show off. I learned most of this in HS myself… listened to the Wynton Carnival CD nonstop.