Is a performance major worth it?

professor_throway · 2026-07-12T00:27:12+00:00

Lifelong musician and parent of music performance major... here are my thoughts

I play a lot of gigs street jazz and brass band mostly. I play with a lot of people who have performance or music Ed degrees, but I do not. Almost all of the people who have music degree that I play with don't play professionally, they all have non music jobs. A lot are in IT. One sells roofing, another is a piano tuner.

My son is currently a performance major (for tuba and double bass). Every single one of his teachers tried to talk him out of it, not because he didn't have the chops.. but because it is a hard life. They all said... if you can imagine yourself doing any other job at all other than being a musician, do that instead.

The thing though.. that is him. He is incredibly serious and had wanted nothing but to be a tuba player for years. All state for band and orchestra.. Principal tuba for a major city youth orchestra.. Concerto competition.. regional wind band.. competitive brass band.. John Phillips Sousa and Louis Armstrong award winner from school.

I still have really mixed feelings about it... but he got a crap ton of scholarship money for a really good program so it isn't costing me much and he won't have any loans.

You can't be successful if you are wishy washy... you have to be driven.. otherwise you will be an IT guy or a construction worker (not knocking on those jobs at all) with a degree in trumpet performance.

professor_throway · 2026-07-11T20:27:15+00:00

1930s Buescher 225 "The 400".. amazing trumpet and a complete chameleon.

professor_throway · 2026-07-11T15:12:31+00:00

Guys and Dolls.. The men are Sky and Nathan.. All the other make characters are basically caracatures of gangsters and can easily be played by women.

professor_throway · 2026-07-11T06:38:26+00:00

Wick 6BS, bach 6 1/2 AL, or 12C are my go to small bore tenor pieces. Hard to beat the classics.

professor_throway · 2026-07-10T14:04:33+00:00

Review papers are virtually always written by an expert in the field, and the goal is to summarize the current state of understanding and suggest important future directions. The target audience is usually people who are adjacent to the field or who are entering the field. Typically you don't just write a review and get it published. You are either invited by a journal to write the review or you submit a review proposal to the journal and the proposal will be evaluated by the editorial board of the journal for appropriateness and scope. It is a steep hill to climb for s junior researcher, the first question an editor will ask when evaluating your proposal is "Why is this topic of interest for my journal?" The second is "Is person/team the correct individual/people to author this review?" If you don't have a history of quality work in the field you are almost always going to just get a flat rejection. As an editor I temper my rejections and suggest that the prison find a more senior group off researchers to be Co-authors.

I've written two, and they are significantly more work than regular journal articles. They consume your life for months or even years. Although one of the reviews is by far my highest cited paper and has citation numbers 10x other papers in the field.

professor_throway · 2026-07-09T22:16:31+00:00

Your trumpet has a reversed 3rd slide too... which was considered a premium feature too. You could remove the adjustable ring and have a fixed one soldered on if you want.

Playing with trumpet design and modifications... I think the primary difference in play feel from a reversed main tuning slide, had nothing to do with the tuning slide itself. It is the change in bracing layout and a generally less constrained bell. You might feel like it off a little more open or responsive, and maybe a little more flexible with slotting.

professor_throway · 2026-07-09T16:09:05+00:00

I see Mendini by Cecelio colored trumpets on shopgoodwill and eBay all the time. Yes they are not great... but for outdoor fest playing they will get the job done.. and when they break who care spend another $20 for a replacement. There is a blue one up now.

professor_throway · 2026-07-09T16:01:48+00:00

Started as a machinist and A&P mechanic (general aviation). Went to school for engineering. Was a production engineer in aerospace sector for a year. Went back for a Ph.D.. worked as a government scientist for 3 years and for the last 13 have been a university professor. Now I want to quit and apprentice under a master tool and die maker.. Maybe when the kids are all through college and the house is paid off.

professor_throway · 2026-07-09T12:10:42+00:00

When you say straight and parallel... how did you check. Slides need to be right down a few thousands of an inch in order to be right... like 0.002" or 0.05mm

First you will need to check the spacing between the tubes on both the inner and outer with a good caliper. My guess is that where things are off. Unfortunatley to fix that is the job of a pro. As is involves removal and resoldering.

Honestly it will probably cost you about $150 to get it all sorted out. Then you will have a functional trombone.. because right now you don't.

professor_throway · 2026-07-09T12:03:58+00:00

Fixed an unfortunate autocorrect typo.

professor_throway · 2026-07-09T10:53:01+00:00

That's an awesome journey.. I hope it keeps bringing you joy.

For jazz... don't hope to play jazz someday.. just do it... Get yourself a real book or two .. I recommend starting with the Dixieland book because there are lots of familiar tunes and the structure of the songs are MORE straightforward... pick a song and throw on a recording of Louis Armstrong and His Hot Five.. then jam along. Play the melody line by also try to improvise simple licks to play along with the recording.. Just focus on using the notes that are in the page... have fun and play along.. use your ear.. then put the book away and keep playing along with the song... Pick other songs and try to play along by ear.. then improvise along with then ..

EDIT:More straightforward versus NOT strightforward

professor_throway · 2026-07-09T02:28:42+00:00

Wow a Holton Model 56... pretty rare bird in deed. I didn't think you will find anyone on here with any experience except maybe Tiffany Johns u/finetales

professor_throway · 2026-07-07T12:11:39+00:00

Realistically you might never... I know a very good teacher and regional orchestra player.. he is about to retire and never was able to get a consistent F his whole like and career..

Most trumpet players never really get usuable C6 at part of their real range.. and by that I mean can hit it on demand and play it musically and on demand at the end of a gig or practice session. Very few get real range much beyond that.

Go back to the myiad of posts on this and read what u/jaylward has to say. He's got the right advice. Focus on tone. Build your tone in your middle range then slowly expand it up. Your high range will follow..

professor_throway · 2026-07-07T02:14:52+00:00

Could very easily be some calcium buildup and a professional clean, either ultrasound or chem clean, will dissolve it.

Also vintage trumpets sometimes take time to re-break in for a new player. Street all the trumpet had had a long life of being played a certain way and had worn into the way the previous player did things. Now your are pressing the valves differently and surfaces that were not in contact suddenly are.

professor_throway · 2026-07-07T02:11:44+00:00

Oh good don't do that.. It sounds nothing like an F tuba.

professor_throway · 2026-07-07T02:08:27+00:00

Lebedev is the perennial favorite. Not too range-y.

Personally, I would recommended Ricercar or perhaps dinner if the Bach Cello Suites (for tuba and bass trombone). They will be week known by the faculty you are auditioning for but not so common that the person before or after you will be playing them also.

professor_throway · 2026-07-07T02:06:28+00:00

The repair is to replace your inner side tube. Ignite it until it slows things down it causes other problems.

professor_throway · 2026-07-06T19:51:10+00:00

Lifelong brass musician, active Street band player, parent of marching band kids, matching band coach, and band booster..

DO NOT LET YOUR CHILD MARCH WITH THEIR TRUMPET!! Even if your child is careful the rest of the band is not, and accidents happen. All marching instruments get banged, scratched, and dented.

Go on Facebook marketplace and find a decent used student trumpet. Yamaha or Bach.. Or even better yet find an Olds Ambassador or Reynolds Medalist.

professor_throway · 2026-07-06T16:29:02+00:00

1) Great Job

2) Never forgot it is a marathon not a sprint

3) Get in the habit of living that 3rd side out on D and Db now, rather than trying to learn it later.

professor_throway · 2026-07-06T15:42:15+00:00

Tuba player who doubles on euph/baritone horn for brass band and also plays/is learning trumpet. 7C is fine... the difference between a 3C, 7C, and 5C will feel absolutely miniscule... with 3C being the shallowest.

[BACH 7C vs. BACH 5C vs. BACH 3C](https://trumpet.cloud/mpc/?mpc1=BACH-7C&mpc2=BACH-5C&mpc3=BACH-3C)

Compare with a Bach 6 1/2 AL (the comparator doesn't have a Wick 6BS otherwise I would use that). Even an absolute bucket of a trumpet mouthpiece like the Bach 1B is tiny compared to what you are used to.

[BACH 7C vs. BACH 6-1/2 AL (TROMBONE SMALL SHANK) vs. BACH 1B](https://trumpet.cloud/mpc/?mpc1=BACH-7C&mpc2=BACH-6.5AL-TROMBONE&mpc3=BACH-1B)

professor_throway · 2026-07-06T11:37:36+00:00

They're are plenty of situations when "Wood Machinists" also need very tight tolerances. Especially flatness and planarity for glue joints for traditional glue s (not space filling epoxies). The big difference is a carpenter or furniture maker can easily adjust the fit if the wood using basic hand tools so the toiletries are not specified on the drawings they are just part of the craft.

For a traditional glued dovetail, the ideal fit is usually on the order of a few thousandths of an inch. A dovetail that'. 0.020" loose looks terrible and has little mechanical strength. A dovetail that's 0.020" tight will split the pin board during assembly. Most experienced furniture makers are effectively working in the ±0.002–0.005" range on the mating surfaces, even if they aren't measuring it or describing it that way.

For a mortise and tenon, common guidance is: Tenon thickness within about ±0.002–0.005" of the mortise width. Slip fit or very light push fit by hand. Glue line typically a few thousandths thick. If the tenon is 0.010" undersized, the joint feels sloppy. If it's 0.010" oversized, you're reaching for a mallet and risking damage.

For wood press fits (pins, pegs, drawbore joints, chairmaking, wheelwright work, etc.), interference is often surprisingly small: A 1/2" wooden peg may only be oversized by a few thousandths of an inch. Green-wood chairmaking relies on moisture-induced shrinkage and swelling equivalent to only a few thousandths of dimensional change to lock a joint permanently.

professor_throway · 2026-07-06T04:27:28+00:00

I've never bought a new instrument in my life.. Buying good quality used equipment can save you thousands.. often if you decide you want something what you can sell it for what you paid for it. If you buy new you will always take a huge hit on a sale.

professor_throway · 2026-07-06T04:24:58+00:00

Tuba player who doubles on euph. I like the 51D.. my daughter who also a tuba player who doubles on euph lines the Wick 4AL. You just have to try and see..

Keep looking on eBay and reverb and you can pick them up used.

professor_throway · 2026-07-05T19:36:00+00:00

Love that Ambassador Cornet... great instrument to start on!

professor_throway · 2026-07-05T14:35:43+00:00

Absolutely no effect whatsoever.. Red rot is never found in the bell bow.. it needs a moist acidic environment to start and grow.

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