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Most Influential Instructor


GmenBari78

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Happy to see John Whitlock III mentioned!

I was thinking of who my most influential instructors have been, and the first that comes to mind is III's father, John "Corky" Whitlock. I worked with him as a teen-ager in the St. Paul Scouts, and later with (Minnesota) Brass Inc.

I think what I've learned most from Cork is to put some style in my playing -- not that I've achieved his level. I can recall him playing right through a "wrong" note and making it sound so cool and so right! And he really knew (knows) how to ghost a note. And he really taught us how to blow!

He passed a lot of his gifts along to his successor, Rick Rueckert.

I'm happy when I can hear some of Corky's "voice" in my playing when I play something well, especially if it's an improv solo.

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On the other side of the coin, Robb Muller has been most influential to me in recent years. I say the other side of the coin, because at this point in MBI's development, Robb's influence wasn't about loud, but all about quality of sound, intonation, and blend, and making a horn line even more powerful than one that's merely loud. Even though MBI produced great horn lines over the years, Robb brought a new level of quality and serious musicianship to the line. "Being good is fun." (Love ya, man!)

The most amazing thing about Robb as a horn line teacher, is that he's a percussionist, and has taught top-level drum lines as well.

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  • 4 months later...

I would have to say my most influencial instructor so far has been Dylan Thompson. He hasn't really affected my playing as much as my marching, but he has still taught me a lot about playing mello. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't know how to march, and I probably wouldn't be involved with drum corps either. He's such a cool person, and if you ever get the opportunity to get to know or work with him, I highly recommend it!

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the most influential instructor i ever had was dan duffield. he taught the pit at americanos last year. i have learned so much from him. he knows more than anyone needs to know about music, mallets, percussion, whatever. he's also just a great person. he helped me become a fantastic mallet player and musician. i never, in my wildest imagination, thought that i would be able to play the stuff i can play now. or just know all the stuff i learned from him!

im not sure if hes teaching there again or not, but that is one man that i will definitely miss!!

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Gotta add mine, surprised he is not mentioned...

Frank T. Williams. He scared me into not sucking. You just wanted to kick A@@ for this guy. If you have met him... you know. He worked magic with the Suncoast brasslines of the 80s, then moved on to Cadets and is now with Glassmen. A great brass teacher.

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Funny that after seeing that the discussion board (as a majority) pretty much thinks that Star's hornlines were the best................it's funny to see that Jim Prime's name was only mentioned once and Donnie VanDoren's wasn't mentioned at all..............These are the guys that brought you Garfield 83-84 and Star 1990-1993..................

C'mon..................no better than that....

ive thought of that before too, but the converse. notice how the "greatest hornlines of all time" threads include FAR less Blue Devil lines than they have brass trophies. those tend to be dominated by Star, Cadets, Phantom, etc...

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Gotta add mine, surprised he is not mentioned...

Frank T. Williams. He scared me into not sucking. You just wanted to kick A@@ for this guy. If you have met him... you know. He worked magic with the Suncoast brasslines of the 80s, then moved on to Cadets and is now with Glassmen. A great brass teacher.

Oh Lord Yes! Frank scared the sh** out of me. He worked with The Teal Sound Brassline in 2000 and wrote the brass book.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Funny that after seeing that the discussion board (as a majority) pretty much thinks that Star's hornlines were the best................it's funny to see that Jim Prime's name was only mentioned once and Donnie VanDoren's wasn't mentioned at all..............These are the guys that brought you Garfield 83-84 and Star 1990-1993..................

... and Star 1986, 1988, 1989 (+Blast and Cyberjam!). Donnie and Jimmer, definitely two of the greatest people on this planet!! Quite different personalities, but what a team they make!!! No one has even come close to the warm, full, rich, well balanced sound that they've gotten from their horn lines!

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no one know who he is really, but Bill kingsland is my biggest inluence. ive had him as a teacher since 5th grade and hes the reason why im as good as i am. one of his quotes that he said was"if your sticking out its because everyone else needs to play louder" hehe i always liked that one.

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Well, I really didn't care to practice or perform well on a brass instrument until I marched Racine Scouts.

Most of the influence came from my horn instructor Jeff Banko. I never knew I could do the stuff I did on my horn. Who knew that I can expand my lungs...help me become a better horn player ....ever horn player should do breathing exercises..it's like pain pills for a headache it makes everything better.. back to the topic...

With all the stuff I learned from Banko a used for my college audition for Boise State Universtiy. I didn't know they were watching me warm up doing breathing, buzzing, long tones, lip slurs, articulation, technique, intonation and note shapes. I wonder if they counted the actual audition itself. They said they were very impressed.

Yup, that's who my most influenced instructor

And everybody is influenced by Winton and Ferguson!!

Edited by MelloHorn13
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