Education

Horn Section Clinics

Most guest clinicians teach one instrument. We bring the whole section. Brass Tracks Band's horn players spend the day with your trumpets, trombones, and saxophones — first apart, then together — and finish with a public performance for parents and friends. It's a full day built for middle school, high school, and college band programs, and it works just as well the day before a concert as it does on its own.

A sample day

Every clinic is shaped around your program — its size, its level, and what your director wants worked on. This is the shape a typical single-day event takes.

9:00 – 9:30 AM
Mass Warm-Up & Breathing Gym
Everyone in one room. Focus on air support.
9:30 – 10:45 AM
Instrument-Specific Masterclasses
Trumpet, trombone, and saxophone break out into separate rooms.
10:45 – 11:00 AM
Break
11:00 AM – 12:15 PM
Section Feature: Rhythm & Articulation
How horn sections lock in — jazz and funk styles.
12:15 – 1:15 PM
Lunch & Artist Q&A
Open conversation — playing, touring, and life as a working musician.
1:15 – 2:30 PM
Combined Horn Section Rehearsal
Putting it all back together as one section.
2:30 – 3:00 PM
Final Performance
Open to parents, friends, and the school community.

Timings flex to your bell schedule. Half-day and multi-day formats are available.

The breakout sessions

Each section works with a player who does this for a living on that instrument. The material is practical — the things that actually hold students back.

Trumpet

Range & Endurance
  • Embouchure efficiency. Minimal mouthpiece pressure, relaxed corners.
  • Air speed vs. pressure. Faster, warmer air for the upper register instead of squeezing.
  • Daily routines. Long tones and lip slurs students can take home and keep using.

Trombone

Slide Technique & Intonation
  • Slide mapping. 6th and 7th positions — the ones most often missed or out of tune.
  • F-attachment usage. Proper trigger technique for efficient slide movement.
  • Target tone. A rich, broad sound built on real air support.

Saxophone

Tone & Reed Management
  • Embouchure. Stopping the bite — distributing pressure evenly around the mouthpiece.
  • Reed selection & care. How to rotate and maintain reeds, and how to pick a strength.
  • Altissimo intro. A first look at overtones for advanced players.

Playing as one section

This is the part students rarely get anywhere else. Three different instruments stop being three sections and start being one.

Blend & Balance

Listening across the section
  • Trumpets usually carry the melody and top harmony; saxes and trombones handle lower harmony and counter-melodies.
  • Students learn to hear their own part in relation to the two beside it — not just play it correctly in isolation.

Section Articulation

Matching across styles
  • Short and punchy for funk. Smooth and connected for ballads.
  • How a section agrees on an articulation and executes it the same way, every time.

Jazz Phrasing

Where the feel comes from
  • Swinging the upbeats and emphasizing the off-beats.
  • Worked through real horn-band repertoire from the Brass Tracks book.

Formats

Fees depend on format, travel, and the number of players you'd like on site. Tell us what you have in mind and we'll send a quote.

Full-Day Clinic

The complete schedule above — mass warm-up, instrument breakouts, section work, lunch Q&A, combined rehearsal, and a closing performance for parents and friends.

Approx. 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM

Half-Day Clinic

A condensed version built around instrument breakouts and combined section work. A good fit for a program that needs to stay inside a single school day.

Approx. 3 hours

For presenters & performing arts centers

If you're programming Brass Tracks Band for a concert, the clinic is designed to slot in alongside it.

01

It satisfies an education requirement

Many arts grants require a public performance and an educational or community engagement activity. A clinic day with a closing public performance is built to check both boxes — and to be easy to write up afterward.

02

It opens a second budget line

The concert comes out of your talent budget. The clinic can come out of education and outreach. Two buckets, one visit, one travel cost.

03

It fills the room

Every student in that clinic has parents, grandparents, and a band director. They've spent a day with the band before the downbeat — and they show up that night.

04

It builds the relationship

Band directors talk to each other, and school programs are a standing part of your community. A clinic makes the booking about more than one night on the calendar.

"Nothing gets a crowd jumping like horn-driven Rock 'n' Roll and R&B, which makes Brass Tracks Band the perfect band."
— Dayton.com

Bring the horns to your students.

Tell us about your program — grade levels, section sizes, the dates you're looking at, and whether you'd like to pair the clinic with a performance. We'll come back with a plan and a quote.

Request a Clinic