10 Easy Pop Solos for Trumpet and Piano

Description

This collection of pieces emphasises and explores pop, rock and swing rhythms and chord changes, while staying within the range and technical limitations of players from beginner to Grades 1 & 2. Keys have been kept simple––most in either C or A minor, and the piano accompaniments are clear and supportive to the solo player.  Special attention should be paid to dynamic and articulation markings in all of these solos, as only when they are played properly do these simple compositions start to really speak.
1.     Don’t Get Me Started This minor key shuffle stays neatly within an octave, and gives the player a chance to learn syncopated rhythms in swing style.
2.     Feeling Nine Foot Tall A sunny straight ahead pop/rock beat with consistently syncopated rhythms, and plenty of repeats, endings and codas to help learn musical geography.
3.     Sailing the Sunny Seas Light and airy, this pleasant pop melody keeps to a very limited range, but utilises dynamic changes and staccato passages to keep things interesting.
4.     What? Me Worry? A slow swinging shuffle for when you’re feeling down in the dumps.  The alternating legato/staccato tonguing, and the short sharp accents should all be practiced phrase by phrase until it all feels comfortable and cohesive.  
5.     The Cumnor House Boogie Here’s a joyful boogie written for some of my trumpet students at Cumnor House School in East Sussex. This should be played as written, with no swung rhythms.  Be sure to work a nice lilt into the slurred quaver to staccato crotchet figures, and slam the accented lines with real abandon.
6.     Such A Sad Little Waltz A short yet sweetly mournful little melody.  Keep it simple, and spend time working your legato technique here, using deep controlled breath.
7.     Song for Falling Leaves Here’s another sweet, rather sad melody, and one that will benefit greatly from using a deep, controlled breath to attain the most beautiful legato lines you can manage.
8.     Channelling Lee Loughnane Lee was (and still is, at the time of this writing) lead trumpeter for the long-lived American band, Chicago. In their early days they were a leading proponent of jazz rock music, and recorded several very successful albums. This piece uses some of the same rhythm and articulation patterns in the solo line, with some power chords in the piano part, allowing the soloist to really shine.
9.     Who Will I Be? A pop melody that might have been written for a West End or Broadway music, this song asks a question with the musical line, even though there are no words. Maybe you could even write a set of lyrics for it to help you express the music with more clarity.
10.  Chuffed to Bits Another jazz rock tune to have fun with.  This one is a bit faster than the Channelling Lee Loughnane, but a bit brassier, sassier. Have fun with it, and don’t get too hooked on the written notes here – try a bit of improvisation, if you’re brave.