After a successful Brass Connections in Maassluis, Roger Webster stayed overnight and gave a masterclass to the entire cornet section.

The rest of the band was also invited to come and listen, or to bring a cornet and join in.

The masterclass started - just like the home study - with a warm-up. Roger has given all kinds of tips on how to best blow warmly. For example, he advises not to buzz with just the mouthpiece, but with your entire cornet. Playing a scale without pressing valves is extremely difficult! But according to Roger it is the ideal exercise to optimally loosen the lip muscles. A large part of the masterclass was about rehearsing at home. Roger came up with the metaphor: "Make sure the tools you have are good enough for whatever job is asked of you." As you become a better musician, you can apply everything a test piece asks of you. Ultimately, this is more useful to you as a musician than just studying sheet music at home.

After a short break, a piece from 'A Tale As Yet Untold' by Philip Sparke was played, where the cornets have to play unison pianissimo. Roger gave interesting tips about breath support, starting without a 'T' and subdividing notes, so that the ensemble playing improves.

We would like to thank Roger very much for a very educational morning and are already looking forward to our next joint concert, on Sunday April 14 in Deurne, Belgium. Academic Brass, Brassband Rijnmond and Festival Brass Band, together with Roger Webster, that's going to be fun!

We would also like to thank Besson for making this inspiring masterclass with Roger Webster possible.