James Stamp

Warm-ups & Studies

Basic Principles Most of James Stamp's students believed that his warm-ups were more effective in his presence than when they played them alone. For optimal effectiveness, Stamp's exercises - perhaps more than those of other methods - emphasize both musical and physical principles. Stamp's most famous favorite aphorism is that if a passage sounds good (for example, the intonation), it means you are playing correctly, or conversely, if you are not playing correctly, it cannot possibly sound good. In fact, everything that has been said and written about James Stamp and his teaching and playing concepts reinforces this basic principle. To put his concepts into practice, James Stamp played the warm-ups/exercises simultaneously on the piano while the student played them with the mouthpiece or instrument. This method demanded a certain discipline and avoided unnecessary verbal explanations and analysis as any problem arose spontaneously, so to speak, and could be recognized very quickly during the working phase... Accompaniments Original music by Thomas Stevens Adapted for electronic sounds and recorded by Tom Dambly