Trumpet, Piano, Brass, Guitar
Samuel Davies
I am a musician who has fallen in love with, studied, and performed many different kinds of music. I am principally interested in what is common to them all and how I can learn through attempts to identify this commonality (and hopefully come to embody it in some ways or at some times), whilst remaining delighted still by all that they do not share. As a teenager, jazz piano was the coolest thing in the world to me, and when I got to college this was replaced by jazz trumpet, a discipline which has taken me places and taught me things which I never in my wildest dreams could have imagined, but which seem now almost aphoristic. I have formally studied jazz performance (with the trumpet) at the collegiate level for seven years, at both Oberlin College and the New England Conservatory, and have been composing on the piano in a wide variety of manners since 2017. In 2022 I started taking songwriting more seriously, teaching myself the guitar and then eventually Ableton; I was afforded the great privilege of working on these two facets of my musicianship directly at NEC, with Dominique Eade and Ted Reichman respectively.
As a teacher my aim is to provide engaging ways for students to practice and reinforce the material once they leave the lesson, and to inspire them to become more curious about what they already like in the hopes that this curiosity will bleed over into other things that they may not have liked so much at the start, and so their skills sharpen as their taste broadens. I will always encourage my students to play and explore on their own, and within the lesson to a certain extent, but can also provide more regimented practice routines and lesson plans if the student seeks this. As a teacher you cannot outpace your student, and I believe the ultimate goal is to share with them your enthusiasm for the craft to the best of your abilities.
When did you begin playing Trumpet, and why?
I first picked up a trumpet in 5th grade, when I was 9 years old, to participate in my school’s concert band. My middle school required students to enroll in at least one class focused on the performing arts: band, theatre, orchestra, or choir, and I was far too shy for theatre or choir at the time. I also didn’t want to play the violin because I thought it was lame, my sister already played the saxophone so that was also lame, I was too short to reach all of the slide positions on the trombone, and I think my dad just wanted an excuse to buy a trumpet. I’m not sure if I even knew what a viola or a cello was at the time.
What other instruments do you play, and what is your experience with them?
I have been playing piano since I was four years old, and I really started to enjoy it in about 5th or 6th grade because of a wonderful teacher I had back in Connecticut, called Dawn. I initially wanted to become a jazz pianist when I was in 8th grade, when I was first introduced to the concept of improvisation by a family friend named Chris Lasch, but when I got to high school, there was already a more experienced piano player in the jazz band, so the conductor encouraged me to audition on trumpet. I never stopped practicing, performing, and composing on the piano all throughout high school and college, despite it being my “secondary” instrument, and had the great privilege of studying the instrument with Dan Wall at Oberlin College and Ethan Iverson at the New England Conservatory. I have since played piano professionally in duo and trio settings at jazz bars around Boston, and my understanding of the piano still serves as the foundation of my musical explorations. I can also play the guitar, which has become a wonderful vehicle through which to express my voice both as a vocalist and lyricist. I learned by ear(and am still learning) from the likes of Bob Dylan, Mississippi John Hurt, John Fahey, the Arctic Monkeys, Avril Lavigne, Labi Siffre, Elliott Smith, and many more. Vocal guitar music is the first music that connected with me as a child, and it has been very rewarding to re-explore this facet of my musicianship.
What are your personal goals as a musician?
To create aesthetic experiences that inspire others to engage with their craft.
Do you have a memory of a time when a musical concept or technique really clicked? Something you’ll remember forever?
In my opinion, musical concepts and techniques require consistent and mindful practice for them to become second nature. There are no shortcuts, and the grass is always greenest where you water it.
What is your favorite piece of advice from one of your past (or current) teachers?
Practice!
What was your most challenging moment learning an instrument?
I went through an embouchure change during my 3rd year of Oberlin, and starting from what felt like scratch was very discouraging at times. Then, during the second year of my Master’s degree, I started taking lessons with a classical trumpet teacher and he shifted my entire approach to and understanding of playing the instrument – without going into too much detail, he helped me access my breath support, which had hitherto been largely absent, and, in turn, discover my true sound. I was fundamentally changing the way I played the instrument whilst being required to perform on a weekly basis in increasingly more difficult scholastic and professional settings; without Steve Emery I would have given up the trumpet and likely music altogether.
What is your biggest musical achievement?
I do not rank my personal musical accomplishments.
Favorite thing about teaching?
When someone has a question it is always great to know the answer, but it is often more rewarding to inspire the very curiosity in students which would get them to ask questions in the first place. I also think that finding the balance between overexplaining and underexplaining is very fun because it challenges me to identify the crux of whatever concept or technique we are discussing and then figure out how it could most effectively serve my student’s musical goals or intentions all in a relatively short amount of time and all without confusing them.
What is a piece of advice you would like to share with anyone learning music?
Practice!
Personal music projects:
My name is Sammy Davies on all streaming platforms, and sammydaviesmusic on Instagram