I purchased this book for $1.00 over the weekend at a thrift store. As it is over 80 pages in length and was copyrighted in 1918, I just couldn't pass it up. It is made up solely of exercises, both solo and duet and those become increasingly difficult very quickly. The seventh exercise on page one includes both 8th and 16th notes. You can imagine what is expected by the time one gets to #70.
There are no simple tunes included anywhere in the book and Mr. Amsden's standards appear to be very high.
It is very impressive to note that the book was dedicated to a Mr. Agee Nielsen, a student. If Agee was a student at the time of publishing, that is quite an honor for a professor to bestow. I was also impressed to learn that the publisher, C. L. Barnhouse, is very much in business today. I have sent a request to the publisher to allow me to scan in and post a few of the pages from this book.
Their website is www.barnhouse.com.
Here are just a few pieces of advice (taken from two full pages of Mr. Amsden's wisdom) that are included at the beginning, 99% of which are "don'ts":
"Don't retard your progress by smoking; if you MUST smoke, do it moderately and shun liquor and cigarets (that is how he spells that word) as you would a rattle snake."
"Don't forget your scales_never allow a day to pass without playing ALL OF THEM." (Emphasis is the author's.)
"Don't forget that perseverance means success; discouragement, defeat."
"Don't forget this book is "chuck full of good things" for the single cornet, trombone, baritone, saxophone or any single instrument, as well as the duet feature. The teacher and pupil, the ardent amateur of professional will find herein "entertainment galore"
I also found this recording online of a piece that Arthur Amsden composed:
Duet No. 70 for Euphoniums by Arthur Amsden | The U.S. Army Field Band
.
There are no simple tunes included anywhere in the book and Mr. Amsden's standards appear to be very high.
It is very impressive to note that the book was dedicated to a Mr. Agee Nielsen, a student. If Agee was a student at the time of publishing, that is quite an honor for a professor to bestow. I was also impressed to learn that the publisher, C. L. Barnhouse, is very much in business today. I have sent a request to the publisher to allow me to scan in and post a few of the pages from this book.
Their website is www.barnhouse.com.
Here are just a few pieces of advice (taken from two full pages of Mr. Amsden's wisdom) that are included at the beginning, 99% of which are "don'ts":
"Don't retard your progress by smoking; if you MUST smoke, do it moderately and shun liquor and cigarets (that is how he spells that word) as you would a rattle snake."
"Don't forget your scales_never allow a day to pass without playing ALL OF THEM." (Emphasis is the author's.)
"Don't forget that perseverance means success; discouragement, defeat."
"Don't forget this book is "chuck full of good things" for the single cornet, trombone, baritone, saxophone or any single instrument, as well as the duet feature. The teacher and pupil, the ardent amateur of professional will find herein "entertainment galore"
I also found this recording online of a piece that Arthur Amsden composed:
Duet No. 70 for Euphoniums by Arthur Amsden | The U.S. Army Field Band
.
