I am 80 years old and played trumpet till I was 55, stoped playing partly because I got bell’s palsy. After about a year I got over it but did not play over a hour a year. At 78 a friend who I have known over 45 years asked me to play in a large trumpet group. I said yes and started practicing a month before rehearsals started. I could not play well at all. After about a year still bad. I had a tooth problem and went to my dentist. I had an infection in one tooth and a tooth needed work. $7000 later I started to sound much better. My best friend when we were in 6th grade said he was going to be a professional trumpet player and I said I was going to be a band director.... read full review
January 2025
If you are making a New Year's Resolution to pick up or improve a musical instrument, or thinking about getting your child musical instrument lessons, look no further than the Ridgewood School of Music! You can have lessons in person or online (and they work great on zoom). My story is that I gave up the trumpet for 42 years and decided to take it up again in 2024. I watched a few of Bobby's YouTube videos and appreciated his knowledge and personality. I signed up for online lessons and worked with Bobby and continue to take lessons now. It's an excellent experience. He honed in on my weaknesses, of which I had / have many ?, and gave me exercises... read full review
December 2024
I have been trying to learn Jazz improvisation for 2 years but did not feel comfortable . Always hoped not to make very "wrong notes". But then i met Bobby spellman. With Bobby i learned the process of working on a Jazz Standart, how to learn Jazz language, how to train my ear and create my own language. I am taking online lessons with Bobby for 6 months noww and already feel i understand what is going on with all these chords on the sheet -chords that seemed scary are now a secret door to a range of possible sounds i can use and create my idea on the "Head ". As a trumpetere it was important for me to take impro lessons with a Jazz trumpetere that... read full review
I am 80 years old and played trumpet till I was 55, stoped playing partly because I got bell’s palsy. After about a year I got over it but did not play over a hour a year. At 78 a friend who I have known over 45 years asked me to play in a large trumpet group. I said yes and started practicing a month before rehearsals started. I could not play well at all. After about a year still bad. I had a tooth problem and went to my dentist. I had an infection in one tooth and a tooth needed work. $7000 later I started to sound much better. My best friend when we were in 6th grade said he was going to be a professional trumpet player and I said I was going to be a band director.... read full review
If you are making a New Year's Resolution to pick up or improve a musical instrument, or thinking about getting your child musical instrument lessons, look no further than the Ridgewood School of Music! You can have lessons in person or online (and they work great on zoom). My story is that I gave up the trumpet for 42 years and decided to take it up again in 2024. I watched a few of Bobby's YouTube videos and appreciated his knowledge and personality. I signed up for online lessons and worked with Bobby and continue to take lessons now. It's an excellent experience. He honed in on my weaknesses, of which I had / have many ?, and gave me exercises... read full review
I have been trying to learn Jazz improvisation for 2 years but did not feel comfortable . Always hoped not to make very "wrong notes". But then i met Bobby spellman. With Bobby i learned the process of working on a Jazz Standart, how to learn Jazz language, how to train my ear and create my own language. I am taking online lessons with Bobby for 6 months noww and already feel i understand what is going on with all these chords on the sheet -chords that seemed scary are now a secret door to a range of possible sounds i can use and create my idea on the "Head ". As a trumpetere it was important for me to take impro lessons with a Jazz trumpetere that... read full review