I often stress the importance of playing accurately to my students. Rhythm, timing, pitch, articulation, style, purity of sound, evenness of tone in all registers, etc. all make the difference between a good player and a great player. I found a video that illustrates this perfectly. Listen to how every musician (not just the trumpets) matches style EXACTLY. Notice the dead-on pitch between the trumpets when they are in octaves towards the end of the clip. Every note from the trumpets speak perfectly with no hesitation or timidness. It doesn’t matter if it’s an Ab on the top of the staff, a low C, or a double Bb. Bam! There it is.
This video features three of England’s top studio trumpet players, including the great Derek Watkins on lead. These guys are the equivalent of our Los Angeles studio trumpet players (Malcom McNabb, Wayne Bergeron, Rick Baptist, Warren Luening, etc.). Derek has a phenomenal list of credentials, notably lead trumpet on ALL of the James Bond movies.