My guest for this episode is Steven Cunningham.  

On the road to attaining his doctorate, Steven had no desire to be an educator, but life has a funny way of bringing your real purpose to light. His path has gone from being a full-time working pro, to a university teaching position, to finally returning to his roots as the high school music teacher at his alma mater in Virginia. Steven is caring, passionate, and is committed to paying it forward, in other words, a great teacher.  

Check out what Steven has to say about living up to the Grambling tradition, the hidden benefits of marching bands, the importance of tradition in jazz, the importance of mixing things up, learning to work with what you have, the art of motivation, the many hats of an educator, finding his calling, the need for people skills, the importance of fundamentals, his approach to practice, the benefit of learning other instruments, and so much more!  

So pour yourself a big glass, pull up a chair, and let the hang begin! 

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Get to know more about Steven and check out some of his trumpet practice resources at: https://sctrumpet.com/home 

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Let Vennture Mouthpieces help you on your search for the perfect mouthpiece. Use the code "TRUMPETGURUS21" to get 10% off your purchase: https://www.vennture.mp/ 

If you play hard, you need to make sure you show your chops some love with Robinson's Remedies products: bit.ly/ChopLove 

Let Jose help you master your mental game: bit.ly/MindfulnessSecrets 

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00:00:00 Intro 

00:02:01 Living up to the Grambling tradition 

00:10:56 The hidden benefits of marching bands 

00:14:03 The importance of tradition in jazz 

00:18:09 The importance of mixing things up 

00:20:28 Learning to work with what you have 

00:26:41 The art of motivation 

00:34:24 The many hats of an educator 

00:38:14 Finding his calling 

00:47:10 The need for people skills 

00:50:49 The importance of fundamentals 

00:52:30 His approach to practice 

01:00:40 The benefit of learning other instruments 

01:06:34 Sound Off 

01:11:43 Geared Up 

01:19:51 Rapid Fire Round