Michiel (1993) comes from Leersum, where he started as a trombonist with the band Eendracht Maakt Macht Leersum. He graduated from the Rotterdam Conservatory, where he studied with Ilja Reijngoud, Bert Boeren, Bart van Lier, Andy Hunter and classical lessons with Alexander Verbeek. Michiel played with various orchestras, including the National Youth Fanfare Orchestra with Danny Oosterman, Dutch Student Jazz Orchestra, Dutch Symphonic Wind Orchestra, Gallowstreet, Valvetronic Brassband, Jong Metropole, Zomerorkest Nederland (as guest soloist) and National Youth Jazz Orchestra. He currently plays with the Hillsback Brass Band (co-founder) from Utrecht and the Utrecht Student Big Band. He also teaches at harmony De Vriendschap in Woerden, music school Kunstenhuis Idea De Bilt, De Biltse Harmonie, the Nijkerks Stedelijk Fanfare Corps, fanfare Erica Austerlitz, harmony Aurora Driebergen and fanfare Excelsior Cothen and Harmonie Manderen in Maarn in the instruments trumpet, flugelhorn, cornet, (bass) trombone, horn, euphonium and bass tuba. Brass blowing music lessons with Michiel During the first music lesson you are introduced to the musical instrument: How do you hold it? How do you make sound? How do you move the slider and press the valves? Once this foundation has been laid, we will work on the basics of brass blowing in a lesson book: Embouchure training, playing natural tones and playing the first songs. The basics of brass blowing: What is embouchure? The same principle applies to all brass instruments: You blow air, you purse your lips, causing them to vibrate and therefore create the so-called "buzz". Buzzing is the sound you make when your lips vibrate. You then do this buzzing on your mouthpiece and before you know it you can already buzz melodies, for example "Jingle Bells". Then you place the mouthpiece on your instrument and the buzz is amplified by the brass instrument. Training the lips and developing a nice buzz is also called training your embouchure. Natural tones on a brass instrument After a lot of practice you will get a nice sound and you can produce different tones with the valves or the slide. You can also produce higher and lower tones without moving the slide or valves. These tones are called natural tones: tones that you blow through the instrument in a fixed order as you go up and down. Practicing blowing these natural notes is called blowing lip bonds. Playing the first songs and improvisation When teaching beginning students, I often start by learning songs by ear. In the future I will work on developing a musical ear and rhythm, learning to read notes, learning to play together, technique and learning to improvise. "The most important thing is that the student enjoys brass blowing. The focus of the lessons will therefore be on learning to master the instrument and learning to play together with other students."