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Growing Elementary Music Programs

October 21st, 2021 | 1 min read

By Rich Breske

Growing Elementary Music Programs

When the musicians and teachers at pBone Music developed the series of Early Learning pInstruments, developing elementary learning pathways for music was paramount. Early exposure to playful instruments like the pBuzz and pBugle can help develop a child’s sensory and fine motor skills, encourage self-expression, and stimulate imagination. By encouraging their creativity, pBuzz and pBugle help build confidence and nurture their natural music talents, all while having great fun!

Learners discover how to use air to create a tone in ways that give that tone shape, clarity and pitch. With pBuzz, the simple slide demonstrates how pitch and notes are created through the lengthening of a tube, and it’s a short step to playing a more advanced instrument, including the pBone full-size trombone or the smaller pBone Mini.

The pBugle showcases these basic music skills by presenting harmonics first, With low, medium and high tones, it’s easy to understand how every pitch is part of a harmonic series using the pBugle. After the pBugle is learned, it’s very easy to move to pTrumpet (or the smaller pCornet) in which valves are introduced and the note ranges expanded.  This has opened the door for elementary school trumpet playing, for both elementary school band, modern band horn sections and elementary mariachi programs.

Mariachi in the classroom

The pBugle is designed in the key of Bb. Without valves, it won’t musically fit with typical Mariachi guitars and music. That’s not a problem, though, as the pBugle is simply a learning instrument, giving young students important lessons in making a tone, creating harmonics, and moving air. With these skills, the students can move easily to pTrumpet and learn the fingerings they need to play mariachi trumpet quite quickly!

Interested in getting started? By the time a student is physically ready to handle a metal trumpet, including the pTrumpet hyTech, his or her skill level can be quite impressive.

Contact us for any pInstrument questions you have.

Rich Breske

Rich grew up on Chicago’s south side and attended Marist High School, where he was an active member and drum major of the school’s marching band. He attended Elmhurst College (University), receiving a degree in marketing and music-business. His early career included time at the Chicago Symphony and Ravinia Festival organizations, as well as classes at the Chicago-Kent College of Law. Rich’s career has been dedicated to music education. He has worked closely with educators, professionals, retail businesses and corporations. He has established key education partnerships and has served on the board of directors for several non-profit education organizations. He has provided executive planning and marketing acumen for 21st century companies through Strategic Marketing Management, LLC since 2011. Prior to opening his own firm, he served in key management roles at KHS America, Inc., the Conn-Selmer division of Steinway & Sons, Inc., and United Musical Instruments, all worldwide manufacturers and distributors. He served in the management of the SMART Foundation which provided programs and advocacy support for arts education. He has also authored several publications focused on the arts and education and has served on the boards of non-profit music education organizations.