Abstract
Teaching out of her Upper West Side New York City apartment, Laurie Frink was known for her uncanny skill in the analysis and prescription of trumpet technique. Ms. Frink was a master teacher for nearly 25 years and fostered a battalion of students who unanimously hold her, and her method, in the highest regard. On July 13, 2013, Laurie Frink lost her battle against cancer and passed away at age 61. Her death created a vacuum of information regarding her trumpet specific method and approach to teaching the trumpet. The goal of this research is to analyze a large sample of Frink’s handwritten lesson notes for both content and organization. It will be shown that Laurie Frink had a deliberate and systematic method of instruction that consisted of established exercises, scaled in difficulty, and arranged into daily routines for students on an individual basis. This research will show that the Frink method was successful not because of the unique and proprietary nature of the exercises, but because of the application and prescription of established exercises. In light of Frink’s sudden death, her singular method needs to be preserved in its original form so that it can be added to the ever growing body of brass pedagogy literature.