Instructions

• 1). Find and regularly listen to a wide variety of trumpet players performing Latin tunes. The first step to successfully mastering any form of jazz music is listening, so listen every day. As you do, pay particular attention to the trumpet player and what he is trying to "say" with each solo. An improvised solo is made up of sentences and expressions that rise and fall just like in natural dialogue; there is a start and end to every musical thought. This is one of the most difficult things to master, and the best aid you can find is recordings of trumpet masters. A few recommended trumpet players to listen to are Arturo Sandoval, Dizzy Gillespie, Diego Urcola, and Jerry González.
  
  
• 2). Learn all of your scales if you do not already know them. This includes not only the twelve major and minor scales (in natural, harmonic, and melodic), but the blues scale and the modes, particularly Lydian and Mixolydian.
  
  
• 3). Find a trumpet method book that focuses on Latin music, if possible, with a play-along CD. A few examples include Sandoval's Techniques and Performance Studies for Trumpet; The Jazz Method for Trumpet by John O' Neil and Steve Waterman; and Latin Master Tracks for Bb Instruments by Steve Houghton and Tom Warrington. Practice the licks, or melodic lines, and phrases provided by these books every day, committing them to memory. Good improvisational soloing often begins by mimicking existing solos, so don't be afraid to insert these exact licks into your own solo.
  
  
• 4). Play along with the jazz recordings you found in Step 1. As you listen to the trumpet player solo, play along with him but don't necessarily try to play his solo note for note. Rather, listen to the idea and style he expresses and mimic that with your own note selection.