Trumpet Teachers I Studied With

Bob Amato UMASS-Amherst 1967-1972 practicing Selmer 4 piston valve piccolo trumpet outdoors in the fall of 1970.

I started playing trumpet when I was in the fifth grade when I attended the Hoosac St. Grammar School in Adams, Massachusetts when I was 10 years old.

The Community Band Director was Joe Salerno who was also a trumpet player.  I took private lessons with Mr. Salerno through my High School years at $.50/50 cents per lesson.

Unfortunately, Mr. Salerno was not an accomplished trumpet teacher and I developed some bad playing habits that were quite challenging to correct over time.

The following is a list of trumpet teachers I took lesson from who are listed in chronological order:
John Coffey – 1960 – no more than four or five lessons
Walter ‘Wally’ Chesnut – 1967-1972
Carmine Caruso – 1967-1971 – At least 80 private lessons
Don Tison – September 1973 – May 1974 – Approximately nine months of weekly, private lessons
Frank Kaderabeck – One Lesson – Late Fall 1974
Dr. Donald S. Reinhardt – Five bi-weekly lessons beginning early 1978

Essay Author, Bob Amato in New Orleans in 2012 visiting his best and only friend, ‘Wanna Be’ Bandleader, “Square Bear” – a 165 lb. Female Tibetan Mastiff that was 5 years old.