Episode 83: Hanging With Steven Cunningham

My guest for this episode is Steven Cunningham.

On the road to attaining his doctorate, Steven had no desire to be an educator, but life has a funny way of bringing your real purpose to light. His path has gone from being a full-time working pro, to a university teaching position, to finally returning to his roots as the high school music teacher at his alma mater in Virginia. Steven is caring, passionate, and is committed to paying it forward, in other words, a great teacher.

Check out what Steven has to say about living up to the Grambling tradition, the hidden benefits of marching bands, the importance of tradition in jazz, the importance of mixing things up, learning to work with what you have, the art of motivation, the many hats of an educator, finding his calling, the need for people skills, the importance of fundamentals, his approach to practice, the benefit of learning other instruments, and so much more!

So pour yourself a big glass, pull up a chair, and let the hang begin!
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Get to know more about Steven and check out some of his trumpet practice resources at: https://sctrumpet.com/home
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Let Jose help you master your mental game: bit.ly/MindfulnessSecrets
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00:00:00 Intro
00:02:01 Living up to the Grambling tradition
00:10:56 The hidden benefits of marching bands
00:14:03 The importance of tradition in jazz
00:18:09 The importance of mixing things up
00:20:28 Learning to work with what you have
00:26:41 The art of motivation
00:34:24 The many hats of an educator
00:38:14 Finding his calling
00:47:10 The need for people skills
00:50:49 The importance of fundamentals
00:52:30 His approach to practice
01:00:40 The benefit of learning other instruments
01:06:34 Sound Off
01:11:43 Geared Up
01:19:51 Rapid Fire Round