Along with a degree in music education, David Summer brings to his teaching over 30 years of teaching and performance experience.

David can help with your music reading, practicing and performance skills. He can help you prepare for a special performance or audition. David has helped many younger flute and trumpet students gain admission to Massachusetts schools district bands.

David has also taught many instrumentalists the art of improvisation. He uses play along materials to make improvising fun and combines this with ear training so students learn how to hear chord changes and recognize musical patterns.

David has taught students at all levels from beginning flutists and brass students to professional players. He makes full use of the wide range of resources that technology has to offer today's teacher.

David teaches students of all ages, children and adults. He takes pride in his patience and his ability to encourage and inspire students. Most of all, David makes learning music fun.

All lessons are private and are tailored to the individual student's interests and ability. Lessons may be scheduled on a regular weekly basis or "one at a time" lessons are available. These one at a time lessons are especially good for students who live further away from David's teaching studio or are unable to commit to regularly scheduled music lessons.

All lessons are given in a music studio located in David's home in Groton, Massachusetts. This location is easily accessible to students from Acton, Ayer, Bedford, Billerica, Bolton, Boxborough, Carlisle, Chelmsford, Clinton, Concord, Devens, Dunstable, Harvard, Hudson, Lincoln, Littleton, Lunenburg, Maynard, Pepperell, Shirley, Sterling, Stow, Sudbury, Townsend, Tyngsboro, Westford and surrounding towns, as well as towns in southern NH, including Hollis, Hudson and Nashua, NH.

Email David to schedule a lesson or for more information.

I'm often asked about playing both the Trumpet and the Flute.

The most frequent question has to do with how one embouchure affects another. I have seen no ill effects of playing both the Trumpet and Flute. I have no trouble going from one instrument to the other. I sometimes switch instruments in the middle of a piece.

The two embouchures are certainly different and both need to be maintained. That is probably the most difficult part of doubling, finding time to consistently practice all of your instruments. The old joke, "I used to play the trombone, but I let it slide", applies.

It is true that, from an embouchure standpoint, if you are a wind player who is selecting a double, it is easier to choose an instrument that is in the same family as the one you currently play. If you are a trumpet player, for example, it is easier to maintain a trombone, French horn or tuba embouchure than a flute embouchure.

I also occasionally double on the trombone. Naturally, since the trombone is a brass instrument, the trombone embouchure is similar to the trumpet. When I graduated from music school, the first trombone I bought was a Conn 88H, which I played for several years. Although, this is an excellent instrument, ultimately, it proved to be too large for me, as a trumpet player, to comfortably play. My current trombone is a King 2B+. This instrument is very well suited to a trumpet player who is doubling on the trombone. It’s light and open and it blows in a similar manner to the trumpet.

If you’re a trumpet player pursuing a trombone double, you should also carefully consider the type of mouthpiece you use for the trombone. Again, I started with a mouthpiece that was too big. I finally settled on a Dennis Wick 10CS mouthpiece. The one I use is gold plated. The gold plated mouthpiece just feels more comfortable to me.

If you enjoy recording music, as I do, you'll find being a multi-instrumentalist definitely has advantages. You can use your ability to double to create large ensemble recordings or simply as a way to provide more tone colors to your recordings.

As a multi-instrumentalist you will likely find more opportunities for performance as well. I'm sometimes hired to play the trumpet only or the flute only. However, often people are glad to find I can play both and are happy to have me utilize that ability. The combination of trumpet and flute in my specialized performance work is especially effective.

I believe that you should play the instruments that interest you and not be concerned about how one wind instrument embouchure might affect another. If you select instruments on the basis of those that you truly enjoy playing you will be more likely to keep playing and enjoying the satisfaction that comes from making music.