Episode 7 - Estela Aragon
Episode 7 features Estela Aragon, trumpet player, educator, and music entrepreneur based in Austin, Texas. We talk with Estela about how her experience as an ESL student affected how she chose her instrument and her journey in building multiple successful music entrepreneurship platforms.
To learn more about Estela and the organizations she is a part of, check out the links below!
Trumpet Headquarters - Website
MusicFit Academy - Website
Trumpet Headquarters - Youtube
Trumpet Headquarters - Instagram
Trumpet Headquarters - Facebook
Trumpet Headquarters - Twitter
Brass Chix
Black Female Players in the Brass World
Full Transcript
Carrie Blosser 0:01
Welcome to Diversify the Stand, the resource centered around listening, learning and promoting diverse musical voices in music, through our podcast, website, commissioning projects, and more. I'm Carrie Blosser.
Ashley Killam 0:15
And I'm Ashley Killam. Join us on our journey as we speak with composers, creators, performers, historians, and music educators about the topics important to them and musics betterment.
Our next guest is an amazing performer, educator and entrepreneur. Estela Aragon is the founder and educator at Trumpetheadquarters.com and Music Fit Academy, two different trumpet programs with the mission of teaching the trumpet to students of all ages and experience levels, through well founded pedagogical approaches and methods. Her work focuses on trumpet pedagogy, music entrepreneurship ventures, and lecturing aspiring musicians across the country. We are so excited to have you here today with us.
Estela Aragon 1:07
Hi, thank you. Thanks for having me. I'm excited.
Carrie Blosser 1:10
Thank you for joining us, we're gonna just start off and ask you a little bit about your background and how you picked the trumpet and started in music.
Estela Aragon 1:21
Funny thing you ask, because that is a good story. Well, it was actually kind of a mistake, it was kind of a blip, how I picked the trumpet, because at the time I was in sixth grade, I was like 11, or 10, or something like that. And I didn't actually speak any English. I spoke very, very little minimal English. And so in sixth grade, they put us through this thing called a wheel in middle school, and you would do like two weeks of band, two weeks of art, two weeks of orchestra, two weeks of PE etc. And then that was the first semester and then the second semester, you would pick the one they liked the most. And in those two weeks of band, they gave us all trumpets. So it was like 15 or 20 kids, and they just gave us all a trumpet to like try an instrument. So we're all just sitting there like, you know, twiddling our thumbs, what do we even do with this metal thing. And then they kind of guided you a little bit, like put your mouth here and try to make a note. And mostly I remember, like sitting there. And I remember just hearing mostly air, you know, coming out like [air sounds] air sounds like we're in the middle of the desert or something. And then I played a note and it was G. And I remember was a G because my teacher was like, Oh, my gosh, you played a G! And it was at the time I didn't know me, you know. But now as an instructor, I can appreciate how rare it is to, to have a brand new kid and give him a trumpet and they play a G, It's kind of a big deal. So that's, that was the two week experience. And so after that, I felt like, I felt like I'd sort of belong there. Because it was where I felt like I succeeded. And that was part of something. Because otherwise I was sort of lost, you know, I couldn't really join in conversation. I was brand new to the culture, I didn't really have like a lot of friends. And somewhere where I felt like I fit in.
In Peru, which is where I'm from, I was in like gymnastics and in sports and I had my little group and all these different things. And so I we left all of that. So I left all that over there. And then I came over here. And I was just like the new kid in school, but also the new kid in, like the country. And so I really felt like, I really liked that band thing where I did something good. So when it came time to pick, I came back to the band. And little did I know at some point, they told all of us to pick our instrument. But because I didn't speak English, I totally missed that memo. You know. And so I thought in like my little Estela world, I thought that I was supposed to play the trumpet, because that's what I played in the first two weeks. So I was just like, yeah, that's like the instrument they assigned me. That's, that's, that's what they want me to play. So that's what I'm gonna play. And that's how I ended up playing the trumpet.
Ashley Killam 4:18
That's so awesome.
Estela Aragon 4:21
So yeah, kind of a weird story. It wasn't until much later that I actually figured out that I could have picked something else. And and I don't know, I mean, it ended up working out pretty good, I would say I mean, I don't know, I think it's worked out. But maybe if I had like, you know, another chance that I knew what was going on. I really do think it would have picked the French horn.
Ashley Killam 4:47
If I could have gone back. I would have picked this soon. Ah, well now let's fast forward a few years. And this summer for your private studio, you had this panel called The Black Female Players in the Brass World. And we would love to hear about how you started going about creating that panel and what impact it had on your studio and what relationships you formed from that.
Estela Aragon 5:14
Great. Yeah. So this was in July, I think of 2020 was when I kind of put out a public service announcement to the female trumpet community or brass community. And I was just like, Hey, guys, ladies, I need, you know, I want to do this, I want to bring in five, black, female identifying trumpet players into my studio to do something. Now I teach private lessons. So it was kind of hard, I had to figure out what exactly I was going to do with that. Because it's not like I teach studio lessons, you know, like in college, where you go to master class, and it's a group and everybody gets to do it. And I was like, I also kind of want, I'm a huge advocate of private instruction. And it's not just because I like it, but it's just, that's where you get the most, you know, out of your teacher, there's no way around that. And so I really wanted to bring in these amazing players, and pair them up with someone that I knew was going to get the most out of that experience. Some of my students are too young, I think, to be awake for that amount of time. Some of them simply just don't have the attention span at you know, when they're seven, and they're hyper. And they're just like in a zone out after five minutes. And so I handpicked the students. And I think that worked out really well. So I ended up hearing back from five great players from across the country. And all these ladies are so successful. I mean, they've all graduated from either, you know, Ivy League schools or colleges with extremely difficult music programs and things like that. So I was really excited to bring them in and be like, Hey, this is what you should be.
So I think the experience overall was really good. We had them come in, I was part of the lesson, the private lesson as well. But it basically just started, I introduced them to one another, and I just let them go and let them do their thing. They all brought something different to the table. And I think that was my favorite part. Because Shanyse Strickland, the French horn player, for example, she, she focused a lot on like the feel, you know, the feel of the music. And she talked a lot about feeling like, do a little bit more accent here, you know, do a little bit less here. And she would say it in a way that it resonated differently with the students than than what I would say because we're different people. And so it was a great experience for them. And then we have somebody like Zoe Murphy, who's a jazz player, and she was talking about projection. And she told my student to think of like smoke coming out of the bell. And then the smoke has to continuously come out and like fill the room, you know, and it just completely changed her tone. And so meanwhile, I was over here with my little notepad, like stealing all these things that they're saying, you know.
But apart from that, the cool thing that I really liked about it is that they got to see someone, they got to see a black person, that's one thing, a black woman is another. And it was very impactful for a lot of them. So at the end of each session, they all got to ask just kind of like open, open, you know, open questions sort of thing. And they got to ask some, some questions of them. And some of the things they asked were, What's it like being a woman doing a career in music? One of my students, Benny, who's a young black man, he was asking, what's it like to be black? In the music world? And those things are so important, because I can't answer those things. As much as I would love to answer those things for them. I can't. And so having that immediate perspective, that immediate response was great. All of them were extremely positive and encouraging in their answers. So yeah, well, I love the experience, they loved it, and I'm definitely going to do it again.
Carrie Blosser 9:37
I could definitely see a really big impact in not just, you know, the stories that you're sharing from your students and in your studio, but also other brass players. When you were posting on social media that you were kind of looking for people and then the workshop you're creating for your students. A lot of other brass players, it really helped heighten their awareness was which I thought was really amazing.
Estela Aragon 10:00
Well, if it was, then I'm, then mission accomplished. And it's, it's a great way for private studios to, to bring in artists, you know. Now I'm thinking of other things I want to do like to have actual master classes with everybody in there and have just one artist and be able to put all the funds towards just that one person, and things like that. But um, yeah, paying them was actually kind of, kind of interesting because it was like mid July, I didn't know exactly what's going to happen with COVID. I wanted to be cautious and all these things. And so I basically just ended up giving them the fee that I would get for the lesson. That's, that's what ended up happening.
Carrie Blosser 10:44
Talking a little bit about your studio, would you kind of go through the last few years of you building your business and your private studio and how that's kind of changed or developed over the past few years.
Estela Aragon 10:58
So I'm gonna, I'm gonna jump back a little like a tiny bit before that, as to when I actually started teaching, in general, because I started teaching when I was 14. And I taught English to Hispanic adults as volunteer work at my mom's language school in Tampa, Florida. So kind of a funny experience, just because I'm 14, and I'm standing in front of a classroom, like with a whiteboard, and there's like a bunch of 40 year olds learning, you know, from a 14 year old. So, but funny thing I never really felt, you know, uncomfortable or shy or self conscious up there. I was just kind of like, yeah, cool. Let's do it, guys. And I would just, you know, repeat after me write, wrote, written. I mean, I know, I literally remember all the verbs from that experience, because I've said it every day, almost every week. But that kind of actually helped a lot because it gave me the, the excuse to feel like an authority when I taught. And that's important for an instructor to give off the vibe that you know what you're doing. Now, hopefully, you actually do know what you're doing, because otherwise, that's a problem.
But when I actually started teaching trumpet, I already felt really comfortable just with the teaching part of it. You know, I like to separate things a lot like playing an instrument is one thing. That's one skill. And then teaching is another skill on its own. And then teaching a specific thing is a skill on its own. So you can be a great instructor or a great pedagogue. But you may not necessarily be good at teaching cooking, you may only be good at teaching music. And so once I got into teaching the trumpet in, it was my sophomore year in my undergrad degree, I started building a small studio. And the opportunity just kind of fell into my lap, which was great. I had a senior friend who was graduating, of course, and he had a little studio of like six students or something like that. He charged like 20 bucks an hour. And he was just like, hey, Estela, I'm leaving. And do you want my students? And then just like, yeah, sure, that sounds great. And so he left and I inherited, all six of them. They were mostly trumpet players, which is funny because he was a tubist. And, and I started teaching somebody I taught one kid played French horn, one kid played tuba, I think I just like yeah, I just dove heads in, I didn't care. 20 bucks an hour.? Great. That is awesome, I can make $120 a week. I'm down for that I'm in college, I need some money. And so they would just come into the music school and we would steal the practice rooms, you know, as inappropriate as ever. Stealing practice rooms from the school. And that's how I got started. And so I basically just maintain that throughout the rest of my undergrad degree.
But once I moved from Tampa to South Carolina to pursue my master's degree at the University of South Carolina School of Music, I obviously have to leave all that behind because online wasn't a thing. It wasn't on anyone's mind back in, what, 2011, right? And so once I moved, I, I didn't teach actually very much for like my first year of my undergrad. And then through like a friend of a friend or something. I got this one kid named Adams. He was actually a long time, ended up being a longtime student of mine. And then that I'm actually doing one year in music performance until he decided it wasn't for him. But after I got him I was like, yeah, I like this, I think I can do this. And at some point, the School of Music found out that I was teaching in one of the practice and one of the 75 practice rooms in the basement, and they send out a mass letter. A lot of people did it. Everybody did this, you know, from every studio, everybody does it. So they send out this letter, like, you're not allowed to teach on school grounds for private lessons, which I think is very silly, because they should be advocating this, right? And so I was just like, alright, cool. So I told everybody, hey, I think at the time, I had three students, guys, we're gonna do lessons at my apartment. So at this time, I lived in a third floor apartment. It was my first apartment. And it had a one bedroom. So I was teaching my lessons in the living room, right, right next to the kitchen. And at times, there was someone cooking in the kitchen, like, you know, making like dinner, or, you know, tea, or whatever.
And my dining room was right there also, I mean, it was a quite small space. So it kind of felt like a New York apartment. But you know, that's, that's where you start. And for anybody out there, that's, that needs to start, you got to start somewhere, it doesn't matter where you start how you do it. As long as you're professional, you're in a good job, doesn't matter. You could teach outside, nobody cares. So I started doing that. And I liked it more and more. Then we moved, the same complex, but different apartment, and this one had two bedrooms. And I claimed the second one, I was like, this is the music room, nobody comes in here! This is just for lessons, I'm stepping up my game so my clients can just come in and come into this one room! And we can close the door. We had a door now! It was, you know, it was such an upgrade, like a door with a knob, what?! Then I actually started kind of getting the word out. And I thought, you know, I could get a few more now, by this time, I'm finishing up like my master's degree. And I was pretty busy with school. So I didn't want to have a huge load of students or anything like that yet.
But as I was wrapping up my master's, I did this class in music entrepreneurship at the University of South Carolina, which they actually have a, an entrepreneurship program called The Spark over there, and it's led by Dr. David Cutler, who has a couple of books out, by the way, which are great if anyone wants to kind of get, you know, going with this idea of being an entrepreneur and music, then those are great resources. I took the class, and in the class, you know, I discovered what I wanted to do through him, and with his guidance, and his help and his encouragement. And most of all, the fact that he just put all these ideas in front of us, he said, look, there's this person doing this over there in Seattle. And then there's another person in New York who's doing this kind of thing. And they're combining music and math, and all these all these different things, you know, this interdisciplinary experiences and all these ideas. And so I was like, hey, music fit. Sounds cool, because you could, it's like fitness, but for music, so I was like, really getting into it and onto this ideas. And I started reading up on like, psychology of sports and athletics and, and it's actually a lot like music. And I was like, Yeah, I could really put a spin on this and like, make this my thing, I can make this my brand. And we could all be like trumpet fit. And then one day, maybe I'll grow have like, flute fit and french horn fit and trombone fit. You know, all these things were like, just shooting in. And so right smack in the, at the end of my master's degree that program at the University of South Carolina hosted a retreat called The Savvy Musician in Action, I think it was called. And it was like 500 bucks to go there. Now, at this time in my life, I probably had about that much money in my bank account. So I was like, Yeah, I can't go because it's really expensive. And he's like, $500? Really? That is not that much money you can make $500 in so many different ways Estela and he would not give up. And he was like, You know what? You can come from $250, but you got to come up with the 250. And so honestly, I don't remember how I came out the 250. I think maybe my mom gave it to me? I don't really, I don't really remember but I made it work. And I ended up going there with my then girlfriend, now fiance. And we went together. She plays trombone. And funny thing is I won the thing. So it was like a competition where you would pitch an idea, a music idea, music entrepreneurship idea. And then there was a set of judges and stuff like that. And then they would pick a winner. And well anyway, music fit won the idea and so that really gave me the boost. You know, it's like, Hey, this is cool. I can do this. It's a good idea.
Now, that has changed completely from what the idea that won to the idea that ended up being because that's what happens when you have ideas. So originally it was going to be like this actual school with a location. That was like half music school, half gym. I don't even remember what the whole kerfuffle was with that. But it was gonna be this crazy thing. Anyway, I opted for a smaller, more manageable option that allowed me to feel comfortable, you know, with what I was doing. And so fast forward just a couple months to July, right after I graduated from my master's degree. And at that point, I had like 200 bucks. And I was like, all right, stuff needs to happen. Like it's now or never. So I set up a Squarespace website, I spent two entire days building my entire music career website, which looks a lot like what it still looks like actually.
And, and I started just kind of setting the word out, like I made a Facebook and a Twitter and I started tweeting, to all these people in Columbia, South Carolina,which was where I still lived. And I started working on SEO, I started investigating about search engine optimization, and how do I make people see my website, and also from things was basically just learning, reading a lot, watching a lot of videos, you know, informing myself on how I was going to take this thing off the ground. I sent out a bunch of emails to all the band directors in the area. I think there was like 60 emails, I heard back from like, five. And I was like, hey, I'd like to come to your school and do a free masterclass for all your band kids, for all your brass kids, or trumpet, or whatever. And it'll be free, I just want to come and do it for free. And if I could just hand out some brochures or business cards or whatever. And they were, you know, the ones that replied, we're all for they're like, yeah, sure, free class, why not. So I went over there and did the class, there was super fun. And I started, you know, I made like a little brochure, had business cards, and I handed them out. And I slowly over about six months of that, I got about five students out of it. And so the students would just come to my house, I started developing my curriculum, you know, from you're seeing how they progress, how long it takes for, for them to achieve certain goals. And it is pretty, pretty uniform all around. I mean, you know, how long it takes, what happens in a year, or in two years and things like that. So as time went on, I grew that more and more, I ended up going back to the schools that had me for the free master class for weekly master classes that were paid. So what ended up working really well, you know, if anybody out there wants to get into that, that's what you do. You offer a free one, you get your foot in the door, and then you show what you can do.
And yeah, after that I started growing, and then we moved. Again. So, so we moved here to Austin, Texas, which is where we are now in 2016. And at the time, I was like, Oh my God, okay, so I worked really hard for all this stuff. And now we're going to move so. So I convinced almost all my students to just do online, and I was just like, do it at least for a month. And if you don't like it, then we'll stop, you know. And thankfully, they did like it, I think, I think I ended up keeping like six for the long term. Something like that. Which isn't, you know, that's not a lot of money. But it's enough to get by a little with some other income coming in, right. And I think that really helped with the presence of my website, because once they had to do everything online, they started going to my website a lot. And they have like, you know, building visitors and sort of building momentum, right. And then I started switching everything over to online. I thought this is great. I really, that was my big golden opportunity to explore what can be done over this type of teaching medium. And, honestly, I love it. You know, a lot of people still kind of have a problem with it. But I think it's great. I do on embouchure changes online. I mean, I do everything you can do in person you don't think you can do is play simultaneously at the same time. But there's ways around it, right. So I started doing that. And I started slowly building it over time and grew and grew and grew.
And in 2015, right before we came here, I had this idea and I was like, okay, so I'm kind of running out of room. And I really want to keep teaching, but there's only so many hours in the day. I mean, what are you going to do, right? And I was like, Well, what if there was this website with like, everything you possibly wanted to know about the trumpet, and then, and then also lessons. But I would, you know, have to figure it out. I went back to Dr. Cutler, the entrepreneurship guy and I pitched the idea. I was like, What do you think? And I'll never forget what he said because he said Estela whatever you set your mind to do. I think it's gonna be great. And it's like, it was the most and least helpful thing anyone has ever said to me, you know, because it was super encouraging, which was very helpful. But then, but then also like, he didn't actually give me any ideas to go off of, you know, like concrete, right? But that's sort of his thing. He he throws things out there. And it's up to you to like, catch on, right. So I took that, and I was like, Yeah, okay, cool. I can do it. Confidence. Yes, I like it. So I started planning out the website, I have a notebook. Actually, I have it right here on my desk, where everything's just handwritten. And I started jotting ideas, it was different things.
Fast forward, and I ended up making the website. It's called trumpetheadquarters.com. And it was the most monumental, most stressful thing I've ever had to do in my life. Because once I actually started doing it, I realized how hard it was to do. But I was already so emotionally invested in this baby, you know, that I was like, I can't let go now. So honestly, it was it was a push and pull for a long time to get it up and running. And many ups and downs in there. There were moments where I was just like, I don't want to do it anymore. Like, I'm so tired. This is so hard. There's so much research, there's just, it's not just the content. I mean, it's the actual building a website of this magnitude with WordPress, which I didn't even know how to use. And for those of you out there that know WordPress, you know that it makes you want to pull your hair out most of the time. So I did it and it ended up being great.
I set up a beginner trumpet course first with a set of videos that people can just walk themselves through this is all a membership, right, so you pay a monthly fee, and you get access to all the videos. So I finished the beginner course. And at the time, I was like, Well, I'm gonna finish all the phases of the course and then put it out. And my fiance was like, No, no, it doesn't have to be perfect, like, put out what you have now. And build on that and see what people think. And then put up the next part based on the improvements from that. And so it's like, Okay, all right. So I'll do that. So I did that. And then I put the intermediate out. And then just like two or three months ago or something, I finished the advanced course. So it's, it's complete. And now I'm just adding to it. That was a really long story. But that's the whole story.
Carrie Blosser 27:30
I love your fiance's advice. I think that was that was some pretty solid. You know, sometimes we get so caught up in trying to make things perfect that we never release stuff. And then our final question that we are asking everyone is what's on your music stand this week? And how are you diversifying your stand?
Estela Aragon 27:50
Well, if you look at my music stand right now, it is not diversified at all whatsoever, because it's the essential elements for band. Wow, yeah, that makes me feel real good. And then we've also got my ideas for work that I'm doing for my students. So honestly, I think the thing that I've done lately that has a diversified spin on it is donating to the book that you guys are trying to put out, actually. So that was sort of like, you know, the thing that I did this week to try to do something about things. And there's never a shortage, you know, for anybody that's that's out there, there's never a shortage of things that you can do or people that you can reach out to. They're out there. Projects are out there waiting to be funded. Projects that are important. And so that is a way to diversify your life and to put your money where your mouth is. And really take your, you know, activist consumerism to the next level.
Carrie Blosser 29:07
Information about Estela, Trumpet Headquarters< and Music Fit Academy will be on our website, and they will also be in the podcast description. Thank you again for joining us.
Ashley Killam 29:25
Thank you so much for listening to Diversify the Stand. I am Ashley.
Carrie Blosser 29:30
And I'm Carrie. If you'd like to support us and our projects, check out our Patreon www.patreon.com/diversify_the_stand. Also the link is in our podcast description.
Ashley Killam 29:45
And a huge thank you to Trevor Weston and Whitney George for allowing us to use their compositions in our podcast. The musical introduction is Trevor's trumpet duet Fanfare for Changes and the ending music is Whitney's Incantations for trumpet and piano. Both composers' websites are also listed in the description.
Carrie Blosser 30:04
Until next time, what's on your stand?