Dr. Hendricks’s students have been emphatic in their endorsement of her work, referring to her in anonymous course evaluations as “unparalleled,” “pivotal” and “the kind of person and teacher I aspire to one day become.”*
Pedagogy is a central focus of Dr. Hendricks’s life and work, not a side facet of a career that is centered around performing. When Ball State University presented her with its Excellence in Teaching Award in 2016, she received the opportunity to create “Pedagogy of Private Instruction,” a course in which students received hands-on experience teaching private lessons along with feedback about their effectiveness. Students who took the class evaluated it as “essential for the rising educator,” and one participant praised it for “reinforc[ing] my desires to teach.” Dr. Hendricks’s current work includes adapting this course for individuals who are embarking on careers in private instruction and who would like support through that process. Additional projects include a comparative study of trumpet method books and a recently-published etude book for advanced players who are undergoing embouchure changes or studying soprano trumpets.
Dr. Hendricks’s experience comes from intensive study with some of the world’s leading pedagogues, including David Hickman, Barbara Butler, and Charles Geyer. She has also had the opportunity to learn from Wiff Rudd and Rich Stoelzel, both of whom have been gracious enough to allow her to visit their studios. Over the course of the previous decade she has spent countless hours working with all age and ability levels, including beginners; college music majors and graduate students; high school students applying for degrees in music; “problem” students struggling to fix major flaws in their playing; and “comeback” players. Her pedagogy is the result of ongoing experimentation in her own practice sessions, crossed with the wisdom handed down by her teachers and the others whose work she has studied or observed.
For further information about Dr. Hendricks’s lesson and consulting rates, please visit the services and pricing page on this site. Non-collegiate students and/or their teachers may also wish to view the pedagogical information available through The Trumpet Pedagogy Project.
If you’d like to read Dr. Hendricks’s performance bio, or need a copy of it for an event at which she is presenting,
Dr. Brittany Hendricks began her professional career as Assistant Professor of Trumpet at Ball State University, a position she won during the final month of her doctoral degree. While at Ball State, she became the only applied faculty member in School of Music history to receive the university’s Excellence in Teaching Award (2016), a campus-wide honor that required her to be nominated by her students. In April of 2017, Dr. Hendricks relocated to Arkansas to join her husband (trombonist Bruce Faske). For the next three years she served as Adjunct Instructor of Trumpet at Arkansas State University, where she taught High Brass Methods and assisted with studio instruction. In 2024, the couple enthusiastically returned to Tuscaloosa, Alabama in order to accommodate Dr. Faske’s recent hire as Associate Professor of Trombone at The University of Alabama and, more importantly, to lay claim to the doorway of the UA trombone studio, the spot at which the two first met. In addition to her work as a freelance performer and teacher, Dr. Hendricks currently coaches the trumpet line of the nationally-recognized Million Dollar Band. As a soloist and clinician, Dr. Hendricks has presented at numerous schools and conferences, most notably McGill University, Baylor University, the University of Missouri-Kansas City, the University of Kentucky, Oklahoma State University, the International Women’s Brass Conference (2014 and 2017), the International Trombone Festival (2017), the College Band Directors National Association North Central Division Conference (2014), and the Indiana Music Educators Association Professional Development Conference (2015). From 2018 – 2024 she held the second trumpet chair of The Jackson Symphony (Jackson, TN); she has been privileged to act in a substitute or extra role with the Memphis Symphony, Arkansas Symphony, and Ft. Wayne Philharmonic. While in Indiana, Dr. Hendricks served as principal trumpet with the Muncie Symphony Orchestra. As a teacher, Dr. Hendricks’s primary interests include the pedagogy of private instruction and studio management; efficient embouchure function and correction; and the teachings of Vincent Cichowicz, whose methodology was the subject of her doctoral research. Her own teachers include Barbara Butler (B.M. Northwestern University, 2007), David Hickman (M.M. Arizona State University, 2009), Eric Yates (D.M.A. University of Alabama, 2013), Richard Giangiulio (primary study, 2000 – 2003), Charles Geyer (periodic study, 2003 – 2007), and Christopher Martin (intermittent study, 2005 – 2007). In her ongoing role as an independent performer, she has given particular attention to works that challenge the expressive boundaries of her instrument; contemporary compositions for soprano trumpets; and music by living composers. If you’re looking for information about the principles Dr. Hendricks adheres to as a teacher, you can find an overview at TrumpetPedagogyProject.com.