About Us

My name is Rich Hanks, and I welcome you to the Reinhardt Archive. This site is truly a labor of love, and I hope that visitors gain as much enjoyment and knowledge from exploring these materials as I experienced in creating and assembling them. I first encountered the teachings of Donald S. “Doc” Reinhardt in the late 1990s when, as an aspiring high school trombone player, I was lent a copy of The Encyclopedia of the Pivot System. Possessing both an analytical mindset and struggling with technical difficulties that were limiting my progress, I found the Encyclopedia to be a breath of fresh air. Within the first few pages it was obvious to me that this man possessed a depth of understanding about brass playing unlike anything I had previously encountered. From that moment on, I set out to learn as much as I could about what Reinhardt called the Pivot System. I was fortunate that a local trumpet player, John Perko—who had studied with Doc in the 1970s—agreed to give me several lessons and help guide my early understanding of the system. By the early 2000s I was an undergraduate student at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Despite continued effort, I was still experiencing playing difficulties that no amount of practice or conventional instruction seemed able to resolve. Out of a mixture of curiosity and desperation, I decided to seek out someone who truly understood Reinhardt’s work in depth. To my great fortune, the foremost Reinhardt student and teacher, Dave Sheetz, lived less than an hour away. I immediately reached out to arrange a lesson, and the rest, as they say, is history. I learned an extraordinary amount from Dave, who is not only a deeply knowledgeable teacher but also a sincere and compassionate mentor. He has truly served as a “keeper of the flame” when it comes to preserving and transmitting Reinhardt’s teachings. Under his guidance my playing improved dramatically, and I spent countless hours asking questions and learning everything I could about the Pivot System. One of my professional highlights as a musician came in 2007 when Dave and I co-presented at the International Trumpet Guild on the life and teachings of Doc Reinhardt. The record and handout from that clinic is presented here! During this time it became clear to me just how prolific Reinhardt had been in both his written and recorded output. In addition to officially published works such as The Encyclopedia of the Pivot System and the Pivot System Manuals, every student left their lessons with custom typed instructions and exercises, and later with cassette recordings of the lessons themselves. It is difficult to overstate how remarkable this body of work is. The same individual who developed the most comprehensive physical categorization of brass playing also left behind an enormous collection of instructional artifacts through which future generations could continue to study and learn. After graduating with degrees in trombone performance and spending several years as a professional musician, I eventually transitioned into a career as a software developer. Over time, however, my interest in Reinhardt’s work only deepened. Through my association with Dave Sheetz and others within the Reinhardt community, I was fortunate to acquire a significant amount of archival material related to Doc and his students. It gradually became a personal goal to create the largest digital archive of Reinhardt-related material in existence and to use modern technology to make these materials searchable, accessible, and useful for both personal study and formal research. This archive is my tribute to Doc Reinhardt and to the many students and teachers who have worked tirelessly to preserve and transmit his ideas. Within these pages you will find not only original Reinhardt writings and recordings, but also materials produced by his students and by scholars who have studied his work. The breadth and depth of this material speaks to the extraordinary insight and originality of Reinhardt’s contributions to brass pedagogy. One of my lifelong goals is to ensure that credit is given where credit is due. Reinhardt has always been revered by those who studied with him or understood his system, but the full scope of his work has never been widely accessible. It is my hope that this archive will help bring greater recognition to a teacher whose ideas represent one of the most profound contributions to the understanding of brass playing. Reinhardt stands as one of the towering figures in brass pedagogy, and it is time for the full scope of his work to be visible and available for generations to come. Thank you, Doc.