Davis's mother, Cleota Mae (Henry) Davis, wanted him to learn to play the piano. She was a good blues pianist but did not tell her son this. Davis started to learn music when he was 13, when his father gave him a trumpet and arranged for him to have lessons with local musician Elwood Buchanan. Buchanan taught Davis to play the trumpet without vibrato, and Davis always played like this. Buchanan was said to slap Davis's knuckles every time he started using heavy vibrato. Davis later said "I prefer a round sound with no attitude in it, like a round voice with not too much tremolo and not too much baseline bass. Just right in the middle. If I can’t get that sound I can’t play anything."