Any trumpet players here?

[DawgBone]

Looking for any advice for someone brand new to the instrument.

[Lionelsax]

Looking for any advice for someone brand new to the instrument.

Hi ! For sure a Yamaha, some say Jupiter is not so bad.
If you've got money... Bach !
I've got a cheap cornet, even accomplished trumpeter can't play it.

[DawgBone]

Hi ! For sure a Yamaha, some say Jupiter is not so bad.
If you've got money... Bach !
I've got a cheap cornet, even accomplished trumpeter can't play it.

Thanks! I heard your video in the blues thread. You're getting there nicely Lionel!!! Then a fellow bluesman of mine said "man, I love trumpet" at a gig the other day, then I started listening to flugelhorns, uh-oh, fell in love with those. Not sure what happened. Always have loved Dizzy, Louis, and Clifford but I just caught the itch. My son already had a couple trumpets laying around, a 60's Conn Victor and an old Bessen so I been putting some time in on the Conn.

I can eke out a C major scale now, day 3. What's really weird is I can actually grasp sight reading with it. The lack of a million fingerings to remember works for me esp since Bb/C is just my lips. Open to ANY advice.

[JGinNJ]

Rest as much as you play. Play long tones. Get a teacher. Get an Arban book (I think it's a free pdf these days).
Don't overdo it, play 15-20 minutes a couple of times a day. It's ok to skip days, but try not to miss more than a couple in a row.

[DawgBone]

Rest as much as you play. Play long tones. Get a teacher. Get an Arban book (I think it's a free pdf these days).
Don't overdo it, play 15-20 minutes a couple of times a day. It's ok to skip days, but try not to miss more than a couple in a row.

Thanks JGinNJ. I don't want to skip any days. The teacher will have to wait, $ is tight during the fall/winter months especially since I bought a new Gibson, lol. I'll look for the Arban book. I think a practice mute and a cleaning kit are on the "need" list.

[arnie65]

The Yamaha Bobby Shew YFH-6310Z model is outstanding...




Arnie...

[AllanAllen]

My guy has this for silent practice. I always think about picking up a typical jazz instrument, sax or piano. Maybe in a decade when the kids are in college. Unless one of them wants to learn.

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[DawgBone]

My guy has this for silent practice. I always think about picking up a typical jazz instrument, sax or piano. Maybe in a decade when the kids are in college. Unless one of them wants to learn.

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I played alto sax in college for a couple semesters as a 2nd instrument but didn't take it seriously. For some reason the trumpet speaks more to me now than it did at the time. My son was a band nerd in high school and played tenor sax. He's been giving me a few pointers on the trumpet, which is helping. Day 3 and I was able to hit a high G above the staff but my embouchure is blown for the night now, lol.

[starjasmine]

I played trumpet from about age 10 -13 in the school marching band. First week we worked with the mouthpiece only, no horn. We learned to play C, G and C an octave up (or any pitches with a similar relationship) to learn how to use embouchure to change pitch. We also worked on breath control, and getting a nice, clear, full, round tone. All of this comes from your lips and the mouthpiece, before the air ever enters the horn.

Don't blow out your embouchure trying to be Maynard F or Jon Faddis at this early stage. You have to build the muscles in your lips. Just play long tones, practice getting different root - fifth - octave root pitches with the mouthpiece only.

Practice dynamics and breath control. How long can you play a very quiet note? When I was a kid, I could do a very quiet whole note that lasted 30 seconds. (Side note: there's an old story that Ambrosia was told by their producer to run track for a month to improve their wind before he would let them into the studio to do any vocals.)

Do you know about "ta" and "ka" syllables for staccato tones? Use your tongue to block the airflow before it exits your lips, saying "ta" into the mouthpiece. Try this with "ka" as well. Fast triplets? Say "ta ta ka, ta ta ka, ta ta ka..." Practice other combos too, just because.

Also practice starting and stopping your tone WITHOUT using your tongue: learn to do a soft attack like Miles. This I learned in college, when I could not make up my mind whether to play trumpet, bass or guitar... so I triple-majored in all of them till I was sure guitar was my first and best love.

Crawl, do not walk or run yet, Grasshopper :-)

Oh, and this may be obvious, but listen to trumpet players: to their tone, to their attack, to their ideas. I love Lee Morgan, Arturo Sandoval, Herb Alpert, Maynard, Diz, Miles, Faddis.

[Lionelsax]

Thanks! I heard your video in the blues thread. You're getting there nicely Lionel!!! Then a fellow bluesman of mine said "man, I love trumpet" at a gig the other day, then I started listening to flugelhorns, uh-oh, fell in love with those. Not sure what happened. Always have loved Dizzy, Louis, and Clifford but I just caught the itch. My son already had a couple trumpets laying around, a 60's Conn Victor and an old Bessen so I been putting some time in on the Conn.

I can eke out a C major scale now, day 3. What's really weird is I can actually grasp sight reading with it. The lack of a million fingerings to remember works for me esp since Bb/C is just my lips. Open to ANY advice.

Thank you, the only advice I can give : don't buy a cheap cornet.
Get a decent trumpet or a flugelhorn.
Your son has already got trumpets, keep playing them.
I don't really play the cornet anymore but I can play it sometimes for fun.
These are videos I made 10 or 11 years ago, I made so many stupid videos about the cornet.
Now my cornet is roasted.

Most of my videos are bad : bad intonation, bad sound...

Don't play a cheap cornet.
Now I know more trumpeters, I showed them some of my videos, they were a bit puzzled with some tears in their eyes.
Yes, laughing can make cry.

[DawgBone]

I played trumpet from about age 10 -13 in the school marching band. First week we worked with the mouthpiece only, no horn. We learned to play C, G and C an octave up (or any pitches with a similar relationship) to learn how to use embouchure to change pitch. We also worked on breath control, and getting a nice, clear, full, round tone. All of this comes from your lips and the mouthpiece, before the air ever enters the horn.

Don't blow out your embouchure trying to be Maynard F or Jon Faddis at this early stage. You have to build the muscles in your lips. Just play long tones, practice getting different root - fifth - octave root pitches with the mouthpiece only.

Practice dynamics and breath control. How long can you play a very quiet note? When I was a kid, I could do a very quiet whole note that lasted 30 seconds. (Side note: there's an old story that Ambrosia was told by their producer to run track for a month to improve their wind before he would let them into the studio to do any vocals.)

Do you know about "ta" and "ka" syllables for staccato tones? Use your tongue to block the airflow before it exits your lips, saying "ta" into the mouthpiece. Try this with "ka" as well. Fast triplets? Say "ta ta ka, ta ta ka, ta ta ka..." Practice other combos too, just because.

Also practice starting and stopping your tone WITHOUT using your tongue: learn to do a soft attack like Miles. This I learned in college, when I could not make up my mind whether to play trumpet, bass or guitar... so I triple-majored in all of them till I was sure guitar was my first and best love.

Crawl, do not walk or run yet, Grasshopper :-)

Oh, and this may be obvious, but listen to trumpet players: to their tone, to their attack, to their ideas. I love Lee Morgan, Arturo Sandoval, Herb Alpert, Maynard, Diz, Miles, Faddis.

Great advice here, thanks. My face is pretty sore today. Just working on blowing long, smooth tones but I think my chops are mostly blown from a few days of this.

[58flame]

I play trombone at a professional level.

Lots of long low notes. Get used to it, because you will need to play lots of long low notes for the rest of your life if you want to keep playing it.

Do not push the piece into your face for any reason.

Breath support is very important, and a good teacher can help you here.

Good luck, and here’s my last tip, and perhaps the most valuable -
Low notes make high notes. Play those low notes. Lots of them. Trust me.

[Hep To The Jive]

I play trumpet a little bit, never performed in public yet, just practicing on and off for some years. Right now is on. The high notes is a bitch, just to hit G above the line is not easy, but i'm getting there. What's funny reading on guitar was never my fav, I'm very much by ear player, but on trumpet I can only play maybe 2 tunes without notes in front of me, I need to sightread most of the time!

Another thing I love about trumpet you don't need to play many notes to sound good, simple melodies can sound wow, while on guitar it's like nothing.

[DawgBone]

I play trombone at a professional level.

Lots of long low notes. Get used to it, because you will need to play lots of long low notes for the rest of your life if you want to keep playing it.

Do not push the piece into your face for any reason.

Breath support is very important, and a good teacher can help you here.

Good luck, and here’s my last tip, and perhaps the most valuable -
Low notes make high notes. Play those low notes. Lots of them. Trust me.

Scott Moore on youtube who plays with Memphis symphony orchestra was suggesting a certain embouchure shape, an "Mmmm" shape and working high notes, saying it took him months when he started to get up there and how he was annoyed when some other trumpet head took a zero experience audience member at some conference or workshop and had them blowing higher notes immediately. He did mention some people might rage at his advice. I'm just a noob so I dunno, I'm just focusing on clean clear notes in general, mostly from C upwards.

[58flame]

The more low notes you play, the more high notes you'll be able to hit. It's just practice. And there are no shortcuts.

It's ok to move the mouthpiece, though. Use more upper lip for low notes and less for high notes. This is really easy to illustrate using your pedal tones. Do not shove it into your face ever. Doc once walked up to a trumpet hanging from the ceiling to illustrate you don't need pressure to hit high notes.

[DawgBone]

The more low notes you play, the more high notes you'll be able to hit. It's just practice. And there are no shortcuts.

It's ok to move the mouthpiece, though. Use more upper lip for low notes and less for high notes. This is really easy to illustrate using your pedal tones. Do not shove it into your face ever. Doc once walked up to a trumpet hanging from the ceiling to illustrate you don't need pressure to hit high notes.

I don't seem to have a problem with the face shoving thing though I hear every youtube teacher advising against it so I guess I got that going for me. I can get the first four or five bars of La Vie en Rose pretty cleanly once I'm warmed up now and can do a C scale but can't quite make it to high C consistently. Decent for day 5. I gotta gig tonight and have a bunch of other playing obligations this weekend otherwise I'd be blowing my horn all night, lol.

And I ordered the Arban's book this evening, pretty stoked to get it. I hate e-books sight reading off the internet. I like those vintage books.

[JGinNJ]

The more low notes you play, the more high notes you'll be able to hit. It's just practice. And there are no shortcuts.

It's ok to move the mouthpiece, though. Use more upper lip for low notes and less for high notes. This is really easy to illustrate using your pedal tones. Do not shove it into your face ever. Doc once walked up to a trumpet hanging from the ceiling to illustrate you don't need pressure to hit high notes.

It's easy to get into arguments about embouchure because there's no one right way to do it- but there are conventions.
This is a piece of advise I partially disagree with. Pedal tones and low notes are great, but the point is to connect the lower register together with the upper register more seamlessly, with minimal movement in setup. That is, you DON'T reset the mouthpiece position to play higher notes. This is one of the things I've worked on with my teacher, who's a chop/high note guy.
And yes, minimal pressure- the lips inside the cup need to vibrate freely, and pressure cuts off the circulation and causes fatigue.

[58flame]

I disagree with your teacher, and agree with mine. I would also add, don’t switch mouthpieces, Use the one you like and go. You can really mess yourself up switching pieces.

[Lionelsax]

I disagree with your teacher, and agree with mine. I would also add, don’t switch mouthpieces, Use the one you like and go. You can really mess yourself up switching pieces.

I stopped improving when I began to switch mouthpieces.
One was good for something, the other one for something else.
At the end they were all bad !

[DawgBone]

It's easy to get into arguments about embouchure because there's no one right way to do it- but there are conventions.
This is a piece of advise I partially disagree with. Pedal tones and low notes are great, but the point is to connect the lower register together with the upper register more seamlessly, with minimal movement in setup. That is, you DON'T reset the mouthpiece position to play higher notes. This is one of the things I've worked on with my teacher, who's a chop/high note guy.
And yes, minimal pressure- the lips inside the cup need to vibrate freely, and pressure cuts off the circulation and causes fatigue.

I've been working on moving through pedal tones smoothly, it's tricky. My son told me my tongue should be moving higher into the mouth as the notes climb.

As for mouthpieces I have a few to work with, even one of those shallow plastic screamer mouthpieces, lol, but the Blessing 3c with a little deeper cup seems to work best for me.

[58flame]

I've been working on moving through pedal tones smoothly, it's tricky. My son told me my tongue should be moving higher into the mouth as the notes climb.

As for mouthpieces I have a few to work with, even one of those shallow plastic screamer mouthpieces, lol, but the Blessing 3c with a little deeper cup seems to work best for me.

Pieces are personal, but I think the sooner you get to a big piece, like the 3c, the better. Better tone, better lip, better everything. That 3c could very possibly be your piece forever. Stay with that.

[DawgBone]

Pieces are personal, but I think the sooner you get to a big piece, like the 3c, the better. Better tone, better lip, better everything. That 3c could very possibly be your piece forever. Stay with that.

Def plan on staying with it for a while at least. I have larger lips so those shallow cups don't seem to work that well for me. I want to get into the new year and put some quality time in before I start obsessing over horns and mouthpieces. That way when I get to that point I actually have some skills to justify any purchases. Long game is probably a flugelhorn but maybe I'll change my mind. Shopping is the fun part cause once you pull the trigger the works starts haha.

[DawgBone]

Dangit....somebody talk me outta this:
Vintage C.G. Conn Copper Cornet 1948 w/Case - musical instruments - by owner - sale - craigslist

Or don't and tell me what I should look for when I inspect it.....

[JGinNJ]

Dangit....somebody talk me outta this:
Vintage C.G. Conn Copper Cornet 1948 w/Case - musical instruments - by owner - sale - craigslist

Or don't and tell me what I should look for when I inspect it.....

Well, first of all, it's a cornet. So it's going to use a different mouthpiece. Vintage horns are tempting, often cheap. But it may cost you double to get it into playing shape. At the very least it will probably need new pads & corks.

Things to watch out for with old horns are loss of compression ( slides don't "pop" when you pull them out). Stuck slides. Sticky valves. Worn valves (plating loss). Red rot, usually in lead pipe or main tuning slide. Loose braces. Dents in the back bow of the bell.

That particular horn may be a student model, look for "shooting stars" or "Our Director" engraving. It has a "Coprion" bell. Check out the Conn Loyalist website. Also check out Trumpet Herald.
I don't think you need a new horn just yet.

[Lionelsax]

The cornet is not a good option, many manufacturers just put a trumpet mouthpiece on a cornet shank.
That's not the better choice, Dennis Wick makes really cornet mouthpieces.
Get a trumpet or a flugelhorn. Manufacturers usually make real flugelhorn mouthpieces with V cup.
A cornet usually sounds like a constipated trumpet.
It's not warmer than a trumpet, it's just constipated.
Nat Adderley and others make them sound good but they are what they are.
Lee Morgan could play it !

On the trumpet...

To sound like this on the cornet... It's dedication.

Warren Vaché