Warren

Oh..and who do you recommend I listen to? I want a sound that is more towards the sound of a fluegel than a trumpet.

brunets

That's a lot of practice time. If you find the perfect balance between technical exercises and with playing whatever you want, you'll improve quickly (provided you take your 45 min seriously). Then everybody has his own practice routine. Find one that works best for you.

Don't do that. You will ruin your mouthpiece (even if some people tend to say the contrary).

Stéphane

Jude

In what ways is it easier? I've heard this before, but never had an opportunity to ask what it meant. If I get a chance to try out a cornet and trumpet from the same maker, maybe it would become instantly clear?
Jude

brunets

To me it was instantly clear, even if my trumpet is a 1948 Conn 22B and my cornet is a Olds Ambassador of the 70ies. Actually I feel more relax on a cornet, as long as I don't need to do high-pitch notes.

It seems that, in France, the trumpet players used to start with learning the cornet a few years before switching to the trumpet afterwards... That made the learning curve easier...

Stéphane

Dale Proctor

A 3B mouthpiece won't do it for you. If you're serious about a sound that dark, something along the lines of a Wick 4 or larger (3 or 2) is the way to go. In my opinion, a cornet should not sound like a flugel, though. That's what flugelhorns are for.

As for which instrument to practice, I'd suggest initially practicing the cornet more to get familiar with it and to develop the cornet style. After that, I'd practice mostly on whichever horn I was using in my next performance, with a little practice on the other just to keep it up.

I think a cornet is slightly easier to play technical passages on, but even then, that depends on the horns you're comparing. I wouldn't say a student model cornet makes anything easier, though.

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Warren

It's hard to so as yet which one is easier. Have obviously been playing the trummpet for much much longer than my cornet. Haven't even had it a week yet.

They are both B&S instruments as before mentioned. Still waiting on some news from the manufacturers as to what class my cornet falls into.

For the next few weeks I just need to get used to the feel of the cornet, and save up so that I can sort out the sticky first valve. btw...Anyone got a set of B&S finger buttons just laying around? The stones are missing from two of the buttons. Anyhting I can replace that gap with?

Jude

It may have been for the same reason they used to start American kids on cornet - they're shorter and easier to handle. Although when I started in 4th grade with a trumpet I don't remember its length being an issue. Maybe the reason they stopped?

Jude

brunets

Probably because the cornet is an under-rated instrument in the head of many...

Stéphane

Vulgano Brother

Warren, you can always forget the cornet and just play trumpet! The classic German comeback used at countless Christmas Oratorio complaints about the trumpets being too loud is the following: "Bach knew the trumpet is loud. If he wanted it to sound soft, he would have written for recorder!"

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