| I agree that you should try to use your ring finger. Heck, I even sometimes use my left pinky.
It is unfortunate that instrument fashion these days dictates that adjustable 3rd slide rings are only for student level instruments and that if you have an instrument with an adjustable 3rd slide ring it is therefore not a professional ("serious") trumpet. This wasn't necessarily so in the past (All Conn cornets and trumpets from the 1960's had adjustable 3rd rings up to and including the top of the line 38B Connstellation; exception: 80A, it didn't have a 3rd slide ring).
As to your original question: a cornet wouldn't help. The valve block would be closer to your face, but the valve block on a cornet is the same size as that of a trumpet, as is the distance to the 3rd slide ring.
Regards, Christine |