john7401

Ok...so after sitting through our second marching band practice today I realized some things. I noticed how one of the slightly more advanced trumpets one grade ahead of me was able to still play higher notes as we went on with a good full sound but would still give up and not play some of them. I'm wondering how she got to the point where she could still hit those even with her range gone and still have good tone/sound.

It might be that she is better about using the mouthpiece and air control to make the "eddy" in the bottom part of the inside of the mouthpiece so the stream of air going into it is more precise and smaller letting her still have those good notes even though her lips are gone.

I think the reason people *and me* start loosing tone quality at higher notes could be because they dont use this as much and they are trying to pinch their lips to make the tighter stream of air for higher notes instead of letting the mouthpiece do all the work. I understand you still need to use your lips however and that after playing it can still effect how you played based off of that. This is probably also what my all star brass band teacher means when he says if you are nervous just blow...

Anyway I think this is something I need to be better about. I just need to figure out how to make it better or even learn how to do it if I am not.

I probably sound either stupid to alot of you people with more expirience or sound like I'm saying things that you all already know >.<

rbdeli

The reason so many of us have problems playing high notes and getting tired is because we change our lips to try to make the notes higher. To work on range and endurance means to consciously go back and play in the lower register. Note how your lips are together and say, 'who' to play a low c. It feels good because the skin on your lips is not stretched as they tend to do when we attempt to play higher. When you've spent ample time getting your low notes rich, full and relaxed, then concentrate on building your range by saying 'who' when you get up to the higher notes. Play all of your notes with the same cushiony lips, and the 'who' formation. Don't say heee..

What our lips do is vibrate to make sound, and when we stretch them, they become less elastic, more brittle, causing us to lose our sound. We get tired because we're straining our lips, instead of using air.

The reason some players don't get tired is because for whatever reason they are keeping their lips together better and not trying so hard to change things up when they play high. Sometimes the guys who practice the most get in the most bad habits.

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jsimpher

hey man, I have struggled with the same thing. You need to mess around with different embouchures and figure out what is the easiest way for you to play. Don't pay attention to your consistency just how easy it is to play that method. Then start working your range and consistency. So long as you are solid, that is all that matters. The range will come in due time. Also if you wanna work your range I HIGHLY suggest the book double high c in ten minutes. I use the first few exercises in my warmup routine and my chops have gotten amazingly better.

Skiingfool

First of all, you need to practice everyday, even if it's just for 20 minutes. You should make a good warm up routine, something that takes 10-30 minutes and do this routine everyday. Start doing lots of range and endurance exercises, but make sure to keep playing in the low register. The last piece of advice I can give is don't push out the high notes. Playing should feel very easy and relaxed. Good luck!


P.S. You should clean your trumpet. That may be a contributing factor to the difficulty.