trumpetgirl612

ok, this is something i don't nromally talk about, it is even slightly embarassing, but it has been bothering me for some time now.
In Middle School, I underwent much orthodontic correction...
and had an awesome range while wired with braces and everything else.
Then, I started High School, got my braces off, and lost almost an octave or range
i never gained that range back, and now, as a freshman in college, I am really hurting becuase of it.
I have the same range now that I had as a freshman in high school, and I am running out of methods to try.
No teacher, no method, has been able to help me extend my range above a C or a D <the ones directly above the staff...thus leaving me with a lack or range>
this really hurts me in many ways, and I am getting sick of it.
It's not that I can't play lead books, i can, i can usually even sqeuak out E's or rarely F's, but this is getting ridiculous
I am sick of being told air, longtones, and pedal tones...they haven't worked for me
i have been studying privately with many different teachers since i started eleven years ago, and this year, when i started college, i started studying with Larry Wright.
i mean, Wright has me doing scales and arpeggios as high and low as possible, but unfortunately, it's not doing anything to expand my range at all, rather it helps to perfect the tuning of what i have
if you can tell me perhaps why this is happening or offer any suggestions that would be great. Thanks so much!!

mrfabulous963

same here, diminished range, been studying with a priv. teacher, and he cant help. any ideas people

Bear

Manny is gone for a few days so... hopefully he'll solve your delimma when he returns... In the mean time, a few questions..

Do you lip buzz?
Can you buzz those notes both with and w/o mpc?
Can you sing/hear the notes in your mind's ear?
Too much pressure, too little?
Add your own in here.,,,

I'm not a world class lead player or anything but I do have some range, what I do to work on it besides longtones, etc is to find recordings of people I like and play along hitting what notes I can and playing the others down an octave. I like to do that because then I'm thinking about havin' fun and makin' music without thinkin' about mechanics and most of the time, things just click and there ain't any problems. A lot of times we can over analyze and screw everything up. Also try playing a favorite melody of yours and just transposing it a step higher and higher. Try playing as high as you can as quietly as you can.

Maybe it'll work, maybe it won't... good luck!! It's awesome to see gal trumpeters tryin' to get their high chops up.

Billy B

<rather it helps to perfect the tuning of what i have>

This is self-explainatory.

wrbandel

Trumpetgirl,

What do you hope to accomplish by playing above a D? What kinds of groups are you playing in? Most band, orchestra, quintet, solo, and even jazz music doesn't really go that high very often.

Be happy with what you can play, and try to perfect that as much as you possibly can. Don't get caught up in the "playing higher, louder, faster" mindset that so many trumpeters get into.

I'm sure Manny will have some good advice for you if you still want to persue the high notes. Just play them for the right reasons, which would be to expand your musicallity, not because you think everyone else plays them.

Good luck,
Warren

JackD

I sort of have a similar frustration. I've never been much of a high note player (probably mainly because it's never been something I've really been interested in, and therefore never really practised) but my range goes up to a concert Db on Bb trumpet, and that's it. I've been trying to get the concert D for a while, and no matter how strong and centred the Db is, as soon as I take my second finger off and go for the D nothing comes out.

I found out I can play it strongly on my Eb trumpet with a slightly smaller mouthpiece than I normally use, but as yet I'm still stuck on the Bb. It's not really a huge deal - it just means I can't play Alpine!!

dizforprez

If I had a student that was playing as you describe I would also seek to “prefect the tuning of what you have” as well. I am betting that your real problem isn’t range per say but probably the ability to play over the upper break while maintaining a good sound and articulation. Keep in mind that as a college freshmen that your perception of what is going on in your playing can be way off from what is really going on.


Also, I think that your post comes off in a very disrespectful manner towards your teacher, and I don’t think it is by accident since this is not the first time you have called out your teacher by name then listed what you perceive to be a list of short comings.

Perhaps your should read this letter from Craig Morris(11/30/05), it seems to address your situation.

http://www.livmusic.com/lmi/2005/11/14/one-long-g/

trumpetgirl612

THis is not at all a complaint about him or his shortcomings. I know it is mine, as I have never voiced to him how i feel about it, and I feel you misinterpreted my question. Please reread it.
Thanks

dizforprez

perhaps you should reread what you posted, I feel that it is a logical inference given your first post.

trumpetgirl612

I have read and reread it, and it in no way appears to me to "list his shortcomings"
rather, i started for manny what my teacher is doing for me
also, his name as manny knows this man far bettr than I and perhaps even has a better insight of his goals on this than I do
i also merely stated that I do not feel it is helping me to progress at my preferred rate
This, again, is not a complaint about my teacher no, what he is doing
I asked for input on why is this is happening and how MANNY suggest I fix it. Thanks