Fredrick

I've only been playing trumpet for about 6-7 months. I don't have much of an idea of how to improve anything. I play French Horn in the highschool band (1st chair) and have a pretty descent ametuer (I have no idea how to spell that), but I'm not so sure about the tone quality. Advice on how to improve this would be greatly appreciated.

Not just advice on improving tone, anything you have to say that would be of help would do me a great deal of good!

Vulgano Brother

One really quick way -- let a couple of trumpet playing friends play on your horn, and listen to the note attacks and the sound quality. They probably won't play the horn very well, because they'll be trying to play it like a trumpet. When you pick up the trumpet, try to imitate all the things that made them bad horn players, and this should get you close.

I'm assuming that you've been listening to recordings by a number of good trumpet players -- our ears will teach our faces how to play, if we open up our listening enough.

Have fun!

Schwab

Listen to recordings, its the best way to learn aside from live music.

rowuk

That early in the trumpet playing game, I am not sure that sound "quality" is the first priority. While having a good tone is important, getting your breathing and embouchure together will give you the sound as a "by-product". Embouchure is something for a good teacher. Breathing too, but I can give you some tips:
Stand up straight-head straight-neck extended, exhale as completely as possible, then inhale as deeply as you can WITHOUT raising your shoulders. At the peak of inhaling, switch to exhale again WITHOUT holding the air in. Practice that a couple of times until it works. Then replace the second exhale with "play". Try this without tonguing first.
IMPORTANT: at no point should you ever hold the air in, it should ALWAYS be a smooth transition. A good band leader will inhale with the band, giving them enough warning to get a deep breath, in time, before playing.

Fredrick

Now I know what that word is! Embrouchure, I've never seen or heard it spelled out, so I had no idea what the word was.

I'm pretty sure I can play decently, I've been playing a wind instrument for about 4 1/2 years and have got the hang of it. I've got good embrouchure and breathing regulation as far as I know, it sounds good. The only thing that I can think of off-hand that I would really need to work on though would be how to get good sound, I'm playing a trumpet with a good embrouchure for french horn, but only decent for trumpet.

That's some really good advice, though. I've never been told anything before about making a smooth transition from inhaling to exhaling while playing an instrument, it makes a lot of sense. Along with the listening to other people playing well. I don't know of anywhere that I might find something like that, but I'll be on the lookout. If you know of any place that I would be able to find something like that, please let me know.

-Fred

Tootsall

Close. "Emboucheur" is the way I think it would be spelled in the original French (?). "aam-bow-shur" is the pronounciation.