SamTheMan

Manny,

I have been practicing away at the Hummel concerto, 1st movement, and I can sound great on it until the very end. I play the chromatic lick (measure 293,) and then comes the trill. On a good day, I can alternate between the G and A at a slow speed, but usually it doesn't trill at all. My teacher, Dan, has told me to try to work up a 1-3 finger lip trill (Bb trumpet,) but when I do that it just doesn't sound...trilly(?) enough. What do you do when you play this piece? Do you use an Eb trumpet? I don't own one, so that's out of the question for me.

Thanks,
SAM CALLAHAN

Manny Laureano

Sam,

Yes, I normally play an Eb trumpet because today's audiences are too much about perfection so there's a certain amount of security the Eb offers. However, when I was in school I played the Hummel on a Bb like you.

Do you practice high trills? If you don't, it's not just going to pop out merely because you need it to. You must practice the techniques for a long time and then play the music the techniques are included in. That makes it a lot easier. It's one of the reasons I don't like giving the Haydn or Hummel too early to stidents.

I play my G to A trills 0 to 1/2.

Also, forget the C trumpet. You won't need one for a long time. It's just an unnecessary expense for you right now. Everything you need to play, you can play on the Bb.

ML

SamTheMan

I guess I never have sat down and practiced higher trills, besides what I do in the lip trill section of Adv. Lip Flexibilities; thanks. Not needing a C trumpet is a relief, at least for our checkbook; I'm glad I haven't rushed out and bought one already. Thanks a lot!

JackD

Interesting. Is that for intonation?