linkmaster03

I am a 7th grade trumpet player, and I'm not very good. Well, compared to everyone on here. :P Anyways, I think I need a better mouthpiece than my Bach 7C for playing all the notes above the staff, as the songs I play are frequently quite high. The 7C is just too deep to play high without shoving the mouthpiece into my face. Any suggestions?

Stile442

Practice, practice, practice. No mouthpiece will give you extra range you don't already have. Some just make it easier to stay up in that register longer.

mystrumpet

I agree completely with Stile442, its mostly all practice. The mouthpiece can help, also. Before I switched mouthpieces, (7c to 1x! big jump!) my highest note was probably a high d. Using my 1x I can hit a high f. Some of this could be practice though, I'm in 8th grade and that was 5 months ago, but I try my 7c every once in a while, and I still think that the 1x is better. Definatey practice though!

derekkress

I sucked when I first played the horn in 7th grade, but I was tenacious. What really helped was the summer when I joined a top level DCI Corps. When I came back as an eight grader I had great endurance and a solid high C with the ability to "creep" up to double G.From that point on I was leading.Playing a lot with good technique will build so much confidence all the while listening to all the greats.Daily inspiration!

screamingmorris

I absolutely hate the Bach 7C.
I hated it 35 years ago in Junior High band.
I hate it now as a 50 year old come-back player.
I can actually play higher, easier on a deeper Bach 7 (no letter) than on a Bach 7C.
With a deep Bach 7 (no letter) I can actually play as high as with a shallow Bach 7E.
But when I try a Bach 7C my tone and range are crap.

You could try a Yamaha 11, or a Holton 7C, or a Schilke 14 (or even the Schilke 14B which has a slightly "V" shaped cup that gives a very nice tone while giving a little bit of support in the upper register).
Go into any band supply store and try out any of the many mouthpieces that many companies make that are the same diameter as a Bach 7C and you will probably find them better suited to your needs than the Bach 7C.

You are right when you say that the Bach 7C is deep.
It is *much* deeper than the Bach 3C (which is about the same depth as a Bach 7E).
The Kanstul Comparator at
Kanstul Mouthpiece Comparator
shows that the Bach 7C is deeper than Bach 2C, than Bach 3C, than Bach 8C, than Bach 9C.
And the Bach 7C has a cup which is more "U" shaped than the other Bach cups which are slightly more "V" shaped so that the upper register is more difficult on the Bach 7C than on some other Bach mouthpieces.

Plus, even the Bach company admits that Bach himself preferred the rim of the Bach 6C rather than the rim of the Bach 7C.

It is true that there is no substitute for practice for strengthening one's embouchure.
But one should also seek a good mouthpiece rather than just play with the crappy mouthpiece that came with a trumpet.
Don't punish yourself by continuing to play a mouthpiece that you hate.
There is no such thing as the perfect mouthpiece, but there certainly are many mouthpieces that are at least better suited to your needs than that Bach 7C.
Even the slightly shallower Bach 7D would better suit your needs.

tatakata

its a new model called practice

screamingmorris

Using your motorcycle avatar as an analogy,
telling the poster to use a Bach 7C is like our telling you to use a skateboard,
and if you complain that you can't go fast enough on a skateboard then it must be because you just aren't practicing enough.

To excel, a person needs lots of practice *and* the right equipment.

Each person has different embouchure, different lips, different jaw, different dental structure.
So that a Bach 7C might be great for one player but pure hell for another player.
So a player needs to check out several mouthpieces to find the one that most matches his embouchure and needs.

So your smart-aleck answer was not helpful.

Schwab

I'm with tatakata, when I was in 7th grade it didn't matter what horn/mouthpiece etc I was playing, I needed to practice. Nothing else will help until you have the basics down well enough to know what will work for you. I didn't find out what worked for me until college, when after a huge mouthpiece safari spanning YEARS, I went back to a 7C. Worked like a charm. I still play a mouthpiece similar to a Bach 7C for classical work.

Pedal C

As a 7th grader, probably having played for one or two years, it's too early to know if the 7C is right or wrong for you. If playing above the staff is difficult, you probably are still progressing in terms of breathing and embouchure so the equipment (within reason) is largly irrelevant. A 7C may not the right choice for the rest of your life, and it may not be right in a couple years when you've gain a better command of the upper register, but you really can't tell now.

As for the relative quality of the 7C in general, Bud Herseth used a 7C his first few years in the Chicago Symphony. If you don't know who he is, find out! One of the best orchestral trumpet players ever.

And comparing the 7C to other Bach mouthpieces can be tough because they've ALL varied over the years. I have a Mt Vernon 7C that feels like a 1C and a couple newer ones that aren't even the same as each other.

From the way you've described your present ability, using a smaller or shallower mouthpiece as a crutch to hit high notes is only going to slow down your ultimate development. For now, start working on your breathing (search the TM forum...lots of good breathing advice recently) and playing without tension in the chest and shoulders. If you have a good private teacher, they should be able to get your funamentals happening so the upper register will eventually be there for you!

Good Luck!

Jason.

Toobz

This device always works. Anybody can play higher with one of these. I guarantee it !

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