SFPat

I'm a potential comeback player who hasn't played in over 25 years. I came across this site while researching a suitable student instrument for my son who has expressed a desire to learn the trumpet and join the band at school.

While perusing the site, I had a chuckle over the "how good were you at 16" thread, because at 16 I sucked (blew) as I was essentially a self taught trumpet player. I had had one year of 6th grade band where I learned the basic fingering, lip techniques, etc. For 7th grade, we moved to a town without a band program so, since I had a trumpet (a big investment for my parents), my parents encouraged me to continue to practice on my own (they couldn't afford private lessons), which I did, playing mostly from a hymn book. Over time I developed a decent sound, learned my chromatics, learned to sight read, transpose and play by ear and was good enough to play in backing bands though college and early adulthood. My biggest shortcoming was lack of upper range, as high A was about as high as I could consistantly hit, so I mainly played the second trumpet part, or dropped an octave on high notes. Playing trumpet was something I did for enjoyment. Unfortunately, my trumpet playing became a victum of work, wife, family, home, etc.

Anyway, I'm excited that my son wants to play trumpet as it will give me an excuse to pick it up again. Over the years, I've spent plenty on music lessons for my children (I have daughters who play piano, harp, oboe and cello) and now need to find a good teacher for my son (and maybe me).

s.coomer

Welcome to TM, enjoy your stay.

Sofus

Very welcome to TM, SFPat!


A man doesn´t need any excuse for THAT!!

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" There are no secrets to trumpetplaying - except Practice Your Head Off - and that´s no secret! "

Bud Herseth 1977 in Hamar, Norway


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Mouthpiece and Solidarity

tedh1951

[quote=SFPat;455318]I'm a potential comeback player ....... quote]

No, no, no, no SFPat - you're hooked, you know you are, we know you are, you son knows you are - to TM.

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Ted

ComeBackKid

SFPat - Welcome to TM. I must say, it sounds like you went pretty far for a DIY player. Many do not progress that much. I understand the situation about your son being the spark to reignite the fire. In my case, it was my grandson. When he started, I had been off for 30 years and suddenly remembered the fun of it and have now joined a symphonic band.

As far as building your range, there are a number of threads here that have tips that will help and since you have developed self-improvement methods in the past, they may help you with that, too.

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Come-Back Kid
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SFPat

Tedh1951 - You're right. I am hooked. Playing trumpet runs deep in the veins and, even though I was never that accomplished, it never left. Hopefully, I'll have a trumpet within the week.

tedh1951

Ahhh - dedication .

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Ted