RGood

Well this is my first post to TrumpetMaster.com. I'm a comeback player. Love reading the forums on this site. Informative and encouraging and insightful.

So what is this passion for trumpet that we all pursue? For me that's simple - its that tingle that goes up your spine and makes the hair on the back of you neck and scalp tingle when you hear a really tight trumpet section bringing down the walls of Jericho - or when you hear Maynard and his band - or the subtle skills of a Wynton or Maurice Andre.

So greetings from a Yankee in Texas!

screamingmorris

I am originally from Missouri.
I lived in Dallas 1984-1986 to attend Bible school down there.
Millions of crickets swarmed the streets downtown.
The cockroaches were the size of Greyhound buses (pardon me, I just remembered that the people in Dallas call them "Palmetto bugs").
The heat outside was so bad that I had to crawl into the oven in our kitchen to cool off.
I was robbed while carrying groceries home from the store.
On our 3rd day in Dallas a lumber truck going 90 mph on Hiway 35 North rammed into the back of our little Datsun that was going 55 mph so that our little car was crushed from behind like an accordian.
I injured my back so badly on the job in Dallas in 1986 that I had to quit my job and go live with my in-laws in Ohio while my back partially healed (I received no worker's comp because it took another 10 years for doctors to finally realize that I had crushed a disk in my upper spine).

I've been thinking of getting a T-shirt that says, "I survived Texas"

BTW, I am a 52 year old amateur come-back player.
Back on the trumpet for 5 years after a 30 year hiatus.
I presently play a Conn 5A cornet with a huge .485 bore.
Wish I also had a 1946-1952 Conn 22B that I could find dirt-cheap.
I play trumpet / cornet as well as Jack Benny used to play violin
(everybody in unison say, "Who's Jack Benny?").

- Morris

RGood

Your experiences make the reality TV shows pale! Texas is the land of extremes as I've learned - especially the weather. Hail the size of baseballs!

And nothing like when its in the 90 at 10pm - you know you'll be triple digits the next day!!!

Glad to hear you survived. As a TCP - how long did it take to get your embouchure back?

Regards -

Bob

screamingmorris

I don't practice enough to really have a good embouchure.
5 to 10 minutes of playing will leave my lips completely worn out.
But I have rather severe health problems, so that plus laziness in practicing prevent me from developing a great embouchure.

However, when my wife presented me with an old trumpet 5 years ago, within a couple of minutes I was playing a High C, which was approximately my limit back when I was a teenager.
Last year I was able to "baby squeal" a Double C a couple of times using a Wick 4E that I have since stopped using, but my usual limit is F or G above High C (playing scales and short songs) with a Bach 7E or a Weril W46 (similar to a Bach 7E but shallower and with tighter backbore).

So my embouchure was like getting on a bicycle for the first time in 30 years.
I was able to do it reasonably well up to High C, presumably due to "muscle memory".
But I had no stamina, so I was able to do it for less than a minute before my embouchure collapsed and I had to call it a day.

30 years ago I was just getting my years of embouchure problems solved when I had to give up trumpet because life demanded that I try to find rent and food and clothing.
So now I have the benefit of what I figured out 30 years ago, and now I have just enough money to get the right mouthpiece and instrument for decent range and sound.

This summer I might take my immediate family to a community bandstand a few miles from here and give them a 10 minute concert of short hymns and ballads, my first "concert" since I was in elementary school 40 years ago.

- Morris

RGood

Well Morris - Glad to hear you are "back in the saddle" of trumpet playing! I hear you on the stamina issue. I'm additionally trying to overcome the wrong embouchure I picked up when I started many years ago. Like trying to learn how to walk again.

Here's to coming back!

Regards,

Bob

screamingmorris

When I was in Junior High School band I tried to play the same way as the best trumpet players in the band, but the more I practiced the worse I got.
After I dropped out of band (after 5 years of it) a friend told me that he thought I might have been born with an "upstream embouchure" rather than a "downstream embouchure".
So I tried playing higher on the mouthpiece, with more lower lip than upper lip, and I tried tilting the trumpet slightly upward (in other words, everything exactly the opposite of the other players) and the improvement in tone and range and stamina was immediate.
So now when I practice I get better rather than worse.
So much for all those people who say, "All you need to do is practice more".
If you are using the wrong embouchure during that practice,
then it is like trying to jog in high heel shoes: You'll just damage yourself rather than strengthen the muscles.

- Morris

administrator

Welcome to the sit!

screamingmorris

Let's play "Which word did the administrator mean to write?".

Because I am a coward, I'll vote for "site"

- Morris

RGood

Haven't done a sit-in since the late 60's.....LOL....Glad to be participate in TrumpetMaster.com

Decentplayer

Welcome to TM. I'm a comeback player to. I have found it very easy to get back in the saddle and I play better than I did in elem/middle school. I find it so much easier to learn as an adult.
Good luck and I'm sure you'll be playing in no time.