mand

Hello everyone. I'm a trumpeter isolate, or more accurately a potential trumpeter isolate. I have been playing trumpet for only a few weeks, having bought one cheaply after waiting a couple of years to be sure the wish to play wasn't just a whim. It's a Sonata, apparently not a bad beginner's instrument.

My health is poor so progress will be slow and i seem to have less puff than i used to. Played French horn for one year in my teens, so thought i would be able to get a sound out through the mouthpiece at least! and took the risk. I'm beginning to control the note now... can see this will be a long haul...

I'm doing this without a teacher so i expect to be asking plenty of idiot questions here from time to time. (Starting with a mouthpiece one.) Please be patient with me as i really have no choice about who to ask for advice. And perhaps asking for congratulations as not many other people will be applauding me! at least in the near future.

I played piano for years n years, only for my own pleasure, and still sit down at the piano for relaxation sometimes. So i can read music etc. I like a range: folk, classical, heavy rock, swing, et al.

veery715

Welcome to TM, Mand. Other folks will tell you this, but I will be the first! Save some euros/pounds up and buy at least one lesson, and soon. You'll be glad you did.

veery

simonstl

What music are you playing while learning?

It sounds like you're at least arriving with a basic understanding of music.

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mand

Thanx for the welcome, veery :)
Do you literally mean ONE lesson is better than none? What would i get from a single lesson without continuing? (I did get 15 minutes' advice from the chap who sold me the trumpet.)

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mand
laughably ignorant newbie
the Travel Hopefully Blog + tweets

RHSbigbluemarchingband

A single lesson will at least start you off properly..........my two cents

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s.coomer

Yes, do yourself a favor and have as many lessons as you can afford. I agree, one is better than none, but more is even better and you will have a better chance at progressing much more quickly.

ComeBackKid

Mand, Welcome to TM. As you will see, this site if full of helpful hints, tips, ideas, opinions, theories, hobby-horses...(Oops! I got carried away)...
Anyway, the internet is wonderful but it has its limitations, including being able to teach the trumpet. However, there are some great tools that can help. If you have a web-cam for your computer, there are members here who can do lessons (for a fee, of course) using that web-cam. I have not tried it but it should work.

The reason that several members have suggested a lesson - even one - is because there are a few tricks to a trumpet that can make a huge difference between a slow and painful development path and one that is faster, more fun, and creates better results. And, that all has to do with embouchure. You will find hundreds (or thousands) of posts here related to that topic in addition to related topics such as breath control, tonguing, mouthpiece selection, practice techniques, etc. but in the end, they all have one goal - to help you develop the embouchure that is best for you. And, as one member recently pointed out on this topic, putting all of this together is like buying shoes - in the end, you need ones that fit you, and shoes that work for someone else may not work for you.

Yes, you can develop a reasonable embouchure by trial-and-error and/or reading on the internet but you can also miss and fail. The purpose of one lesson (or two if you can swing it) is to help you start in the most effective possible manner on the road to a proper embouchure. Once you are started in the right direction, it saves a lot of experimenting and you can focus on practicing the right things.

The rest of trumpet-playing you probably can learn on your own. You already have an ear for music - that is a huge part. You can read musical charts - that helps. The fingering is quite simple (in principle) and there are helps for that. Tone control comes with constant (i.e. daily) practice. Range comes from proper embouchure (which the lesson helps to develop). So, that is why one lesson is waaaaay better than none.

As far as the rest goes, below is a link to a post that had a similar question and it contains some answers and basic study materials and links to some videos that might help (the army band ones). You might read through this to see what is of benefit to you.
I hope this helps. We are eager to have you learn to be a great trumpet player.

http://www.trumpetmaster.com/vb/f148...elp-48230.html (Beginner here. Can anyone help?)

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tedh1951

G'day Mand, I too welcome you to TM - and look, no hands, I've done it from 13,000 miles away.

As to the lessons - if you get a good tutor, as I did, you'll find that the impending lesson will so focus your practice that you advance rather quicker than perhaps you might - and the tutor is an immeasurable resource for questions. My tutor and I often spend the lesson in focussed discussion and sometimes only a little time with the trumpet on the face, this approach minimises the potential for setting bad habits in concrete too.

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Ted

Sofus

Very welcome to TM, mand!

Good choice to start plating the trumpet!
It may be a whim, but it lasts a lifetime!!

That tip about one or two lessons is one
of the BEST advice you´ll be able to find
in here!

__________________
" 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

mand

OK, OK, you've convinced me to get a lesson. I'll look into teachers and prices around here. Don't nag, all these things take time and i also have to 'get round to' finding out about available disability payments* so the trumpet may not, dreadful as it sounds, be top priority.

* Not for trumpet lessons - pretty sure the government isn't that caring.

ComeBackKid: the fingering chart on that other thread is the best i've seen - for my brain anyway - there are so many different ways of setting it out.

simonstl: At the moment about half a scale! (At least i am past the fart stage (Beginner here. Can anyone help?).) Yesterday i was delighted to manage six notes and be able to predict which six would happen. It's a bit wobbly still and i have picked up that i should be making sure of 'owning' each note before extending my range. But i've been playing with turns those few notes into bits of tunes, to practise reaching them in different orders.

I have a dozen books that came with the trumpet. Used to ad lib on the recorder (also played descant recorder for 2-3 years, like pretty well everyone in UK primary schools in those days) even though i haven't got the musicality of my son (example at YouTube - Alter Bridge - Brand New Start Solo, not that he does himself justice in any of his vids).

... Patience and persistence are the ingredients i do have! Lung and muscle stamina isn't!

Thanx everyone for the very welcoming welcome.

__________________
mand
laughably ignorant newbie
the Travel Hopefully Blog + tweets