r/trumpet

Does anyone have a list of active orchestral trumpet players that play on monette trumpets?

A month ago I picked up my trumpet (Bach Strad 43 in silver) after a 22 year break. I’ve enjoyed getting back into it, and the TE tuner app has been very eye opening. I played through high school but never really played to get the right pitch, just to get the note out. The TE tuner app has been great to help me know when I’ve naturally produced a good pitch.

About a week ago though I realized my practice may have been counterproductive. I was expanding my range to above the staff but realized I was forcing those notes and getting a bad tone. I finally realized the relationship between proper air support and a relaxed embouchure that does not force the mouthpiece against the mouth.

Since that realization I’ve decided to only play and practice for as long as I can get a naturally good pitch, and no longer. So 1-2 minute of leadpipe warmups and then just focusing on long tones. As soon as I feel like my muscle support is giving out and I find myself pressing the mouthpiece hard against my face to compensate, I stop.

Is this the right approach? My practice sessions are around only about 10 minutes long (twice a day, 5 days a week) and probably 4 minutes of that 10 is letting the horn come off my face so my muscles can rest.

I am wanting to join my city’s community band in early September (no auditions so that is great) and am trying to get in shape for that. I just worry that I’m taking this too slow.

Any insight appreciated. Thanks!

Well... I figured out the little protective bit on the end of my cleaning snake brush has come off. After bathing my trumpet.

So I assume I've scratched up the inside of the bell tubing where it does a 180 to go towards the valve block, at least a little bit. I did notice it wasn't going smoothly but didn't think much of it until cleaning the brush itself afterwards.

Obviously I feel like an idiot (I try to take good care of things, I really do), so please reassure me - the metal's thick enough that it isn't going to matter? Red rot doesn't start at scratches?

Thanks...

What is the best straight mute you own? At the moment I have the cheapest you can buy and it sounds absolutely terrible on my horn, but it got me by for a bit. I have saved up money and I want to buy a real good one that sounds great. Any suggestions?

A few months ago I was in warming up and felt a sharp pain in the left side of my upper lip, it hurt like hell for a second or two and then went away, I didn’t think much of it because it was something I had never felt before, that was about a few days before I played a show with cyrille amie, upuntill that day I was probably playing four hours a day between rehearsals and individual practice time.

Looking back on everything, I did not have a good teacher at all, I was overplaying every single day way past my limits 6-7 hours a day and my teacher was fully aware of the overplaying and never said anything untill it was too late.(weekly lesson).

Fast forward to today,
I basically have a mouthpiece dent on the left side of my top lip in the same exact spot I had the sharp pain, I say the word permanent but I pray to god it’s not, it has gotten better but I’m extremely paranoid and worried that this will never heal or the mucle will never be the same,
I still have “pain” although now its more like a “rawnes” or “soar” feeling, ontop of the physical difference and dent compared to the right side of my lip.

I haven’t been able to find a professional to look into this,

Any advice is welcome I’ve been dealing with this for a while and just want to feel like I’m not going to be disadvantaged my whole career or be at risk of never healing

Hi,

Okay, this seems like such a silly question, but here I am. I recently took a 25 year hiatus from trumpet. I have been playing again for about 6 weeks. I’ve noticed when I keep the a little section of my face completely (like straight razor) shaved, it feels better and there a better seal on the mouthpiece.

But, of course, shaving this area with a razor leads to nicks and, I’m guessing dehydration, which obviously isn’t good.

I honestly don’t remember how I dealt with this back in the day…..

What do others do? I can much more safely trim it down to very close with an electric trimmer, but it seems like this would create some space between the mouthpiece and the lips.

I know people with full mustaches and beards play well but honestly don’t know how they do that…..

I really want to get my little brother a trumpet. He's 20 and he's almost to the point he said, that he wants to seriously pick up an instrument. I don't have a lot of expendable income, but I don't want to get him a piece of junk either. Does anyone have any good recommendations?

Last summer, I bought a Yamaha 14a4a, and it worked on me great. Until it didn't about 3 months later. Sure it gave me stability in the upper register, but it so suddenly wrecked my endurance, I'd come to rehearsal and within 5 minutes (no kidding. 5) my chops were wrecked.

So I've been playing on something a little more neutral since and it's worked fine. Even the transition out of the 14a4a was rough, like the effects of me using it were lingering over or something.

But it's now about a year later since I first used it, along with other lead mps, and I just can't use them anymore. I used to be able to play them, and get a good sound in all registers. Which is so weird because I had heard that you needed some strong fundamentals before stepping into lead mouthpieces, and that's what I feel I've been working on all year. And now, I can even reach into the upper register, no matter how I decide to approach the horn, whether it be relaxed and soft, or punchy and a little more firm, it just sounds bad, and I can't play nearly as high as I can on my regular mp.

The reason I'm saying this, is because a lot of people have given me the advice to start using lead mouthpieces and say to me that they're a "necessary tool to playing high" whenever I'd tell them about my upper register issues. They just don't work for me. And I'm not going to ruin my chops again like I did last summer, because I had some really embarrassing moments recovering from what that mouthpiece did to me.

Maybe I need to make an approach to lead mouthpieces over a long period of time??? Or should I just forget about it, and If it doesn't work, it doesn't work.

I had a yamaha ytr2335 lying around, i hadnt played it for a while and the tuning slide was stuck, it was left to be a=440 when i played in an orchestra. When i fixed the slide, however hard i push it in, it seems to be about 40 cents to a quarter tone flat and this makes it very hard to play in any ensemble. And i dont want to make my Bb trumpet a B trumpet by tuning to G# because all i know would be transposed for polyphony. there is no visible deformation but the slide is a little crude now as i fixed it at home.

For some reason I seem to have pretty good range when I'm playing scales or doing an exercise, but I'm having a lot of trouble playing above the staff when I'm playing actual songs. Could it just be a mental thing, or is there maybe an exercise that can help me out?

I been repeatedly asked by forum members… wanted to come over and respond…

resources and materials are still available:

https://www.trumpetstudio.com/free-library/

to make it easier I broke up the materials into 7 categories:

- 1. Core Method Books

- 2. Etudes & Technical Studies

- 3. Concertos & Solo Repertoire

- 4. Duets & Ensembles

- 5. Audition Prep & Performance Guides

- 6. Practice Tools, Charts & Media

- 7. Advice, History & Specialty Books

this makes finder your particular tool easier to find.

nothing has been taken away, just better organized.

best wishes to all here!

Hi everyone,

I've been playing the trumpet (or at least trying to!) for about two years now. I'm mostly self-taught, although my mother has helped me a lot. She played in an orchestra for over eight years, so she's been able to give me some guidance.

I currently play a Bb jazz trumpet with a 5C mouthpiece. Because of work and other commitments, I can only practice about 2–3 times per week.

One thing I'm really struggling with is my upper register. On a good day I can reach a high E, but I can only play up to high D consistently (treble clef). I'd really like to extend my range, but I'm not sure what I should be focusing on.

My questions are:

How can I safely increase my upper range?

Are there any exercises or practice routines you would recommend?

Is my practice frequency enough to make progress, or should I be doing something different?

Could my 5C mouthpiece be limiting me, or is this almost certainly a technique issue?

I'd really appreciate any advice from more experienced players. Thanks!