 | Before starting any trumpet playing, blow air through the horn, to "warm up" the instrument and assume the correct embrouchure. |
| The most important tip of all is find a competent trumpet teacher. |
| Your trumpet may have what looks like a pinky ring. This ring is for players that may have more experience. It is used to tune any note holding down the third valve better. |
| If at any time you feel that your lips are about to bleed, or if you feel torn pieces of lip on the inside of your mouth, immediately stop playing for the day. If you continue playing with a hurt lip, you can damage your playing for up to a week, maybe longer. |
| If you have braces, take extreme care whenever practicing, especially when you are just beginning to play. You may be able to ask your orthodontist for wax. They will most likely give you some for free. Put it on before you play, and your lips will not get scratched up. Also, some orthodontists have plastic attachments that are much cleaner than wax strips that are sized for your braces and attach painlessly! Best of all, when you get the braces off you can still play trumpet without having to loose your lip callus! |
| It is easier to breathe in through your nose and may get warmer air, but to get more air faster, you may breathe in with your mouth. |
| Occasionally, you should warm up by breathing in (through your nose) steadily for 8 beats and out for 8 beats, then in for 4, out for 4, then in 2, out 2, in 1, out 1. Your shoulders should not "shoot" up when you take a quick breath. Your diaphram should expand. |
| Try to place the mouthpiece in the middle of your lips. If you have braces or anything on your teeth at all, your mouthpiece may be inclined to go up higher than it should, or lower. Don't get into this habit- if you do this for long, you will not be able to play trumpet with the mouthpiece correctly placed at all. |
| Practice a lot! The only way you're going to get better is to practice. |
| If you are blowing through your trumpet and you hear nothing or a very dull resonating sound you make sure you are blowing correctly. If you are, you may have a valve aligned incorrectly. Grab the top of the button and lightly spin the valve until it stops, this should solve your problem. If your problem persists, take it back to the store and they will help you! |
| If you need your note to get higher in pitch, don't tighten your lips, FIRM YOUR CORNERS! The common misconception among brass is to tighten your lips which increases muscle tension. You will have much more success if you firm the corners of your lips and use the side muscles to support your vibrating lips. |
| After you have learned to play the trumpet for a while and have moved on to more advanced music, you will notice that you can't start off playing high notes when you first get your trumpet out. This is because your lips aren't warmed up yet. To warm them up without permanently damaging them, you should play low notes, such as C, D, E, F, G, and back down again. After you play these notes for a little bit, you should be able to play higher notes. also, DO NOT practice on buzzing. that helps you get an awful habit going. Everyone says buzz, but just blow air. The sound will be more crisp. |
| If you are very serious about growing and improving your skills as a trumpet player, private lessons can be an immense help. They are definitely a worthwhile investment- find a teacher that is helpful, knowledgeable, and you enjoy spending time with.
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