Any trumpetters out there? I really enjoy orchestral - particularly Baroque - trumpet music, though jazz doesn’t do much for me. So although I’ve not tried any instrument for the past 30 years, I’m thinking about learning to play one. I have abysmal manual coordination, which makes the trumpet ideal - I could never get to grips with recorders or flutes, and that was 30 years ago!
My initial concern is the shape of my mouth: the top of my mouth is moderately cleft and overhangs the bottom by a lot - over 5mm - and to get my front teeth to meet I really have to push my jaw out, so I’m concerned that this will prevent me producing the proper flow of air and thus stall me from the get-go. So, is this relevant at all? (I hope not).
Given a lesson a week, plus practice, what would be a reasonable rate of progress?
I have an overbite and played trumpet for most of junior high and high school. Having an overbite probably isn’t that much of a big deal, I just got used to pushing out my jaw a little. My high school band director switched me to french horn during concert season (the mouthpiece suited my embrochure better), but I still played trumpet at football games, since we only had 2 or 3 frumpets.
To be any good at all, you will have to practice two to three hours a day for a long time. It’s a difficult instrument to play. I played it semi-seriously throughout school and then later in a band for a year or so. I loved to play but not to practice, and as a consequence I never was anything more than competent. I regret that I didn’t play more seriously.
Yeah, I know that, ‘in theory’, all instruments are equally hard to play, I really do think brass are much harder than woodwind. Brass requires much more use of the lips to get the right note. Since there are (usually) just three valves, there are much less combinations to make notes. So, because of that, it takes good lip control to make the same fingering be five different notes.
I mean, for God’s sake, some woodwinds have an octave key. An octave key? You just push a key and BAM,m new octave? Lazy woodwind players. Try hitting a high C in a trumpet. You gotta tighten those lips like it’s nobody’s business!
Oh, and the French Horn (the one I played in addition to the trumpet) is even harder to get good note control.
It’s a tough instrument.I once knew a trumpet teacher who said that playing the trumpet was a form of athletic training.It takes a lot of muscle power(chest, abs, lung control)And it hurts!( your lips.)
I tried it a couple times, for about 2 minutes.
I can play basic guitar, but I couldn’t make a single musical note come out of a trumpet.
It just sounded like a fart.
I played a similar instrument, a cornet, back in school. One thing that stuck with me all these years is that trumpet players are supposed to keep their cheeks taut and not puff them out like Dizzy Gillespie.
Huh. I played trumpet thru 11th grade and felt I was playing the easiest instrument in school band (save percussion). I don’t recall ever having trouble lipping different notes until it came to playing 2 octaves higher. Woodwinds OTOH, have all those damn keys, and I’ve never been able to get sound to come out of a reed instrument.
Later I switched to the easiest instrument in all creation - bass guitar.
I’m more concerned initially about getting to the stage where I can play with friends who are musicians than being really good. Being really good will come later.