TOWN FARM PRIMARY SCHOOL MUSIC CLUB HOW TO PLAY THE TRUMPET AND CORNET Feb/March/April 2015 COMPILED BY D CRAIG
Introduction to the instrument When it comes to playing the trumpet, you can t expect to become a legend overnight, even at Town Farm! There are people who spend countless hours mastering the instrument before feeling truly confident in their abilities. You don t have to be the greatest trumpet player in the world though, and you have you start somewhere, right? Whether you want to play the trumpet with your friends, join a band, or just do it for the fun of it all, you can do it with a little bit of diligence and a lot of studying. One of the best ways to learn how to play the trumpet is here at Town Farm Primary!. Picking Your First Trumpet Before you start playing a trumpet you obviously have to have the use of one. Getting a trumpet can be a little overwhelming since there are so many to choose from. As a beginner, your best bet is to get a student trumpet in the B flat key. It doesn t matter if it s not from a mainstream manufacturer (such as Yamaha), since most instruments made for students are from unmarked brands. 2 You should also note that trumpets, as with most other instruments, can be very expensive. If you re just starting and you aren t sure about how long you plan on playing the trumpet, then
you may choose to rent one instead of buying it. This way you won t be spending as much money. Of course, at Town Farm, we have some that you may borrow, Before you finally purchase your trumpet, there are a few things you should check. The trumpet should have no dents in the valve casing. You should also check and see if the valves move up and down smoothly and without making a lot of noise. Finally, you should check and see if the slides move back and forth freely. If anything feels stuck, feel free to check in with the shop where you bought or rented the instrument for a quick tune-up and for a primer in caring for it. Proper care of the instrument is necessary to keep it working and sounding great over time. After you ve inspected thoroughly and you re sure that it is in a good condition, you can go ahead and purchase it. Practicing without the Trumpet As strange as it may seem, you can start practicing without taking your trumpet out of its case. It s important to practice this way as it helps you become comfortable with the basic lip position that you will be using while you play. Remember that playing your trumpet will be a tiring and time consuming task, which means that practicing your lips and getting them accustomed to the basic positions, is incredibly important. This is where we start at Town Farm Primary. 3
The way to practice your lips through saying the letter M, and then stop as you say the mmm part as if you are humming. Keep your lips in this position as it will be the natural position for you as you play the trumpet. Now, as you are humming, keep your lips in the same position and blow. It can sound pretty strange at first, but you will get accustomed to it as you continue to practice. A good tip to get this form of practicing down is to pretend there is a little piece of paper on your tongue. Stick your tongue, but only the tip, and then act as if you re scraping the paper away from your tongue and spitting it away. The way that your lips catch each other should be similar to what happens when you re making a raspberry. By this point you should be making a buzzing noise it s this noise you ll make while playing. Proper lip placement is called the embouchure and is crucial for playing a trumpet correctly. Once you can make this sound with your lips alone, it s time to practice making this sound on the trumpet mouthpiece. Try moving your lips to make the sound higher or lower. Don t get upset if you don t get the hang of it at first. This isn t something that you re naturally used to doing so it may be a little difficult for you to understand. In fact, a lot of people carry a mouthpiece around with them and practice with it. You should be able to get a good sound out of your mouthpiece if you re making the buzzing sound correctly. 4
How to hold the instrument Right hand Thumb in between 1st and 2nd valve casings or in front of 1st valve casing. Index-, middle- and ring-fingers to the valves (finger buttons). Little finger on the hook (it's preferred not to hold the little finger in the hook to prevent excessive pressure). Left hand Thumb on the 1st valve slide (most trumpets have a hook for the thumb). Index- and middle fingers behind the 3rd valve casing. Ring finger in the 3rd valve slide ring. Little finger under the 3rd valve slide. Do not hold the instrument too tightly. Support the weight of the instrument only with the left hand, that allows you to push the valves more efficiently with your right hand. 5
Putting the trumpet in your mouth Mouthpiece placement It's usually recommended to have as much lower lip as the upper one in the mouthpiece. There are individual differences in teeth, lips and skull so place the mouthpiece to the most comfortable and natural spot for you. If the mouthpiece is significantly more on either lip, it's recommended to adjust it a little bit more center. Sometimes it's advised to have a little more upper than lower lip in the mouthpiece (based on the idea that the mouthpiece "sits" on the lower lip so there is minimum pressure applied to the upper lip, allowing it to vibrate more freely). Wet vs. dry lips Both ways are correct. Dry lips will stick to the mouthpiece and therefore won't slip. On the other hand wet lips will slide under the mouthpiece and are allowed to adjust to current dynamics and register more freely. Just experiment which one feels better for you. Breathing 6 Always take a full, deep breath. Don't lift shoulders when inhaling; try to relax while taking air instead of tensing yourself. Imagining the air getting way deep and down will help you to avoid lifting your shoulders (this is generally easier when breathing through the mouth). Do not hold the air in, inhale in tempo and blow
instantly. Posture Don't point the bell to the floor (it's natural to have the trumpet slightly pointing downwards but not too much). Don't lock your knees, try to be relaxed but do not slouch. Keep your arms a little away from your body. Good physical condition will help you with your posture, as well as breathing issues. Playing with the Trumpet After you ve practiced your embouchure on the mouthpiece, it s time to start practicing with the instrument itself. Of course, the first thing you should do is go get out your trumpet and assemble it fully. Now inhale through the mouth, place your lips in the position in the same that you ve been practicing, press the instrument up against your lips, and blow. Remember that you shouldn t push the valves yet. Be patient and just blow for now. Change your embouchure like you did when you were practicing on your mouthpiece, and you ll notice you can start to hit different notes. Valves It's recommended to press the valve straight down with the "cushions" of your fingers. If you repeatedly press them diagonally, it's possible that they will eventually start jamming. Your nails shouldn't touch the finger button and neither should the joints of your 7
fingers. Snap the valves down vigorously to get the note changes as clean as possible. Now you can start practicing touching the valves. The valves on your trumpet are numbered one through three. The valve that is closest to your face is valve number one and the valve number three is closest to the end of the trumpet. Practice by pressing down on the first two valves at the same time. Keep blowing and you should notice that the note gets higher as you hold down these valves. As you continue to play, you will discover that there are different ways to create different notes. Each note is determined by the way you position your fingers. You will eventually memorize the different combinations as you keep practicing, but a lot of beginners use a trumpet finger chart to help with remembering the different notes. Playing a Scale The first thing that most musicians learn is the scales. When you play a scale, you re playing a collection of pitches in either ascending or descending order. As you play a scale, you must make sure that you do it in proper intervals. 8
The scale that you will be practicing now will be in ascending order, which means that the pitches will get higher in volume as you move from one note to the other. The first note you will place is C. Remember the way you blew into the trumpet without pushing down any of the valves? That was a C note, which means that as long as you blow and don t touch the valves you re playing a C note. The next note is D. The way you play D is by pushing down both valves one and three at the same time. If you have trouble playing the D note, you can try tightening your lips just slightly. The next note is E. Push down the first two valves to play the E note. Just as you had to tighten your lips for the D note, you may have to tighten them even more for the E note. For each ascending note, you will have to continue tightening your lips. In order to play the F note, you just have to push down the first valve. Keep tightening your lips and blow for the F note to work. Things tend to get a bit more complicated with the other notes. Playing the G note requires you to not push down on any valves like before, but you will have to tighten your lips more from when you were playing the F note. How tightly 9
pressed together your lips are can play a large role in the different sounds you make. Keeping tightening your lips and push down the first two valves again. This time you will blow and play the A note. To play the B note, you only have to push down the second valve and tighten your lips just a little more. The final note is the high C note. In order to play this note let go of all the valves and keep blowing with your lips tighten the same way as you were playing the B note. You ve now played your first scale on your trumpet. It s not an easy task and you may not have done it perfectly, but it is definitely a great start. The Road Map for Trumpet Playing: Your Fingering Chart Here are the fingerings for the notes you ll be playing on your trumpet for at least the first few months. The first valve is the one closest to you, the second valve is the middle one, and the third valve is you guessed it the one farthest from you. The notation 0 means no valves at all. 10
Getting Better The best way to improve your skills with your trumpet is to practice. You should practice every day for about an hour, but if you don t have the stamina to do so then fifteen minutes is a good start. You shouldn t move too quickly and try to learn everything at once. Becoming an advanced trumpet player will take some time. After you ve practice your scales enough where you can commit them to memory, you can keep practicing with different intervals and experimenting with making different sounds. Try to keep working on the same scale until playing the trumpet feels more natural. Once you feel comfortable playing the first scale, you can experiment with playing other scales as well. You may even want to practice learning a short and simple song to further your skills. 11
The basics are a great start, but if you feel that you can do more and you have a good grasp on them then try to take on more complicated tasks. Important Notes about Practicing Playing the trumpet is by no means an easy feat, and you may find it challenging at first. Being persistent is great, but don t wear your lips out by practicing too much. If you try to force yourself to play when you re tired you will be doing more harm than good. Stop if you feel excessive soreness in your cheeks and jaw or if your lips begin to feel numb. newer songs and styles. You should only practice about three or four times a week until you feel comfortable with doing more. If you feel you are getting frustrated with a specific piece or note, then take a few breaths, relax, and try again. A lot of people start practicing by going over things they are comfortable with and then moving into Playing Your First Solo Once you feel that you ve mastered the trumpet enough to play a few songs, you should try learning a solo. There are tons of solos that you can learn for trumpets. 12
Tips (This part is mostly for the adults who help you!) 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! 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. The most important tip of all is find a competent trumpet teacher. 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. 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 13
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 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. One more time, here are the notes of a C Scale: C (open), D (first and third), E (first and second), F (first), G (open), A (first and second), B (second), C (open) 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 lose your lip callus! 14
Warnings Try not to get too frustrated. If you are getting frustrated, take a few deep breaths before trying again. When playing, make sure that you don't press the mouthpiece too hard against your lips to get the higher notes. Don't wear your lips out. Practice consistently, not constantly. Try to practice at least three times a week, and remember to take breaks in between. Find music you like to play that's within your range and ability. Try not to drop or break it. It may be expensive to fix it. If you want to get rid of any bad habits while playing the trumpet, tape a little reminder to the bell of the trumpet where you can see it but the music teacher can't. Take your note off for a couple of weeks or until you think you completely got rid of your bad habits. Never play after you eat! Food will get into your trumpet and damage it. 15
Basic warm-ups 16
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