Hey there. We know how big a fan you are of the trumpet. Have you ever considered playing it? Let's give you a few tips to start you off!
There are, of course, three major members of the trumpet family:
B flat trumpet
E flat trumpet
C trumpet
Hence, knowing which trumpet you are holding in your hands is a huge step in your musical journey. The three can be easily distinguished from one another by the factors of appearance and sounds produced for given fingerings.
The C trumpet has less tubing, producing an overall pitch that is one whole step higher than the B flat trumpet. The E flat is a smaller one, sounding a 3rd below the big B flat trumpet. If you have happened to cover Transposing instruments, you have discovered that on the B flat trumpet, the fingerings for C sound like a B flat. This case is similar to the E flat trumpet, thus you should know what trumpet you are using before learning how to play it.
Basics
Many instructors, ours included, will always give you common tips to get started. Let us highlight just but a few of them
Having known which key your trumpet is in, you should probably start off by reminding yourself of the various accidentals for each key.
The sound production of the instrument is usually due to vibration. This means that the player is supposed to ensure that they set the instrument in vibration, just as the string instruments do. Trumpet players buzz their lips together to produce the desired vibrations and thus sound. The way one buzzes their lips definitely gives the tone of the music produced.
To achieve the correct buzzing, one has to stretch the ends of the corners of one's mouth and make their lips taut and thin. This improves the quality of sound produced.
The tautness of the lips predicts the pitch of the sound. The trumpet has only three valves, which means that many notes share fingerings. The tighter the lips, the higher the pitch produced for a set of fingerings. Notes C and G have the same fingerings but the tautness of lips during playing determines the pitch of the outcome.
General fitness and gas control is another major factor. This ensures that you do not get tired during rehearsals or a performance. One should also ensure that their posture is comfortable for uality music production.
That is it for now, see you with more tips in The Trumpet Exclusives!
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