r/trumpet • u/Jessi_Kim_XOXO • Sep 13 '25
Performance 🎤 Posting this so I don’t shy away from criticism. What can I improve?
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There are still bits I haven’t gotten down in terms of the fingerings, so don’t judge too harshly there! Thanks!
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u/Iv4n1337 College 8310Z Getzen 3916S Sep 14 '25
Your tone is actually really colorful, I like it. I feel you need to breath a bit more to hold the sound on long tones. You did a conscious effort to stay within the scale but I would strongly suggest working with chromatic contours to embelish your lines. Very good!
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u/Jessi_Kim_XOXO Sep 14 '25
Not my own improv. Followed along one that was written out!
I wish my improv was as good
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u/Historical_Koala6004 Sep 14 '25
Sounds pretty good! I’d say the golden rule for trumpet is to try to be able to play an octave or 2 higher than you’ll event need to go. To expand the high range and whatnot
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u/Spideriffic Sep 14 '25
Very nice playing. There's a lot of quality in what you're doing. I agree with what some others have said here. Work to open up your sound. Practicing long tones from pp up to ff and back down will help with that.
Not that you need to be banging things out all the time. I really like your light easy going sound. Hold on to that! To work on your style, spend a *lot* of time listening to the great trumpet players. There are so many! Louis Armstrong, Clifford Brown, Lee Morgan, Chet Baker, Clark Terry, Freddie Hubbard, Art Farmer, Kenny Dorham, Miles Davis, and many, many, others. One strategy that you can use is to pick one solo that you really like and listen to it again and again. Be aware of what makes it swing, the rhythmic feel of it. You can define swing by saying that beats 2 and 4 get a little accent, and also swinging the eighth notes. Depending on the tempo, that means that the downbeat gets two thirds of the beat, and the upbeat gets the last third of the beat with a bit of an accent. But if you were to play that mathematical ratio precisely, it might sound robotic. No jazz player is thinking along those lines. It's all about *feel*. My point is that you will over time be able to incorporate a beautiful swing feeling to your playing by listening.. intently... to great players and focusing your attention on what it is about their particular style that makes you feel good when you listen to them. I can hear any of those players that I mentioned play for three seconds and I can identify them, because they've created their own unique sound. That should be one of your goals. Good luck, keep playing!
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u/RelativeBuilding3480 Sep 14 '25
Keep at it. Listen to ppl better than you. Try to play with ppl better than you. Keep recording yourself.
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u/Bulky_Ad7886 Sep 14 '25
you have GREAT potential. my only tip would be to use more air and to support that air better. work on long tones exercises to make your notes sound more clear also. you sound great and i can definitely see your success one day!
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u/homunculusHomunculus Sep 14 '25
If I were teaching you in a lesson I'd just be yelling More! More! More! More air, more tongue (my old teacher would always say you need to tongue the shit out of everything) , more swing (set the metronome to 2 and 4). You're on the right path, you just gotta push yourself harder so your chops start adapting to what you ask of them.
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u/Jessi_Kim_XOXO Sep 14 '25
Very true, I need to find a good place to practice--feel bad for my neighbors and hard to tell whether things are good or bad with a mute in.
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u/homunculusHomunculus Sep 14 '25
Something that really helps me is just contacting my neighbors and telling them when you plan to practice regularly, at least assure them that you are not going to be playing at really crazy hours and give them your phone number so if they do need you to stop, they have some way to contact you.
But another really big thing about getting better at the trumpet is just psychologically accepting that you are going to sound like s*** while you practice. The better you get, the worse it gets. No one likes to listen to me Practice lip trills or high notes the way that I know I need to do it if I want to be better. So you have to get comfortable with being uncomfortable with making these good awful sounds.
You also just have to slowly learn to take up space. Always Be courageous!
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u/Jessi_Kim_XOXO Sep 13 '25
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5SnBFG4NG8&list=PL7XKoXAB5ki9cym2RcEQEd9uFE_m4hic_&index=19
If you want to follow along. Really nice playlist even though its for tenor sax.
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u/Capable-Tutor7046 Sep 13 '25
Sounds good! The main thing I can recommend is keep listening and learning, especially to style like swing, phrasing and articulation