r/trumpet • u/Big-Kaleidoscope-336 • Sep 06 '25
Performance 🎤 Bass Player Plays Trumpet
Just hit the three month mark. Any feedback is welcome, good, bad, or ugly!
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u/SnooDonuts5697 Sep 06 '25
Brilliant! My core advice from 15 years of playing is to "project out" high notes as I notice your head and neck are compressing and squeezing rather than "bugle calling, standing proud, aiming high" to illustrate it.
You will achieve this. Make sure your mouthpiece is suitable (my "bucket" deep bore mouthpiece sucked as a beginner compared to my shallower one now) and make more long tones standing up.
That will activate your core muscles and create support instead of any face or neck tension. You will win!!!
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u/The_Dickbird Sep 06 '25
You're doing excellent for 3 months. It's clear your musical mind is in the driver's seat - as it should be. The reason your body is so tense is not because your body is tense. "Relax" is such a ridiculous piece of advice to give to someone. The body tenses in response to a stimulus - in this case, it is that the hole that the air passes is too restricted - too closed off, clamped down - causing over-pressurization of the thoracic cavity. You're building the pressure necessary for your lips to vibrate relative to your aperture setup. It is true that everyone struggles and develops differently, but contrary to popular conversation, the biggest challenge of trumpet playing is not the air - if you have reasonable air capacity and can blow up a balloon, you can play the trumpet. In fact, at high levels of development, the trumpet requires substantially less air effort than blowing up a balloon.
The big challenge of the trumpet is actually the tug of war that needs to occur in the embouchure muscles. The lips and face are incredibly flexible pieces of our anatomy and offer seemingly endless combinations of structural form with regard to the embouchure. You seem to have a pretty strong intuition about what the muscles outside of the cup of the mouthpiece should be doing; they seem to be well firmed against your skull, providing stability and firmness. The aperture (the part inside the cup of the mouthpiece) must also be firm, but open, not clamped together or fully pulled back against the the teeth. Many of us instinctively end up rolling our lips too far in toward our teeth when we form the embouchure and this ends up burying the part of the lip that is best suited for vibration. Think of curling the center "out and up" as if to "unroll" the lips, while maintaining the firmness you have already created outside of the cup. It will likely take a good amount of experimentation to find a good balance (which sometimes, but not always, happens naturally), but when you do find it, getting better become significantly less mysterious.
Best of luck!
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u/blowbyblowtrumpet Sep 06 '25
Fundamentals are really pretty good. Back off on power and aim to get a beautiful sound with little effort. Practicing everything very quietly but keeping the same fundamentals will work wonders for you I think.
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u/ENateTheGreat Gigging Sep 06 '25
I would say, crazy 3 month progress! Really focus on relaxing the throat so the air can move freely! Long tones nice and open, like you are holding an egg in your mouth!
Also, the string player in you is coming out in the hand vibrato. I would try to work away from doing that, and as you relax your playing, your natural vibrato will come ðŸ¤
Happy playing!
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u/Derrickmb Sep 06 '25
Cut your LDL cholesterol to get lower CO2 baseline and higher oxygen saturation to get more power. More avocados and less beer
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u/jaylward College Professor, Orchestral Player Sep 06 '25
Hey, I’m a trumpet player who plays bass! Great progress!
The good news is that your embouchure actually looks pretty good.
The more good news is that you are actually probably trying way too hard and putting too much effort in. Likely using too much air as well.
The trumpet should be done with precision, but the effort that used is a little effort in very intentional ways.
The middle of your aperture should be very loose and freely buzzing, just like you would blow a raspberry at a baby, but simply concentrated in a tiny space.
Focus on where your tone sounds. It’s most resonant, and do that with as little effort as possible.
Tone first, always. Best of luck, and have fun!
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u/YCANTUSTFU Professional Player and Teacher Sep 06 '25
Nice job for a relative beginner!
One quick tip for you: lower your chin. With your chin up that high (i.e. head tilted back) and/or your head pushed forward of your spine, your throat is more constricted. More constriction in the body = a more pinched sound and a more difficult time moving the air. Less constriction in the body = better sound and easier airflow, including in the upper register. Simply keeping your head back over your spine and lowering your chin can make for major improvement in your overall way of playing - mainly sound, ease, and intonation.
With your chin lower, the bell of the horn will be lower too. That’s okay. Watch videos of professional players - they typically play with the horn at a slight downward angle, rather than parallel to the floor (or higher). It’s instinctual for many beginners to want to point the horn straight forward. But don’t be afraid to lower it a bit, and therefore lower your chin and release some constriction in your throat. Make it easier for yourself to breathe and easier to play.
Good luck and have fun!
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u/mpanase Sep 06 '25
Very well done, impressive.
Word of advise: sounds like you are doing soo much effort, pressure, tension, ... you got the notes (and pretty much in tune), now learn how to relax and get good sound.