Perhaps a stupid question (for you!) ...

[Bruno Myr]

Hi,
Here is my first post!!
I visited this forum some hours, trying to understund (I'm french) many very interesting posts.
I began to play the trumpet in 1969... and still enjoy to do it.
I play the lead in two big bands of friends (no professional), just for the fun.
Near 58 years old now and playing when I find the time to do it (...), it begins to be difficult for me to be sure to play (in security) top A note (the one under double C).
I saw on the net some players (playing double top C and higher..) using trumpets which seems to have a thin (narrow) bell.
The question is: which one trumpet(s) is (more) easy to play high notes ?
I know it's like for women, mine is good for me and perhaps not for you (I hope) but Demi Moore would be good for many of us....
I thank you for your answers (if you can use a simple vocabulary and speak slowly, it's better for me )
Bruno.

[Bruno Myr]

Perhaps it's possible to find the answer if I do "research" BUT, there are too many posts and I translate very slowly...
Thank you for your help.
Bruno.

[doitallman]

Hi Welcome!

I'm not sure if there are any trumpets that are easier to play high on. There will definitely be a trumpet that is easier for YOU to play high on, but only because it fits your style better not because it's actually easier.

I would recommend you try perhaps switching to a trumpet with a smaller bore, I have heard many people say they are easier on the chops for high notes. This of course only applies if you like the way smaller bored horns play. If I play on a small bore trumpet I tend not to be so comfortable up high.

I'm sure there will be a better answer soon. Good luck .
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[chinesebill]

[shofarguy]

Bon soir, Bruno, Bien venue!

The narrow bell taper you mentioned does tend to help support the upper range, but it is a limiting factor, too. Smaller bore horns also help support the upper range, but at a cost somewhere else.

The same is true of large bells and bore sizes. There are trade offs, normally. None of us can determine accurately what this design or that one will do for you. We need more information than you can share before we could accurately recommend anything. Even saying that a narrow tapered bell will help is not a sure thing.

Playing trumpet well is a long term commitment of years or even decades. Focus on technique. Look at methods like those in some of the other forums here on TH. Find a good teacher, or mentor that you can trust and follow. Enjoy! It's a good, long journey.

Brian
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Flip Oakes Wild Thing Bb Trumpet
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There is one reason that I practice: to be ready at the downbeat when the final trumpet sounds.

[Retlaw]

Welcome to TH. It is refreshing to have a new member who isn't trying to sell something and is prepared to tell about themselves.

It would take a lot of researching here and I still don't think you would get a definitive answer. Is it possible for you to try different trumpets in a shop near you? What trumpet do you play and which mouthpiece do you use?

I think it is a combination of hard work and the right equipment but if you play A just under double C you are in the top percentage of upper register players. I suspect your technique is fine and a bit of tweaking will do it but a lot of the advise you would get here would be from people who can't play that high....

Walter
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[jhatpro]

As an avid amateur, I've tried dozens of horn and mouthpiece combinations - way too many and too boring to list here - and my conclusion is the best combination for most players probably is a medium large bore horn with a medium depth mouthpiece in whatever rim diameter helps you produce the best sound.

While some horns will certainly play better than others my guess is the percentage of improvement is actually less than the improvement that is possible on virtually any well-made trumpet given enough smart practice.
_________________
Jim Hatfield
Glen Ellyn, Illinois

"Unfortunately, music is not my first language."

[Bruno Myr]

THANK YOU for your answers.
Of course, the miracle won't be for tomorrow...
I use 2 trumpets, main a C Schilke C7 (I bought it in the seventies) and sometime a Bb Schilke S42. The mouthpiece is a Denis Wick 4E.
I know (I think) you'll find it's a crime to play commercial or jazz with a C trumpet, but, and I regret that now, in France, in the sixties and beginnig seventies, the C was the only one used in the music schools and jazzmen were only in Paris (I am far from Paris) and wasn't very friends with classical musicians who were THE teachers...
When I decided to play jazz, my ears had worked during 15 years in C and my precision in Bb was not not not good.....
I tried to play only the Bb during 2 years but the adaptation was very difficult and my sound (I know that's strange) was not really different with the C (I used then a Bach 6C mouthpiece). So I came back to the C !!
You know, here, for many things, we do like you do in Us, but 15 years later (buble gum, LSD, Mac Donald, reality TV, and music...).
So, today, my young son (17) plays a Bb study trumpet and has a sound of Bb trumpet ... (good thing for him).
I have the project to buy him a good Bb trumpet (and to try again to play myself on it...), but I have not the possibility to try many instruments (the first good shop is far) and I don't find it's easy to choose an instrument in 2 hours among 20 trumpets, in a little room where you have never play ! And you cannot keep it 2 weeks at home before you buy it...
That's the reason I visit many sites to find answer to my many questions and listen the opinions of good players. And here, for us, the american players are all good players... able to attack one thousand of double top C between 2 Coca Cola !
You have just to go on Youtube, the only people who can explain how to play that wonderful note are american, no one is french !!

[razeontherock]

Hi Bruno, and welcome to TH!

I also had your same questions, and have built up a fair collection of very fine trumpets, in my own search to find the same answers you seek. I find there is absolutely a mouthpiece which assists upper register for me more than any other, and also that some trumpets do too.

At the very top of that list is Callet trumpets, either his Jazz or Superchops model. The Jazz is a .470" bore, and the Superchops (SC) is a .464" bore. I will point out that my Callet Jazz has been modified by Jason Harrelson, another American. I also have 2 other Harrelson trumpets, and will point out his Bravura model serves the upper register quite well.

I also have a Conn 22B built in 1925, which is a tiny fraction of the cost of any of these other horns, and it slots a high G like no other! It is a very small bore, I forget exactly what but maybe .453" or something? So clearly bore size is not any special determining factor.

Going back to the mouthpiece, the backbore has a LOT to do with range, and it needs to "match" well with the trumpet.

Of course the far bigger part of the picture, is how you play ... has your embouchure or tongue function changed at all? Is it just a question of aging, and losing some wind power? Working on that, combined with posture, would be the most sensible place to start!

[Brad361]

[Bruno Myr]

I had a piccolo, but it isn't the same instrument as a big trumpet... the same difference like a trumpet and a bugle.
I sold it, the upper register was (only a bit) easier but the breathe is too different. Too much different work for me who isn't professional!