Getting worse

[Sommy]

Hi all. Recently I noticed I’ve lost most of my ability to play trumpet. I started playing trumpet in 6th grade and I’m currently in my Junior year of high school. I made steady progress until beginning of sophomore year. I became section leader but for the mellophones/horns so I had exclusively played mello throughout the entire summer. The school year came around and I got back to playing trumpet. It felt fine and I was able to land my spot as lead trumpet in our Jazz 1. Everything was going fine until the end of my sophomore year leading into the summer marching season. I played more mello and less trumpet, rarely practicing trumpet at all. After marching season of my Junior year, I can barely play anything above D in staff. The year prior I had been hitting D above staff, sometimes hitting Es. I’m becoming extremely unmotivated to even touch my horn outside of school rehearsal and I’m beginning to dislike playing my horn, even though i love jazz and wind ensemble.

For more context, I have already taken lessons with a college student and talked with my directors. My directors have told me to just stop overthinking and it will work, but no matter what I do, I can barely play above a top staff G without sounding forced. With rest, I have no opportunity to since I am in the wind ensemble and jazz band. Meaning I rehearse 2 hours daily already.

I’m not sure if it will help but during the lessons, I was taught the tom hooten buzz method. However, through many weeks and months of trial and error, it didn’t work for me. Although it didn’t work for me, it did teach me that i was abusing a sort of pin with my lips and using way too much pressure on my face.

TL; DR - I’ve been playing for 5 years and for the past few months I’ve gotten so much worse going from D above staff to bare D in staff. I’m becoming unmotivated and I would appreciate some feedback.
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- Sommy

[abontrumpet]

Chances are that in the back and forth, some things shifted with your placement. There's a guy on here named Doug Elliott that will probably offer the best diagnosis from on online lesson.

https://www.trumpetherald.com/forum/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=13168 (that's his profile).

Any other advice on here offered without seeing or hearing you play isn't worth it. Taking lessons from a college student is great for many things but this requires a bit more knowledge. Band directors are usually devoid of useful information as it relates to anything advanced.

Feel free to dm me as well if you want to chat and get my 2 cents

[etc-etc]

Have you used braces before / during / after changing to mellophone?

Even without braces, your teeth change from 11-12 years old to 16-17 years. This can have effect on your playing, particularly in the high range.

I would suggest to spend some time each day exploring notes starting from C in staff and above. If any note below G above the staff sounds strained, keep on experimenting until you nail the sound and articulation on that note. If the next note half-tone up sounds strained, get it to be playable. Play lip trills. It will come back better than it used to be.

[Billy B]

On line lessons can be helpful but face to face is better. Let me know where you live and I’ll try to find a teacher to help you.
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Bill Bergren

[Robert P]

[JayKosta]

[stuartissimo]

[Andy Cooper]

I don't believe there is an equipment solution to your problem but it might be helpful to know what Mellophone and what trumpet mouthpiece you are using.

Something like this?
https://trumpet.cloud/mpc/index.html?mpc1id=VA051800&mpc2id=VB913447&backcolor=blue

This is related to the problem players have who play both trumpet and BB cornet

https://trumpet.cloud/mpc/index.html?mpc1id=VA005904&mpc2id=VB001700&backcolor=blue

So BB cornet players might be able to give you some insight.

I know I have some problems if I spend the summer playing third chair just
with a Bach B cup on cornet then switch to a shallower trumpet cup for playing first chair parts in the fall.

[kehaulani]

I disagree that "overthinking" cannot be a problem. It can be. When I was in university, my instructor was deep into different pedagogies and scientific analysese and I got so confused that my playing went downhill. I was literally the stereotypical person suffering from "paralysis from analysis". It all depends on how much and what type analysis you respond to and if it's in the proper context of your own problems and manner of understanding things.

An example: in college we learned a lot about the proper physiology of breathing apparatus and function and related knowledge. I got confused. That summer back home, I studied with a guy who had been Disney Studio's go-to lead trumpeter for 20 years and a first-call L.A. studio musician. One day, I hoped he could clarify my confusion about proper breathing physiology and technique and he just said, "Cough" which I did. And he said, "See?" That's all i needed and it stood me in good stead for the next half a century.

I also take issue that band directors don't have a clue. Some band directors may not be good private teachers but my H.S. band teacher had studied with Cichowicz and was Principal Trumpet with the Honolulu Symphony. I don't know at what level his ability to analyse other's problems may have maxed out, but they were sufficient for me as a H.S. and college trumpet player.

Just to put that last comment in context, I was playing with the All-State (thre-year) H.S, Band as an exception as a 9th grader and always played first in my school bands.

BTAIM, it seems to me that two courses of action should be explored.
1.) Stop switching brass instruments.
2.) Get a teacher with a strong record of success solving others' problems.
_________________
"If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn." Bird

Yamaha 8310Z Bobby Shew trumpet
Benge 3X Trumpet
Benge 3X Cornet
Adams F-1 Flghn

[Robert P]

[Rhondo]

From my single experience the orchestra conductor/teacher had enough on his plate. It wasn’t his job to offer specific advice on playing trumpet. I did ask him recently if he knew of a good trumpet teacher, and the only thing he said was re the free trial lesson I had mentioned- “Get as much information as you can before paying.”

I realized then even if he did know of anyone he was probably being wise not to go any further with suggestions.

[Robert P]

[Rhondo]

[Robert P]

[LaTrompeta]

I think I went through this exact thing when I was in high school.

Finding the right teacher made all the difference.

Any other piece of advice is going to be useless until you find the right teacher who will help you sort out the fundamentals.
_________________
Please join me as well at:
https://trumpetboards.com

[Doug Elliott]

I am reading this. If you're interested in a Skype lesson, PM me.

I can tell you that my online lessons are at least as valuable as in person. There are different advantages to each, but I do lots of online lessons to people all over the world.

I teach VERY differently from anybody else and have excellent success.

[LaTrompeta]

There are many fantastic professionals on here that are offering remote services.

If you can't find a great teacher locally, I highly recommend you take one of them up on their offer.
_________________
Please join me as well at:
https://trumpetboards.com

[Rhondo]

[andybharms]

Hey there,

I’ve had many experiences where practice didn’t work, or even made things worse in the long term.

From a sort of methodical standpoint, you have to conclude that you’re maybe practicing something incorrectly. In my experience it’s usually an overdependence on the face/embouchure, and secondarily an overly physical approach to trumpet playing. I know this is cliche in some circles, but it’s what I see when I get in a rut and I see it fairly often in my students and other professionals.

Without knowing/hearing you, I can only speak very generally that I think singing and air patterns are a really healthy thing for just about anyone. Anything to unlock our bodies and airstreams so that flow is happening and we don’t have to press the trumpet into service… it can just come to our face and we can just blow and the sound can resonate effortlessly. I can’t imagine getting worse if we are working on that. I’m happy to chat more if this sounds helpful.
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Andrew Harms, DMA
http://www.andrewbharms.com

[JayKosta]