I guess I will start off here....

Master Chief · Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2004 11:45 am Post subject:

Hello everyone.

This is my first post and I thought that I would say hi.

I am 28 years old and have been playing for about 16 years. My belching currently consists of playing at church and that's really about it. I will have to say that some aspects of my playing have improved since high school, other aspects have not (endurance, range, sight reading skills).

So here I am for the first time here and I am very overwhelmed. I took lessons all through junior high and high school and pretty much stopped after HS. It's been 10 years since I have had any really formal instruction. So I come here and start reading about all these methods of playing and I don't know where start.

What are all these methods of playing. When I played, my teacher taught me how he played and what worked for him and then tried to incorporate that to me.

So exactly what are all these methods? How do they differ from each other?

As someone who would like to increase his proficiency, technique, and range how do I decide. Where do I began....

I play a Bach Stad with a Schilke mouthpiece. I think the schilke is a 6A4A. I also play on a 7C. The reason I switch between the two is the 7C give me better access to the lower range and also a warmer thicker tone for other songs....

_dcstep · Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2004 2:15 pm Post subject:

If you have no "problems", then your endurance isn't increasing because you're not practicing a lot, compared to HS at least. If you're getting the job done and you have enough range for your performances, then you're probably alright. Just work on trying to be more musical.

If you're practicing an hour a day and you can't reliably get up to a high C and you need a high-C for your performances, then you're a candidate for a "method." Personally, I think that Balanced Embouchure is the best. Caruso is also very good, but I feel that BE is more complete. The BE book is complete enough that you can try it on your own and you won't need to take time off while you go through a transition to a new embouchure. It's got excercises that streghthen your embouchure and improve the efficiency of your playing. If you're prepared to work at it (twenty-minutes or so per day, at least four days a week), then you can hardly go wrong with BE.

Dave

INTJ · Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2004 2:20 pm Post subject:

Welcome! I am a fellow comebacker, also playing in church. Realize Contemporary Christian trumpet music is not lame anymore. High C or D is common in our music, and we do have one chart that goes up the F# above High C.

For my perspective and progress to date as a fellow comebacker, take a look at these two threads here in the Comeback Forum: "Lesson #5 with Pops, and "Lessons".

Blaine

jcmacman · Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2004 2:39 pm Post subject:

Welcome Master Chief.

You will find tons of information here at TH, and the trumpet players here are very friendly and helpful.

Being a comeback player myself, TH has helped me alot with some real good advice.

Take care.
John

plp · Posted: Mon Feb 23, 2004 5:23 pm Post subject:

Which method? All of them.

Read everything you can lay your hands on, starting with the ton of free info available on the web. Then whatever strikes your fancy, head off in that direction. There is something to be gained from every approach, all leading to your personal method. For starters, check out Jeff Smiley's Balanced Embouchere. The great thing is, you move down one forum on the list and you can converse with the author himself. There is a .pdf available of 'The Science of Breath", which is an explanation of the physical aspect of Hatha Yoga, and is the best freebie I've found for breath focus. I've heard Superchops is good, but I've never tried it. And by all means, the Caruso method. Charley Raymond is the moderator of the Caruso forum and has forgotten more about efficient playing than I'll ever learn, and has a great archive to search from on just about any question you might have.

Read everything, but if you are playing already, stick with the fundamentals. Long tones, all your scales slowly with the emphasis on tone quality and solid support, and once you've decided on a direction devote yourself to that method exclusively to give it a fair shot. If it doesn't work for you, chunk it and move to the next one. If you are doing this for fun, why struggle with a method that isn't getting you anywhere. Take what good you picked up and see what applies to the next approach.

plp · Posted: Mon Feb 23, 2004 5:25 pm Post subject:

[ This Message was edited by: plp on 2004-02-25 19:40 ]

MonetteB6Olympus · New Member Joined: 26 Feb 2004 Posts: 8

Greetings Master Chief....from Halo I am assuming....I also am a comeback player...Last played in high school concert band 2nd chair and Jazz band 21 years ago...seems like a really long time when you have to type it out !!! My niece who is 10 is the one who gave me the inspiration to start back up again about a year ago She told me she loves the sound of the trumpet/cornet and I just had to get back into it ...I am so glad I did it seems the maturity level is so much more back then it was just read the music and play the notes not it is read the music and feel the sound..if that makes any sense...I have turned her on to some of the greats Miles, Chet, Clifford, Screamers ofcourse Maynard, Arturo she loves Wynton. I bought her a scholastic Blessing Cornet and her tone is remarkable a born natural...ok enough about her I feel Arbans Complete Celebrated Method For The Cornet(Trumpet) has helped me the most to get back into it. You can find this book on Amazon .com or perhaps Ebay were I got mine...Good Luck and welcome back!!!