Amateur player looking for help to improve

[huxl]

Hi fellow trumpet players,

I have decided that I want to be a better trumpet player, and I am not sure what to do about it.

I am a 32 year old amateur trumpet player who started to learn at the age of 9 at a local music school. I had the same teacher for about 7 years, since then I am without a teacher.

Since about 15 years, I play with a local orchestra. We play a wild mix of mostly polkas, marches, movie soundtracks and some classic. I have also been playing on and off with amateur bands with short gigs up to one hour.

Besides one weekly rehearsals of 1-2 hours, I have in avarage been practicing for half an hour once a week (sometimes more, somtimes less or nothing). This has been enough to somehow play what I wanted to play, but it has never felt easy or relaxed.

For a while now, I am thinking about putting more effort into practicing to reach the next level. I have by no means the desire to get anywhere near a professional level, however I would really like to be able to play my usual stuff more easily.

What I can currently do:
- Playing with my orchestra for up to 1 - 1,5 hours - often in the end, or when the gig is longer, I need to play everything 'high' an octave lower.
- I play up to high c in gigs, which is successful most of the time. It doesn't sound super clean, and I have never played a high c without much effort and most likely too much pressure.
- Practicing, I usually can go up to d or eb, but I would not attempt these in gigs.

What I want to have:
- Efficiency and endurance to play with my amateur orchestra for 1,5 - 2 hours and still hit the high notes up to high c in the end (I have no desire to play higher)
- Playing the things we play more easily, and more relaxed
- A better sound and more control would not hurt as well

I have started to practice for at least half an hour, up to one hour, about 5 to 6 times a week. I don't really want to take the time to have lessons with a teacher again (high effort job, two kids, sports...).

The questions I am asking myself are:
- Is this enough practice time to reach my goals?
- What/how should I practice? From the time with my teacher, I have an old copy of the Arban book and some rather unknown books of which I have never read in this Forum.

I would appreciate any help or hints from you!

Thanks and kind regards

[TrumpetMD]

[JayKosta]

[Dayton]

[Dave CCM/SSO]

Hello,

I think you can definitely do what you want in an hour or so a day of practice!

I also agree with previous poster's comments about developing a routine. There are TONS and TONS of different opinions about the best way to go about doing this. I will say, however, that after 15 years of playing professionally and teaching, I believe that it's much simpler than people would like to think. The following is a very simple approach that I use with my students to great success:

1 - mouthpiece buzzing (1 to 3 minutes)
2 - Flow studies - VC 1 Group A for example, etc (2 to 3 minutes)
3 - Lip Flexibilities - there are MANY great options (Bai Lin, Colins, Irons, etc.) (5 to 10 minutes)
4 - articulation - Scales, Clarke, or Arban (5 to 10 minutes)

The idea here is to be able to cover the basics in a totally manageable amount of time. This allows for more time to do the "fun" stuff like playing tunes!


some basic ideas
- always begin quietly, listening for effortless resonance in the tone.
- use a metronome, it's the great body coordinator
- be patient - don't try to do too much too soon.
- vary the routine every month or so, being sure to cover the same basic principles.

I really don't think you should be worrying about mouthpiece pressure or jaw placement or any of these issues until you've given a good routine a month or 2 to work for you.

Have fun!!

Dave
_________________
Dave

Springfield Symphony Orchestra (OH)
- www.springfieldsym.org
Seven Hills Brass
- http://www.facebook.com/sevenhillsbrass

[Christian K. Peters]

Hello HUXL,
Welcome to the TH. Everybody has given you great advice. You have a positive history of instruction and a desire. I consider myself as a proficient amateur. Two music degrees, 30 years of teaching music/band and playing/played with every group in town. When I became less motivated, I searched for some inspiration. I found the 5 videos from Steve Dillard/Horntrader to be what I needed. There were others also. I also found a lot of info that was not helpful...Which can be useful in knowing what you don't want or need. Kind of the self help for trumpet playing...Hi, My name is....(Possibly bad joke..) I also am constantly gleaning from players around me, as I have been exposed to many that came from prestigious places of days gone by. I have learned much from being at the bottom of the heap, enjoy being in the middle of the heap and know that I should be doing better when I am at the top of the heap... One of these days I will have to take a couple more lessons...Just as a swing check...
_________________
Christian K. Peters
Schilke Loyalist since 1976

[cheiden]

FWIW, even if regular lessons aren't practical for you, perhaps you could take just one or two with a suitable pro. With the right teacher you should be able to leave with a customized lesson plan and a clear idea of what to practice and how.

I've had a love/hate relation with this instrument ever since I was big enough to hold it. And I was relatively successful considering I was entirely self-taught until I was in my 30's. From what I've found is that you can only go so far on your own. If you've hit a plateau, there no guarantee that you will go further just by doing it more often.
_________________
"I'm an engineer, which means I think I know a whole bunch of stuff I really don't."
Charles J Heiden/So Cal
Bach Strad 180ML43*/43 Bb/Yamaha 731 Flugel/Benge 1X C/Kanstul 920 Picc/Conn 80A Cornet
Bach 3C rim on 1.5C underpart

[doitallman]

I didnt really start getting what I wanted out my playing, until I started experimenting with tongue position. Try to let the tongue do as much work as you can. Let it aim the air etc.. see what happens.
_________________
NY Bach 07
Couesnon Flugel
Kanstul Pic
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Bach C 229GH 25H
Nikon D300s
Wechter acoustic

[Vin DiBona]

Don't overthink! Dave CCM/SSO posted the very best advice.
Make all playing musical, even scales and simple exercises. Always strive for a a good sound.
Sing through the horn. Breathe. Use a metronome for keeping pure rhythm.
Your short practice time is not going to give you an easy high range and endurance, meaning you will have to make the very best of your time by getting the basic fundamentals going to the point where you do not have to think about them.
R. Tomasek

[huxl]

Dear fellow trumpeters,

first of all, thank you for the advice you have given me in February this year.

Since then, I have practiced in avarage about 5-6 times a week for 30-45min. I stop before I am super tired and split the 30-45min in 2 or 3 sessions a day. I also have taken a week off for a few times (vacation etc...).
I have been practicing Claude Gordon's "Systematic Approach to Daily Practice", however I did not get past the first 5 or 6 routines. I have been repeating these again and again, I can't really play the later ones. In addition, I have used a bit of Arban and playing music.

Now for the results:
I feel that I use much less tension by now, my tone sounds much better and I have more control up to about A below the staff. However, I am struggling with the higher notes (which is up to High C or D above the staff for me). I can still play a High C and it sounds better than before - I just can't play it loud, or at the end of a longer passage.

Should I continue like this, or should I change something?
In case this is normal and I may be on a good way - from experience, how long until I get my old range back?

Thank you!

[FrankM]

Sounds like you could get a lot of benefit from engaging with Andrea Giuffredi's YouTube 'Play with me' videos. There is no talking. Just loads of superb playing for you to listen to and then repeat. I started to make a list but gave up in July, at which point there was about one & a half hours of exercises and excerpts. Since then he has added much more. He covers long tones, octaves,flexibility, Clarke 2, Cichowicz flow studies, Arban 11 to 18, and much more. Have a look, and for the next year at least you'll never need to wonder what you should be doing next.

Cheers, Frank.
_________________
Fairly large collection. Favourites:-
Eclipse Bb Tpt
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Besson Meha Bb Tpt
Selmer 99 Radial
Conn Connstelation 36B
Conn Connstelation 28A
B&H Sovereign Cornet
Yamaha 635T Flugel Horn.

[jhatpro]

This is an excellent thread. The only thing I can add is my fairly recent discovery that practicing in short sessions throughout the day has made a huge difference in every aspect of my playing.
_________________
Jim Hatfield

"The notes are there - find them.” Mingus

2021 Martinus Geelan Custom
2005 Bach 180-72R
1965 Getzen Eterna Severinsen
1946 Conn Victor
1998 Scodwell flugel
1986 Bach 181 cornet
1954 Conn 80A cornet
2002 Getzen bugle

[Dayton]

[JayKosta]

[cheiden]

I appreciate that you prefer to avoid regular lessons but perhaps you could take just one or a few so a pro-level teacher can help you craft a suitable daily routine. It's often not what you practice but how you do it and that's pretty hard to learn from a book.
_________________
"I'm an engineer, which means I think I know a whole bunch of stuff I really don't."
Charles J Heiden/So Cal
Bach Strad 180ML43*/43 Bb/Yamaha 731 Flugel/Benge 1X C/Kanstul 920 Picc/Conn 80A Cornet
Bach 3C rim on 1.5C underpart

[huxl]

Thank you for the great support so far. Here is another update from me, three months after the last one.

I think I have made much better progress in these 3 months than in the 8 months before since I started practicing. I only think and don't know since I am only practicing at home due to the lockdown in Germany, no rehersals or gigs. Since working from home is a thing now for me, I could increase my practice time to about 45-60min daily.

I have much more endurance in the medium range, and I feel quite confident up to b above the staff when playing music. High c works quite well as long as it is in the first few measures after taking a breath, and it still takes effort. It is also much stronger than a few months back. I am still struggling with endurance when the music goes above the staff - I see that as my main weakness for the things I usually play. Also longer passages still tire me out quite fast.

During practice sessions I can play up to e flat regularly, sometimes up to f above the staff (sound is ok but rather quiet, can't play it loud), and it still feels kind of low effort. However, I can play these notes only when sliding up on the same valve combination from low/medium range (e. g. Irons group 24). In other exercices with bigger intervals, I can't go higher than c sharp or d above the staff.

I have been playing in medium range for most of my practice time. Usually I take 1-2 exercices up to high c every day, higher only once or twice a week.

I would like to ask two questions into the round:

1) With my goal being to increase confidence and endurance up to high c (don't want/need to play higher): Would you recommend to practice more regularly at my top range (above high c), or more at the range in which I am struggling with endurance (g to high c), or keep practicing most of the time in medium range?

2) How do I address my issue with endurance in longer passages - should I play longer passages (exercises or music) till I start feeling tired and then rest for a few minutes before starting again; or should I rather continue practicing excercices which last about one breath and then rest for the same time for most of my practice time?

[HERMOKIWI]

[wilder]

Hi. You need a teacher. And you need to practice A LOT. Good luck! jw

[JayKosta]

[gwood66]