Hey, new here and a few thoughts and a few questions.

[xentec6]

Hey, new to trumpet and self teaching, but a question or two if you please.

So i started a week ago, got a nice yamaha 200adii off reverb.

So when i started, i was blowing in the middle of my lips i was having so much trouble, but after much youtube research i found i should try moving to one side, after this i was able to instantly go from low C to G and middle C.

With this ive found if i put in a SHHh mute its MUCH easier to play these notes and the notes in between them.. My mouthpiece is a yamaha japan 11B4. Should i find a mouth piece with a bit more resistance?

For now im slurring between C G C up and down, and also playing the notes in between. Should i continue this with playing LIGHTLY as a exercise?

Im also working on where to breathe from, making sure i fill my abdomen with air and try to avoid blowing from my chest.

Note sure what else im missing, i practice like 10 or 15 min then stop for an hour and do it again.

For self taught(much youtube and reading)i think im doing ok. Let me add i have NO DESIRE to play anything about the first C above the staff.

Thanks for any help guys and sorry for the bad typing, as ive been typing up papers all day i think my fingers and brain and done lol....

[zaferis]

Mouthpiece is fine, trumpet probably ok (though I'd have a player/teacher check it out), mute only to keep from waking the spouse/baby/dog, then get some face-to-face guidance from a competent instructor.. before you learn a bunch of bad habits that will take you months/years to relearn and overcome.

"breath in your lungs/chest/torso" your abdomen holds no air - the belly moves as a side-affect.
"Breathing well which moves the belly" does not equate to "move the belly to breath well."

Invest in yourself, get some lessons.
_________________
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[xentec6]

Thanks for the reply and i intend to get a teacher, gota find a good one in Georgia that will meet in person. Its hard wading through all those lessons.com type websites when you just want to message someone direct lol.

[Dayton]

Welcome to trumpet playing! I second the recommendation that you take lessons. Help from a competent teacher is particularly important at this stage. You are learning how to form your embouchure and develop fundamental skills. You want to learn now how to do those things correctly. That will save you much frustration on down the road, even if your goals are modest.

Also, practice with a mute may be unavoidable, but try to find time -- as much as possible -- to practice without it. Maybe that's just a few minutes per day or just a few days per week, but take what you can get. You've already noticed how a resistant mute like the sshh mute can impact your playing: It alters the sound and impacts the blow of your horn. You need to develop your sound and a feel for the instrument without a mute.

Good luck, and have fun!

[Bflatman]

I would say this

As a beginner you will find that a poor equipment match makes playing less enjoyable because it makes you work hard to get results.

I am not saying the equipment is poor it is just not matched to your needs and abilities.

As you learn and grow your needs will change and your equipment needs will change

Use the equipment that makes playing more enjoyable. Or rather, avoid equipment that makes playing difficult.

Having said that we need challenges to grow and improve.

This is the mantra

When you enjoy playing you practice more and that makes you better, then you enjoy playing more so you practice more, and that makes you better, then you enjoy playing more and you practice more.

Equipment not matched to your abilities can make playing a chore and that sucks the life out of you and inhibits the desire to play and practice.

If you find a mouthpiece change helps you articulate better and sound better and play better I will not be the one to say dont use it.

My guilty secret is I chose in the past to play on equipment that helped me play better and the result is I can now play on anything and I have had immense fun learning and playing this wonderful instrument.
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[JayKosta]

The 11B4 mouthpiece should be good, as long as it fits your lips and tooth structure. I wouldn't recommend searching for a different mpc if the 11B4 seems to fit (no pain, and acceptable playability) - you need to develop a solid base skill and embouchure function before being able to evaluate different mouthpieces.

Abdomen (belly / deep) breathing is OK if you are playing slowly and have the time. When playing actual songs it is usually required to be able to inhale quickly and without conscious thought about 'how' you are doing it.

My thoughts about embouchure are at -
http://users.hancock.net/jkosta/Embouchure_Basic_Concepts.htm

That info is NOT intended to 'teach you' how to play (but there are some suggestions) - it's purpose is to describe the basic 'functions' of what the embouchure needs to accomplish (not necessarily through conscious thought or forced actions).

Learning (and teaching) to play by 'sound production' with a minimum of 'mechanical instruction' is fine. But the danger is that decent early results can come even the poor embouchure function - and the poor function can become a difficult habit to break when it eventually limits further progress.
edit: Yes, a good teacher would be able to guide you in the proper way to establish a 'good embouchure' and avoid bad habits.
_________________
Most Important Note ? - the next one !
KNOW (see) what the next note is BEFORE you have to play it.
PLAY the next note 'on time' and 'in rhythm'.
Oh ya, watch the conductor - they set what is 'on time'.

[royjohn]

Welcome to the Trumpet Crazyhouse!

Getting a teacher at least for a few lessons to get an embouchure set up is a good idea. You may find that there is so much learning and practicing to do that you only need a lesson once every two weeks or month. You could probably work on what a teacher gives you until it is perfected and then go for another lesson.

Until then I have a couple of suggestions. The internal diameter (ID) of a mpc is usually roughly correlated with the thickness of your lips. That is thickness both vertically and from inside to outside. What you are playing on is roughly equivalent to a 3C, a fairly large mpc. You could try a 7C and a 1 or 1.5C to see if you like either better and then refine from there. Mouthpiece Express and some other vendors will send you mpcs to try and charge your card for them. If you return them after trial, they refund the charge. This, of course, saves you a lot of money on a mpc "safari."

My second suggestion is to learn what a roll-in is and practice lip buzzing...making a tone without a mpc or horn. First single tones and then slides up and down and simple songs like Happy Birthday. If you are doing better with a mute, you are using it for resistance, I guess to keep your lips from blowing apart. When you lip buzz, you learn to make a tone without any external resistance, holding your lips together yourself. Many trumpet teachers of old would get a student to lip buzz for a few weeks before giving them a mpc, then have them work on just the mpc for a while before getting a trumpet. So you are stepping up in resistance each time and learning first to buzz without any resistance. If you roll in and tighten, you should observe that the pitch goes up and your lips offer more resistance. This is the way to play higher and you should be able to get higher than the C in the staff that you are now playing if you do this right. It is not hard and rank beginners can do it. Lip buzzing also teaches you to make a tone without using a lot of mpc pressure. You should be able to buzz a note and then put the horn and mpc onto your face and have that note come out of the horn, amplified...with NO PRESSURE. This is good practice for maintaining only enough pressure to maintain an air seal. Try it out!

Good luck on this fantastic, puzzling and infuriating instrument!
_________________
royjohn
Trumpets: 1928 Holton Llewellyn Model, 1957 Holton 51LB, 2010 Custom C by Bill Jones, 2011 Custom D/Eb by Bill Jones
Flugels: 1975 Olds Superstar, 1970's Elkhardt, 1970's Getzen 4 valve
Cornet: 1970's Yamaha YCR-233S . . . and others . . .

[WxJeff]

[xentec6]

[cgaiii]

Just adding an echo that a teacher will save you a lot of painful experimentation. You still have to learn, but it will probably go much smoother.
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[wilder]

Please get a teacher. jw

[Winghorn]

I believe the Yamaha 11B4 mouthpiece is actually similar in cup diameter to the Bach 7C models, and not as wide as a 3C.

I think the Yamaha 14B4 mouthpieces are the Bach 3C equivalents.

The OP's Yamaha 11B4 mouthpiece is an excellent mouthpiece for a beginner so he is on the right track.