Flugelhorn as your primary

[Rhondo]

Hello all,

I'm curious to hear from professionals or hobbyists, particularly from those who play flugelhorn as their primary or preferred horn, or maybe even play it exclusively, as their only brass instrument…
What have been your experiences?

For those who play trumpet as well, do you regularly practice on both flugelhorn and trumpet, or spend your practice time only on trumpet?

I'm not so interested in hearing from players who play flugel only because the musical piece or gig calls for it.

[Dayton]

[markp]

I love my flugelhorn best and feel that I can express myself best on it. It is always my choice for playing solos in big bands or combos. However, it seems weird to play my daily technical routine on it, especially things like tonguing, flexibility and range studies.

For some reason I’ve never heard addressed by experts, it is common practice, even among flugel specialists, to do all that stuff on the trumpet, but then the benefits carry over to the flugelhorn

It just seems to work best that way, but I’d love to know exactly why, and if anyone else does it differently.

[HaveTrumpetWillTravel]

Every time this comes up someone quotes that saying, "The flugel is your mistress, the trumpet is your spouse. Don't forget which is which, or you may lose your house."

I honestly don't know why flugel is seen this way, but there does seem to be some folk wisdom to it. My guess is it has something to do with both building embouchure and intonation. Sometimes trumpet actually feels more challenging for me, but I feel like it leads to a strong embouchure for range and tone. Flugelhorns can also be kind of "pitchy," so it may be that you run the risk of practicing with poor intonation?

I know a sax player who moved to flugelhorn, and he has a super weird embouchure and airy playing style; it works with jazz, but also seems risky long term.

On the other hand, there are brass band/European traditions where people seem to play flugelhorn almost exclusively. I wonder how that works?

[kehaulani]

To me it's simple - how are you going to use it? If you're playing alone or in a jazz combo. why not? If you're going to play in an ensemble of any kind, then you have to have a trumpet.
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[markp]

[Rapier232]

In the UK, the flugel is used in every brass band. It has its own part and player. The majority of those players play the Flugel exclusively. They may have started off on the cornet but change to flugel because the band needs a flugel player. Very few of them have ever even owned a trumpet and the top championship players are exceptional musicians on the instrument.

I play trumpet but own a flugel, that I play for fun. I love the sound of it.
I occasionally help out a local brass band on flugel if their player is not available, which is a nice change. I’ve also played in theatre shows where the music calls for a flugel (as well as a cornet) alongside the trumpet.
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[stuartissimo]

[Dayton]

[Brassnose]

Personally I like flugel for color, but don’t play it very often, as I prefer trumpet over flugel. However, to the point of the question: there are loads of people in German Ooompah bands, traditional music or the fanfares mentioned above, along with British brass bands that heavily rely on flugel. Most of those people play flugel as their main instrument. One famous example in Europe would be Vlado Kumpan - not my cup of tea but he can certainly play. There are lots of other examples.

We do have a person in our orchestra who has played flugel exclusively for 30+ years and in fact the flugel on second and my (rotary) trumpet on first is a VERY nice mix. So, it can be done and can be quite nice.
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[Rhondo]

Thanks to all who commented- Just what I was looking for.

[iiipopes]

[Jimprov]

In response to Rhondo’s original post, until two years ago I had never played a Flugelhorn—I always loved listening to Chuck Mangione and others on FH, but had never considered getting a FH for myself (in retrospect, I understand the “why” of that faulty reasoning, but no need for an explanation here).

As things turned out, I purchased a flugelhorn that very-first/introductory day, and FH has remained my primary instrument since then. For me, the feel, the tone, the delivery, and the capabilities of the FH are a perfect fit for where I had been pushing things since returning to the trumpet a few years ago (evolving through a couple of trumpets and several mouthpieces).

For most people, playing “both” trumpet and FH probably is the best approach--for the reasons mentioned in the above posts, and beyond. Obviously, preferences and approaches are “individual”, and both can change with time and life experiences. In my case, I narrowed my scope of interest and possibilities…which is working out very well for me (I like your term “hobbyist”).

And, it is flat-out exciting to know that there are more mouthpieces and flugelhorns in my not-too-distant future.

Interestingly, after two years of nearly exclusive flugel playing, I now play higher (and more-easily so) on my FH with its deep-cup, large-throated mouthpieces, than on my trumpets (playing on any of my trumpet mouthpieces, including on my shallow GR Bergeron “Studio”). “C above the staff” is “there in spades” on my flugel; that same C is weak, and an unreliable strain for me, on the trumpet. Go figure (??).

Jim (enthusiastic flugel hobbyist)
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Jim

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[Brassnose]

Jim, the fact that you play „better“ (higher, more consistent, …) on a deep flugel piece is likely due to the fact that you have focused on your setup and know it in and out. I come from a big band/commercial background (shallow-ish mouthpiece, commercial setup) but my main gig since 2018 is a pops style orchestra with a WIDE range of music, from classical to everything else. On first trumpet the charts go to high C (higher if I like ) but the main challenge is that there are quite some scores with only a few bars rest and quite a bit of dynamic and phrasing challenges.

Since playing with this orchestra I have been using deeper (medium deep, that is) mouthpieces and have since found that my range is the same on both setups. I „only“ need to practice on both setups to stay in shape with both of them. Playing a shallow piece requires training as does playing a deeper piece, at least for me.
_________________
2019 Martin Schmidt eXcellence
1992 Bach 43GH/43
1989 Kühnl & Hoyer Model 15 flugel
1980/2023 Custom Blessing Scholastic C 😎
1977 Conn 6B
1951 Buescher 400 Lightweight
AR Resonance, Frate, Klier

[benzo277]

Due to my living situation currently, I only have my flugelhorn available to practice with and that is what I am doing 100% of my playing on. Technical exercises and all. I am only playing by myself as a hobby so it might be different if I was a professional or performing in front of crowds. I did not go into flugelhorn with the impression that it is mainly an extra thought kind of instrument but rather a different means of expression so its interesting to hear from some of these posts that even flugelhorn specialists practice mostly on trumpet. Going from trumpet to flugelhorn definitely has its quirks. Not sure if its because I'm using a worn out Couesnon but it is very picky about when it wants to behave. Some days I'll think "why did I even buy this" then the next I'll think "I never want to put this down".

[shofarguy]