Should I quit

[Cola]

Here's my story

I picked up the trumpet 3 1/2 years ago. Learned scales, to improvise, had crappy tone until I picked up a teacher. Made some progress everywhere, but after a year range stagnates. His attitude: use support! Find your own way to understand the high note feeling in terms of embouchure, sensation, etc... Very optimistic teacher who made me play notes I wouldn't dare to try. Had him for a year and a half.

Comes in next teacher. Classical player. He reforms my embouchure. Tells me everything I do is crap, doesn't go well with my practice entousiatsm and tells me to play max 1hour per day, which was RIDICULOUS given my commitments. He destroyed my confidence and pushed me away from jazz to get a pure technical mindset. A knife that cuts both ways. I improved some aspects, but the rest was disastrous. I wanted to improve so .... fast and he was holding me back. Yeah, here comes the speech of fatigue and bad habits. I wanted to practice BOTH hard and smart.

This summer I did as he say, practicing very few hours a day and focusing on the technique. But now I'm in University and I feel I play like crap every time, as if something was wrong with that. New teacher gave me the exact opposite approach with a 1h30 long routine and other things as well, but I feel like I've lost my soul. I try so .... hard to focus on the positive, retain what's good, rest as much as I play, all that tralala that everyone will suggest is wrong with my practice. Sometimes I think that practicing 3h30 a day might be too much but hell you guys now how it works. If I am to become a professional trumpeter there's so much I need to know and practice and with 3h30 of material (yes, slow focused practice) seems like fair enough to accomplish a MINIMUM of virtuosity.

My current teacher says developpement works in plateaus. If he's right, I feel like I've been below sea level for a painful amount of time. Range, endurance, tone isssues have made me depressive and the lack of a practical solution (play less? no! play softer? I need to play louder according to teacher goddammit! Embouchure? Been there done that) makes me crazy.

So let me ask bluntly: am I cursed to suck at the trumpet?

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[kehaulani]

It sounds to me like you could use a break from playing. Enjoy music (not performance). When you come back, do it with another teacher. And don't be impatient.
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[lipshurt]

couple of points:

1) yes it takes a lot of practice time to become an improvising musician on the trumpet. The trumpet part can not be pushed too hard or you go backwards. the improvising part can be done somewhat apart from the trumpet part. That is where resting comes in. If you were to sing instead of play (breathing like trumpet, exhaling like trumpet, fingering and articulation like trumpet, singing the exact notes, with good pitch and musicality, that will translate directly to the horn. And it does not wear out your mechanics or make for bad habits.

2) playing while tired is a REAL bad thing to do. SO bad that it is way worse than not practicing enough. you have to believe that down deep. It seems you are proving it to yourself in any case.

3) play softer the WHOLE day if you are going to practice your maximum amout that day. Its good on every level, chops, concept, air, musicality. Play louder on days when you are not going to put in that much time. and DO NOT practice the same amount and the same stuff every day

4) my guess is you are doing too much in the way of flexibility excercises. That and long tones are addicting and can take too much physical and time resources. More music less mechanics maybe. If you are playing aton of aebersolds, that too can become addicting and lead to playing while tired and forcing bad habits. Bad habits are not really bad habits...they are bad mechanics that only work when you are tired. So you can end up sucking until you are tired, then you sound good and destroyed at the same time.

5) dont blame anything on a teacher. All three of your teachers seem to be telling you good information.
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[trickg]

Cola, I think you may have lost sight of what playing music with an instrument is about. If you don't enjoy it, then why do it?

We live in an age now where everything seemly has to be approached with the mindset that we need to work on things in a disciplined way if we're going to achieve "success" doing it, but I think sometimes that just sucks the fun out of things.

At age 47, when I boil it down, I continue to play trumpet and gig for a very basic reasons:

It's fun and I enjoy it - I enjoy the music, the feeling of being a part of something bigger than just me, the synergy of playing with other musicians, the feeling that I get when I know it has gone well, and yeah, I like the compliments I get from people after I've played.

My approach to the horn was almost a direct opposite of what you've just described. I started to excel in the middle of my 3rd year on the horn, and I started to outpace my peers, so part of it was the joy of "winning" - band was competitive where I grew up, and we had chair placement tryouts several times a year, which shook things up and kept people on their toes.

When I was a Freshman in HS, my playing ability really jumped. It wasn't because I was working on things in a structured way in the practice room either. It was almost totally opposite of what you're doing. I got better because I was playing ALL THE TIME. And why? Because I loved playing. Every chance I got I was back in the band room with my horn out, noodling through something or other - usually pep band tunes.

My thought is that you should stop worrying so much about all of the mind-numbing stuff that goes along with playing an instrument, and get back to playing because you enjoy it. Stop looking at the clock for how much time you are playing. Play the stuff you enjoy and work on making that sound better. It's not a textbook approach, but you will continue to improve by doing that.
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[dstdenis]

Should you quit? I dunno... that's up to you. Trumpet playing can be lots of fun, but trumpeters can experience severe setbacks too. Only the really motivated and determined ones keep going.

I do think your experience with teachers has not been good and hasn't helped you get a good start and maintain steady progress. Bad advice has caught up with you, and it isn't clear which way to turn.

I've found that different teachers have different philosophies about the best way to learn to play trumpet. They don't explain their philosophies, but you can pick it up by the way they teach. Many encourage students to advance as quickly as possible--a fast-track approach. I think your first teacher was like that. I've had a teacher like that. I think it's a bad approach. It works for awhile but then progress stalls because holes in basic skills and development catch up. It can even lead to severe playing problems.

A few rare teachers are more careful to make sure their students have a solid foundation. They don't want their students to race ahead if they see critical weaknesses in the basics. I think your second teacher was like that. This can be really frustrating for an impatient student who thinks s/he knows better than the teacher. But I think this approach has a better chance of success, provided the teacher is right about identifying specific weaknesses and giving advice on how to overcome them.

Is your second teacher a good teacher? I dunno... but it sounds to me like s/he is a lot better than the first one, and might actually be a good one. Hard to say with little info.

I think you need to rebuild your concept about the smart way to learn trumpet. You're very impatient, and so you haven't built a good foundation. There are plenty of good teachers who can help you, but you have to listen.

If you'd like to read about principles of study, I highly suggest the Franquin method. The first 50 pages or so includes his principles of study and practice guidelines. Spoiler-alert: you will probably find that his advice is much more in line with your 2nd teacher than your first.

Hope this helps. No, you aren't cursed. Good luck!
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[Cola]

[Cola]

[trickg]

[Brad361]

Should you quit? That’s ultimately up to you, but it sounds to me as if you would regret it.
I doubt that a maximum of one hour per day of practice will get you where you want to be (you’ve probably heard the “10,000 hour” adage), but I also don’t know why that particular teacher prescribed that.

If (BIG if) you can’t find a local teacher to help you, you might consider lessons via skype.

Brad

[Richard III]

What kind of music do you love listening to?

Who is your favorite player?

Do you want to sound like they do?

Matrix question: Do you really think that's air you're breathing? in here?

Okay the last part was a little off track but if you answer the first three questions, I have an idea.
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[Christian K. Peters]

Hello all,
Here is my story. I was a good player in Junior High, but was often frustrated that I could not center well..Was all over the map. High school came, and some of that improved, took a few lessons from a couple different folks. Went to college. Needed to work to put myself through, so did not have time to put into the horn, even though I was a MusEd major with trpt minor. By the third year, I knew i did not have what it took to really make money playing, so public school teaching was the money maker. In 30 years of playing in community groups and finally having the time to step back and figure stuff out, I learned more from watching and talking to others than I did in the studio. I also had the time to enjoy a balance of playing and putting time in. Cola, I hope you find a balance and don't worry about where you are at or compare yourself with others. There will always be a better player that you will be able to admire. Get to a point and do that to the best of your ability. But don't quit.
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[razeontherock]

Mr Cola: almost every one of us that have ever made good music with a trumpet have had to work through the same sort of issues you describe in your OP.

Quitting is not a fix.

Listening to great players helps, and many say is absolutely essential. I just listened to Ruben Simeo and watched the sheet music he was playing, on YouTube. I tend to really enjoy videos like that.

On the how-to front, put the horn down while your chops still feel good and pick it back up again "later." Later may mean 5 minutes, or 20, or several hours; but it is a good way of making sure we don't set ourselves back by overdoing it. This is the one thing that would have made the biggest difference in my own playing had I done it my whole life.

[jhatpro]

If the first thought you have when you wake up in the morning is, "Hey, another day to play my horn," then stick with it.

If your first thought is, "Hey, another day to have to play my horn," then quit. Find something that you're excited about and pursue that.

Life is too short to do otherwise.
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[trickg]

So, in light of the fact that John Blount, a wonderful trumpet player and human being, has passed away just today, I felt that this quote from the preface of his method book is appropriate here:

"My basic philosophy is that every musician must find his or her own way of playing and execute it subconsciously. I believe strongly that if a player must consciously manipulate his face, tongue, or any other part of his anatomy for that matter, most of his effort will be directed toward that end leaving insufficient mental and physical energy for the primary objective of creating great music. After all, the best trumpet playing can and must be as natural as possible." -- John Blount

John was the retired lead player from the US Navy Commodores, the Navy's premier big band. John definitely knew his stuff as a player - I was fortunate enough to get to gig alongside of him a few times and it was always a treat, not to mention that it was eye opening to hear how it's really supposed to be done.
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Patrick Gleason
- Jupiter 1600i, ACB 3C, Warburton 4SVW/Titmus RT2
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"95% of the average 'weekend warrior's' problems will be solved by an additional 30 minutes of insightful practice." - PLP

[Cola]

[Cola]

[david johnson]

go have some fun and do good things with your playing: play taps at some memorials or even vet funerals, demonstrate playing at facilities for the learning disabled, etc. it will give you a new outlook. people will care that you did it, not care what you thought of your efforts. nobody at a funeral gives a rip that you burred note 4 and went a little sharp in the last pitch - they care that you played.

[Richard III]

[GeorgeB]

[Craig Swartz]