In the world of a beginning brass student (trumpet, trombone, euphonium, baritone,tuba), things look very overwhelming and the teacher seems to be the all knowing, so what the brass teacher says, usually seems as though it's the only way for things to be done.
Trumpet with sunlight streaming into Knox Chapel, taken during Christmas concert (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Brass teachers can tend to leave holes in the instructions to a young student as to the proper way for them to produce sound. Most trumpet students end up with a pinched sound or extremely airy sound due to the lips not properly forming a relaxed embouchure. This eventually leads to extreme frustration for the student and seems absolutely insurmountable because they can't find the answer to correct their problems.
Basically, by relaxing the upper lip, lower lip, and using the mouth corners to create the aperture the student can instantly create a relaxed open sound without having to over blow.
If the student is under the impression that it takes "talent" or a "natural ability" to play their instrument, this can also create a defeated feeling. So it's VITAL that the trumpet instructor / brass instructor relay the message to each student that it is habit that is being created when practicing. So if the student is careless in the beginning, they will have habits that they must fix or break in months and years to come. I've found that sound problems usually indicate far more than just tonality issues. A trumpeter's tone can indicate pinching, an overly open aperture, a lack of air usage, or a strained embouchure. This will inhibit flexibility, range, endurance, and control of various volumes!
Keith Fiala / Anna Romano
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As you may or may not know, several types of tubas exist. Each of these has its own tonal properties. Having so many versions of the same instrument can be confusing to anyone. I am writing this guide as a general reference when purchasing or identifying one.
Contrabasses are the most common type of tuba today and are the lowest-pitched. There are two types of Contrabasses, pitched in either Bb or C.
BB-flat Tuba
The BB-flat Tuba is the most common tuba in the U.S. today and are the largest standard tuba. These are used by many school bands because most other brass instruments used by high schools are also keyed in Bb. They are also used by some professional players. BB-flat tubas are often designed to handle the rough treatment of young tubists and sacrifice responsiveness and tone as a result.
BB-flat tubas are the contrabass of choice in German, Austrian, and Russian orchestras. They are the standard for use in concert and symphonic bands.
CC Tuba
CC tubas are build a whole step up from BB-flat models. They lack the lowest notes of a BB-flat tuba, although many add extra valves to make up for this. In the US, most professional tuba players play C-pitched tubas. These tubas are easier to play in the sharp keys, allowing them to work better playing in an orchestra (String parts are often written in the sharp keys to make them easier for them). They are build more for responsiveness and not durability.
These tubas are typically the next step up for advancing tuba players, at least in the US. However; they are not a necessity. A good BB-flat player can play anything written with a CC tuba in mind.
Bass Tubas
Bass tubas are smaller than the Contrabasses and naturally play higher.
E-flat Tuba
Eb Tubas generally play an octave above the contrabasses in a brass band. They are somewhat rare in the US, although in the UK they are the standard orchestral bass. These widely used in bands in the late 1800's and early 1900's. According to one source "nobody remembers why"...
F Tuba
F Tubas are used mainly by professional players for solo works and to play higher parts in some older pieces. They are the standard orchestral tuba in much of Europe, with BB-flat or CC tubas used when additional low end is needed.
Tuba Variations
The Sousaphone
Attributed to and named after John Phillip Sousa, Sousaphones designed for marching. They wrap around the body, resting on the left shoulder and the bell faces forward to project sound into the crowd. They are most commonly pitched in Bb and have just three valves, although some are in Eb. The originals were in C. Just watch out for the wind!
Bell front (recording) tubas
These tubas are upright, but have bells facing forward to project the sound.
Contrabasses (Marching Tubas)
Often seen in DCI competition (Drum Corps. International), these resemble upright tubas but rest on the left or right shoulder, bell pointed to the crowd. These are more awkward than sousaphones and are not common in high school bands. Some upright tubas can be converted to marching tubas with special lead pipes that are interchangeable. This saves bands with low budgets the expense of buying a tuba for each season.
As you can see, many types and variations of tuba exist, each with their own purpose in a band. Hopefully this guide will shed some light on these instruments.
People literally use TOO many muscles when they play. They use muscles that actually work against playing as well as muscles that help playing. They pull with the cheeks out and pull with the corners in; they pull the chin down and try to make the lips compress. These are OPPOSITE actions and they just tire us out. Think about what the muscles do and then how they affect playing. When we learn where the extra tension is then we are automatically stronger.
Duncan Wilson playing Rotary Bass Trumpet in C with the BBC Symphony Orchestra (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Isometrics are good for adding muscle strength but NOT good WHEN we are playing. As far as isometrics go all you need is a unsharpened pencil. It costs 5 cents and gives you all of the workout you will ever need. Most people use the muscles UNDER the lower lip for compression and the pencil isolates that better. The pencil exercise should be done with the teeth CLOSED. That makes the lower lip do the work. When the teeth are apart the jaw moves and the pencil is partly supported by the jaw and neck. Working the neck is a BIG concern for many players as some of them have real issues with the throat closing.
The corners of the Buzz or vibration is INSIDE the mouthpiece. The actual mouth corners are isolated from the embouchure by the mouthpiece rim and pressure. Poor choice of words from many years ago. There are many embouchures and the corners play a significant part in only ONE of them. You have to realize that people have done themselves a disservice by blending and mixing embouchure ideas together that don't fit.
Sand is OK. Water is OK. Water and sand together make MUD. That is what we do when we keep assuming that ANY embouchure idea or exercise will work with another one. We muddy up our abilities.
What is the BEST embouchure? None of them. Maynard Ferguson used some pucker. Andrea Tofanelli rolls his lips in and uses a forward jaw. Arturo Sandoval buzzes. Walt Johnson has his top lip overlap his lower lip. Bob Odneal uses compression made by bunching his chin. Nick Drozdoff uses his tongue against his lip as part of the embouchure.
6 high note players and 6 completely DIFFERENT embouchures. Yet for some reason people think there is A high note embouchure. (NOT mixing several embouchures together by accident IS the high note embouchure.) Some of those NEED mouthpiece pressure to work. When you over lap the lips pressure IS the way they make compression. Now that is different. Some embouchures need tongue arch to induce a slight curl (when the tongue moves it moves the jaw and that realigns the lips and causes curl.) But in some like the Stevens; tongue arch is useless because the lips are already curled (the tongue can't move enough to add to the curl.)
See those 6 embouchures I have mentioned are NOT all of them. Plus there are variations on each. There are even some others I haven't mentioned yet. Bill Houghton - Principal Trumpet - BBC Symphony Orchestra plays with ONE lip against the tongue. The tongue takes the place of the bottom lip. (That was first written about in the ITG Journal Sept 1995.)
See there are many variations that work as long as we don't mix something from embouchure A with something from embouchure B and something from embouchure C. Mixing these elements often adds excess and throws off the balance that we need between lip aperture, firmness, relaxation, air support.... When this balance is upset then our progress halts and sometimes reverses.
Putting Ford parts on a Chevy doesn't work. That is why MOST embouchure experiments fail. The WAY we use some muscles and the WAY we use our jaw and the WAY we set our lips makes each of us a Chevy, or Ford, or Cad, or&& This makes actions that are VITAL to some setups completely worthless for others. See the old habits and over built muscles have to be overcome BEFORE the experiments have a chance of success.
If somebody smiles to play high we get them to set the embouchure by pulling the corners in so it is much harder to smile. That gives them a chance to learn to use compression. It could very well be that your playing embouchure reinforces things that prevent your experimental embouchure from growing. For example people who already use lip curl get ZERO benefit from tongue arch. Tongue arch helps BECAUSE it creates some lip curl as the tongue movement makes the jaw move. If you already use much curl the effect will NOT be noticed because the ratio of tongue movement to jaw movement is 16:1. That is why Stevens didn't use ANY arch. But on a pucker embouchure or a buzzing embouchure arch is like a turbocharger.
ALWAYS Useful for playing:
Actual lips themselves the Orbicularis oris ---------- close mouth, purses lips.
The muscle in middle of chin the Mentalis ---------- protrude lower lip and makes compression.
The muscle that goes from under corners of lower lip the Depressor anguli oris ---------- frowning and makes compression.
OFTEN Harmful for playing:
The muscle of the Upper cheek the Zygomaticus major/ minor ---------- smiling and thins the lips.
The muscle that goes from the cheek bone and lips the Buccinator ---------- compresses cheek and thins the lips.
The muscle that goes from the ear to mouth corners the Risorius ---------- smiling and thins the lips.
The muscle that goes from the lip to nose the Levator labii superioris ---------- raises upper lip and parts the lips and pulls top lip above teeth gap
The muscle that goes from the jaw to mouth the Depressor labii inferioris ---------- lowers lower lip and parts lips.
The muscle that goes from the neck muscle that goes from jaw to shoulder the Platysma ---------- depresses mandible, lowers the lip and parts the lips.
The largest cheek muscle the Masseter ---------- closes jaw and chokes the air flow.
The muscle that goes from the top of cheek towards back of head the Temporalis ---------- closes jaw (elevate mandible) and chokes air flow.
Many players use ALL of these muscles but when you actually look at what they do then you see they hinder playing. So my best advice to you is that you check and see what elements are supposed to be present in the embouchure that you play and to not add ideas from other systems to it.
The trombone is a member of the brass family and the horn and come in different sizes. The most common ones are the medium sized or tenor trombone and larger sized or bass trombone which are both pitched in Bb. They produce heavy sounds which are lower than the trumpet and are used when the orchestra is playing loud sections or in harmony with the higher horn and trumpet parts.
Trombones have a cylindrical shaped tube and a cup shaped mouthpiece and are related to the trumpets. But instead of valves which a trumpet has, a trombone has a moveable slide which moves in and out. A player will stop the slide at any of the seven positions to get the range of notes available to produce. At any of the positions a series of notes can be produced by tightening or slackening his lips. The notes produced are a series of natural notes called harmonics. When the slide is pulled out completely, the range of notes which can be produced will extend downwards for six semitones.
Like other brass instruments, the sound of the trombone is produced by blowing air through pursed lips producing a vibration that creates a standing wave in the instrument. When the player moves the slide out it extends the length of the air column and lowers the pitch.
Trombones are played in a variety of situations like orchestras, military bands, jazz bands, dance bands eg the big band.. <br>Orchestras generally have two tenors and one bass trombone. The other groups having varying numbers of trombone players.
Let's take a look at two well known trombone players. <br>1. Slide Hampton (Locksley Wellington "Slide" Hampton ) was a famous American trombonist, composer and arranger who played all around Europe after he was in his dad's band, named Hampton's Band. He toured with them a lot and is probably the best role model for starting trombonists. Slide Hampton was born in 1932.
2.Tommy Dorsey ( Thomas Francis Dorsey ) was a great American jazz trombone player as well as a trumpeter, composer, and bandleader of the Big Band era. He had a smooth-toned trombone playing style and was known as "The Sentimental Gentleman of Swing". He is famous for The Spell of the Blues and The Boogie Woogie. Tommy Dorsey was born <br>November 19, 1905 and died November 26, 1956.
You now know that the trombone is a brass instrument of varying sizes and can be played in a variety of situations. You have been given examples of two well know trombonists which could look up on YouTube and see if the sound tantalises your taste buds. Then you need to make the final decision; Do you want to learn the trombone?
What should be the very first point of order that you think about when getting your trumpet ready to play - most real musicians will tell you to consider trumpet mouthpieces. That's right, you wouldn't be playing your trumpet if the mouthpiece was not in perfect operating order. Your trumpet mouthpiece get lots of abuse, isn't that where all of the sound is formed in the first place? That abuse, or heavy use can translate directly into very heavy wear and possible outright destruction. Always be prepared, and always carry a spare or extra mouthpiece in your trumpet case with you wherever you go - I guarantee that you'll never regret the decision!!
It's a fact that these days there are a lot of knock-offs or imitation trumpet parts on the market. They're made in low cost countries where the labor is dirt cheap, and since the manufacturer isn't worried about protecting his or her name brand, substandard materials are often used, in addition to poorly trained employees to form and assemble those materials. What this means to the end user is that a poorly made mouthpiece is bought because of the astonishingly low price - and not the overall value.
Possible your next question might be what trumpet mouthpieces to get, how many should you have and which brand should you choose? Even if you don't know know a single fact about this topic,my advice to you is clear; never buy the absolute cheapest mouthpiece available. As you'll probably discover some time after the purchase, there is most likely a very good reason for the low amount and, aside from obvious motives like product damage or some thing similar, there are things you just can't take into consider, such as inferior materials which don't always make themselves known until further down the road. There may be a case of poor assembly - that always worries me, because I'll never know what the problem might be until I actually utilize the mouthpiece. By then, it's probably too late, and I may end up having to spend more money to get a top-quality mouthpiece, the one I should have bought initially, if I was using my head instead of just trying to be cheap.
There are plenty of great trumpet mouthpieces that you won't have to spend excessively for - for example the Jet-tone DS GOLD RIM or a Schilke Trumpet Mouthpiece, or how about a TRUMPET MENDEZ #2 MOUTHPIECE. Not one of these excellent mouthpieces cost more than $60, they also can be delivered directly to your doorstep in under a week's time! How's that for convenience - and value?
Don't purchase inferior, imitation trumpet mouthpieces, there are tons of top-quality, affordable mouthpieces that can provide you years of service for only a couple of bucks more than those nasty substandard pieces.
As a trumpet / cornet player continues to grow in their playing abilities, we all reach frustrating times with various skills that we either can't seem to master, or can't seem to get a grasp on quickly. To master trumpet/cornet playing, a student must have patience and tenacity! Both are required to help trumpet students through the frustrating times.
Most answers are simple than what our minds will let us accept. There have been many times that I've practiced something and it seems to fly out of the trumpet. Usually what goes through my mind is "it can't be that easy, I've been struggling so long with this!"
The quick answer is - yes, it can be that easy. Most people let the simple solutions escape them because of built up notions of complexity. Something that isn't performed easily within the first few tries, becomes more and more frustrating to the cornet/trumpet player. From double tonguing, high notes, better tone, playing pianissimo, controlling rhythm, performing difficult passages in a piece of music, learning scales, etc. These can all present challenges to each individual trumpeter or cornetist.
Working on major scales for younger students can be not only boring, but a daunting task because they are looked at as difficult in many ways. The F sharp major scale is one that has most notes sharp (or raised half step). What most students don't think about is that there are only 7 notes in each major scale. The F sharp scale has 6 sharps, so why not focus on the one natural? By practicing slowly and taking each note one by one, within a few practice sessions, this scale becomes easier. Within a week, the scale can be memorized. Within a month, it will play as easily for the trumpet student as the C major scale with no sharps or flats. Again - tenacity and patience!
It is widely accepted that the flugelhorn was derived from the bugle design by Michael Saurle in the early 1800's. Flugelhorns were named from the German word Flügel which means wing or flank in English. In the beginning, flugelhorn was primarily used on the battlefield to organize the flanks in an army.
Flugelhorns are a member of the horn family and a brass instrument that resemble trumpets but with a wider bore. The appearance of the flugelhorn has also been compared to a cornet, although the trumpet is probably a closer comparison. The flugelhorn traditionally has three valves and uses the same piston valve system of other brass instruments. Four valve and rotary valve version exist but they are not the norm. Some modern flugelhorns include a fourth valve as this is becoming more popular. Today the flugelhorn is used in jazz, brass band, and popular music applications. The tone is considered to be fat and mellow compared to a trumpet. The actual sound probably falls somewhere in between a trumpet and a horn.
Choosing a Flugelhorn
Resources about the flugel horn are hard to find as this is a truly unique brass instrument. If you have a local music instrument store that happens to sell flugelhorns you are lucky and probably want to try one out there. For most people, the best option for locating a flugelhorn will be on the internet. Flugel horns are expensive compared to other brass instruments but you will find that they are worth the price for the true brass instrument player due to the unique sound and playing qualities. It is possible to find good deals on the flugelhorn if you use the proper resources on the Web.
When marching band season rolls around, it's not enough just to sound good, band members are putting on a visual show, too and most marching band musicians take pride in the look of their band instrument. Getzen trumpets not only sound great, they look great, too! For those trumpet players who switch to a flugelhorn or baritone horn for marching season, Getzen has them covered as well.
Getzen offers an extensive selection of trumpets. Student trumpets fall into the 300 and 400 series. One of the more popular student trumpets is the 390. They're workhorses, are sturdy, and most importantly, make great music. For the more advanced student, the 490 has a red brass bell, and its distinctive look will draw plenty of attention at parades or football games. The Getzen Capri 590 is an intermediate level trumpet that is available in silver plated finish, as are all Getzen instrument.
Getzen doesn't leave the committed trumpet player behind who goes professional, either. The Renaissance line is based on the prestigious Bach Stradivarius trumpet line. This has a more symphonic sound. Another line of professional Getzen trumpets is the Eterna series: the Eterna I, Eterna II, the 700, the 900, and the 1200. The Eterna was the instrument played byTonight Show bandleader Doc Severinson for years. The Eterna 700 is the most affordable Eterna model - suitable for the amateur who wants to get his or her hands on the best trumpet without breaking the budget. The Eterna 700S is a silver plated option. For those who turn pro or those who only want the very best, Getzen makes custom C and B-flat trumpets as part of their Edwards handcrafted line of instruments.
Trumpet players know that having a great sounding, great looking trumpet like a Getzen is a confidence boost that helps them play their very best.
A trumpet, foreground, a piccolo trumpet behind, and a flugelhorn in background (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Learning trumpet can be a very rewarding experience, it can also be one very frustrating experience as well if the student doesn't have a good teacher showing them the specifics of how to produce sound. The most basic and fundamental part of playing any instrument is creating sound. For a drummer, it starts with learning how to hit the head of the drum, the piano player - how to position their hands and which finger to use, etc. But neither need to learn how to produce these sounds... the instrument does it for them.
Brass players are not nearly as fortunate! Each player must start by getting their lips to buzz. This is essentially blowing air through their lips and allowing the lips to vibrate. Sounds simple, and it is... but it's not easy! Especially if someone isn't given clear instructions on how to achieve this! What I tell all of my beginning students is to think of keeping your lips in a relaxed closed position and to think about a kiss or a puckering action from the corners only!
Once I have a new student "free lip buzzing" (no mouthpiece, no horn), then we can move on to just the mouthpiece. What this does is suddenly makes things easier for the student because the mouthpiece offers more support for the lips and a lot more resistance for the air. Once we've achieved a good buzzing pattern with the mouthpiece, we then move to creating actual notes with the horn.
I believe that by giving the student a good solid foundation to fall back on, they will not be hindered by or plagued with embouchure problems in the future. They will have a solid foundation for playing based on relaxed lips that are free to vibrate and air being pushed from the abs!
Keith Fiala / Anna Romano
For private trumpet lessons, ways to overcome range or sound problems, or to get a solid start on playing a brass instrument, please visit Brass Player Solution to contact Keith Fiala.
exist. Each of these has its own tonal properties. Having so many versions of the same instrument can be confusing to anyone. I am writing this guide as a general reference when purchasing or identifying one.![[Man playing the tuba.]](https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2508/4058778064_0eb1ac58f9_o.jpg)
designed for marching. They wrap around the body, resting on the left shoulder and the bell faces forward to project sound into the crowd. They are most commonly pitched in Bb and have just three valves, although some are in Eb. The originals were in C. Just watch out for the wind!
