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I dont know if the Search button will do it this time for me. ............HIGH NOTES!!!!

Completely lost them over the past few months could easily hit my high Bb's etc now Im back to not even being able to play the F below that (like most non serious kids have trouble ) I use tons of air but all that does it makes me play louder, if I (insert word meaning making a smaller aperature without getting the wrong message across here) all that happens when I blow up there is it feels like it gets a split up and airy. TBH I dont even know what my embouchure SHOULD be.

A little help would be appreciated, this is frustrating




BTW I actually did try trumpet for my first time today, I thought I did pretty good, and it was pure fun

XtremeEuph wrote:...all that happens when I blow up there is it feels like it gets a split up and airy. TBH I dont even know what my embouchure SHOULD be.

Do a search on Roger Lewis's posts on the high range. For example, read this thread:

viewtopic.php?t=4051

Roger's explanation is the best there is, in my view.

Rick "incorporating this advice, too" Denney

Generally, the higher pitched the instrument, the less volume that is required, but more velocity. The lower pitched the instrument, the greater volume and lower velocity.

Having started out on trumpet in 5th grade and playing through college until my dad's trumpet got stolen and I retreated to the trenches, and marching in high school with a souzy, I can tell you that you really have to work to keep a trumpet embouchure in shape and efficient, and the aperture of your lips and placement of your tongue in proper position to keep the velocity of the airstream over the tongue, through the embouchure and transitioning through the mouthpiece and horn. There is no "magic" answer. I still get called to fill in on trumpet occasionally, but since I don't play it every day to keep in shape and efficient, I make sure I sit at least second, if not third or lower so my lips will last the gig. This summer I showed up for a parade gig, and the other guy was worse off than I am, and I had to play 1st. It was only a short parade, we sat on a flatbed, with maybe only a half dozen roll-offs for the crowd dispersed about the parade route, but by the end I definitely sought out some "general anaesthetic" for my poor lips. Whew! Oh, did I appreciate the next community band rehearsal, that even though lasted for two hours, was at least on tuba and I was back in my comfort zone.

I discovered part of my problem. It seems that I have trouble initiating a proper buzz at all. When I reach for those high notes I blow into my instrument but it feels like an unlimited back pressure, pushing back onto my lips. When I try to do mouthpiece buzzing I cant get much of a clear sound.

Yes, indeed it is difficult to buzz a smaller mouthpiece after getting acclimated to a larger one. I changed trumpet mouthpieces recently, as well, giving up my old oversized (made with manual cutters in the late 60's or early 70's - it was "new old stock" when I bought it, full of dust, out of the local music store display case in the mid 70's, and is so much larger than "spec," more like a current 1 1/2 or 2 1/2 C) Bach 3C for a Schilke 15C4. Very similar, but the rim sets to my embouchure better, helping me to keep myself centered better now that I don't play as often, and the one sized larger throat and microscopically larger backbore actually helps me keep the velocity up. I had tried the 15A4, but the cup, similar to your experience, was just too shallow for me to maintain a good lip buzz, with too much backpressure for the amount of lip I tend to get into the cup, so tone thinned out.

My apologies iiipopes, I shouldnt have included the word trumpet in this topic all together, im strictly talking about euphonium playing. I mentioned it to be a trumpet question because they always want the high notes and that just led me to mention I tried trumpet today. My problems with trumpet do not matter to me at all right now.

To play high you need to keep the aperture smaller and tighter so that the lips can press together easily. If you set your lips apart so that they have to stretch to meet, you get a very loud sound with no resistance and no range. Set the lips close and learn to relax more for low notes. With a tighter aperture you will have to pivot the horn up for low notes and down for high notes. For range building, do continuous lip trills for a few seconds at a time, gradually moving up the scale, with plenty of rest. The improvement happens while you rest.

-Eric

ExtremeEuph, didn't you just have braces installed on your teeth? That would cause a problem with high range due to the braces disrupting the usual shape of you embochere.
You can get most or all of your range back over time by patient practicing and allowing your embochere to gradually adjust itself.

tubatooter1940 wrote:ExtremeEuph, didn't you just have braces installed on your teeth? That would cause a problem with high range due to the braces disrupting the usual shape of you embochere.
You can get most or all of your range back over time by patient practicing and allowing your embochere to gradually adjust itself.

yay, ill go with that lmao.

Xtreme "the poster who posts until he finds an encouraging answer, then leaves with it" Euph