How to play high notes at piano?

[cWEED]

I am a high school freshman Tubist looking to join Region Band this year. My solo has me playing high notes (F on the staff) at piano. How do I do this?

P.S. I've only been playing for 6 months.

[bone-a-phone]

I am a high school freshman Tubist looking to join Region Band this year. My solo has me playing high notes (F on the staff) at piano. How do I do this?

P.S. I've only been playing for 6 months.

Oh, wow. And I was just gonna say "reach over with your right hand as far as you can, and tinkle", but now I see my mistake.

[cWEED]

Oh, wow. And I was just gonna say "reach over with your right hand as far as you can, and tinkle", but now I see my mistake.

w-
what

[NCSUSousa]

no tricks/secrets, and not some "air" thing.

This is one of those things that requires embouchure development and control (time/dedication/work).

You're asking your lips to vibrate relatively quickly at a very small amplitude in the instrument's most resonant range.
Those factors tend to work against each other, and - thus - the "time/dedication/work" thing.

Developing expertise and confidence with this is important.
Many players eschew working on this skillset in favor of acrobatics and low-range blatts, and they end up "getting caught". This particular excerpt tends to "get inside the head of" many players, due to
- having not played anything at all for several minutes (cold embouchure/instrument)
- the entrance being in the same range (to which you refer) and very soft/exposed
- the music just previous to this entrance being so very sublime, with such a great potential for - well - "ruining the mood".

Dvorak 9.png

Completely agree with what Bloke said. As usual, his response is 100% correct.
It takes practice to make GOOD entrances anywhere in the upper octaves with volume levels below f because the tuba is quite resonant on those notes.
You have to be confident on the pitch and able to control the volume level at the same time. That only comes with time and practice. Louder is not always better.

[tbonesullivan]

Practice. Lots of it. Lots of practice playing Piano, and even "threshold" notes.

I picked this up from a very informative Michael Mulcahy trombone master class, 20 or so years ago. You practice playing a note as softly as possible, and use NO tongue to start the note. You slowly learn to very very gently ease into vibration. You can then learn to stay on that threshold, and then the slightest tongue and you get a note.

Mind you, 20 years on, I'm still working on it, but my soft range is quite good, especially compared to just about every other trombone player I work with in community orchestras. I also have better lip trills. Those are pretty much my only real skills.