help.

[Albertibass]

you need to wiegh the pros and cons of each. You would be starting really far behind on trumpet if you start now, and you might become frustrated with it because it isnt how you remember. How far do you plan to go with music, think about that i guess. But if you want trumpet, and you feel you are wasting your time on a baritone, then you can motivate your switch.

[smurphius]

In regards to cost, if you were to pursue trumpet playing in college, there is a good chance that you will have to purchase more than one trumpet, whereas on Euphonium, you really would only need to purchase one instrument. My trumpet player in my brass quintet in college owns a trumpet in Bb, C, Eb, and piccolo, all of which he uses, all of which are required for various orchestral works, as well as solo repertoire. Solo rep which calls for an Eb trumpet has to be played on Eb. C has to be on C. Bb for Bb. Picoolo is a whole other monster. You can easily spend $6000 for all of these trumpets! A professional euphonium can be purchased for $4500.

Go with your heart if nothing else. I used to play trumpet back in the day, but now I couldn't possibly see myself playing any other instrument besides tuba (and bass trombone, but that's more for fun, and $$ ) The tuba/euphonium community is also one of the most FRIENDLY communities in the world. It's really a great thing to be a part of.

[quinterbourne]

Try trombone, you may like it as much as you liked trumpet... and you wouldn't need to change your embouchure much. Much of what you learned on euphonium will carry over. Oh yeah, trombones are fairly cheap too... and you'll probably only need one (tenor OR bass... but maybe an alto eventually if you start with tenor). Just a thought, give t-bone a try.

The trumpet world is an EXTREMELY competitive world, much much more than the tuba/euphonium/trombone worlds. Trumpet players tend to be real arrogant too, please don't become one of them.

[Joe Baker]

If you want to play the trumpet, then switch. Don't do it for the sake of money though. A good trumpet doesn't cost much less than a good euph. You can get "pretty darn good" examples of either for $1000 or so in excellent/used condition. The trumpet would be a Bach Strad; the euph would be the Weril knockoff of the Yamaha 321.

But with all due respect: "Dad, schmad!"

Not that you don't need to show plenty of respect to the old man -- you do -- but if you're a Junior in HS you must be at least 16, right? Why should your Dad get all the fun? Go out and find one of these:

Spend a couple dozen hours a week with the nice folks inside, and before you know it you'll be getting PAYCHECKS. Then you can buy your OWN instrument! You could have it paid off in just a couple of months, working minimum wage 20 hours a week. The instrument will be YOURS. You will appreciate it more because you will have earned it. You will practice it more because you will appreciate it more. Keep working, and by the time you're ready for college you'll be able to afford any euph you want, if you've outgrown the starter euph (which, again, you probably won't unless you're a euph major, which most people aren't).
________________________________
Joe Baker, who bought every instrument he ever owned with money he earned, and appreciates them all the more for it.

[tubatooter1940]

My wife spent her first paycheck from her first job on a Harmony guitar for me. She said she never regrets getting me into music again. My kids grew up around long-haired musicians playing rock in their living room and being awakened at the crack of dawn to eat eggs with us at Waffle house after some late night boogie job.
I got all my instruments used but of good quality. When we played a nice hotel, we would pack up the kids and the cat and have a vacation weekend or week. Never had much money and never will but my family says it was fun because whatever we did we did it together.

[Ryan_Beucke]

You'll always play better on what you enjoy. If you love trumpet, you'll play it better because you can connect with it more. The money thing is pretty much going to be the same, since you will eventually have to buy multiple tmpts, but you'll also be able to find more used ones. As far as competitive nature, remember that althought trumpet players are "more competitive", there are also much more jobs for tmpt than there are euphonium. It's just the players are sometimes more stuck up for tmpt

Every instrument has its quirks, just find the one you like better