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Question: Help on my trumpet playing!?
Im an eight grader that plays the trumpet in our schools concert band!. Whenever i play, i sound very airy and wierd!. How can i play something smoothly without sounding airy!?Www@QuestionHome@Com


Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
Azn,
Don't ask your teacher unless that person specializes in trumpet!. Woodwinds and piano people don't normally have any idea what they are talking about unless they've gone out of their way to get really good trumpet training!. It's not even the same as the trombones and tubas!.

Read this entire site and it will help you tremendously!.
http://www!.bbtrumpet!.com/ I took a lesson from the dude!. He's super nice and can scream a triple high c so loud it almost ran me out of the room!.

Next - make sure you are using the right embouchure!. You need to be using a 'pucker' emboucher and not a 'smiling' embouchure!. The website above explains why!. A puckered tight ring of muscle tissue is going to support the mouthpiece more solidly and resonate better and with a rich, fat sound!.

Next - do the shilke power drill every day!.
http://www!.dallasmusic!.org/schilke/Other!.!.!.
Don't be afraid to be loud!. This is going to help you the most!.

Next - only use the pressure you need to make sure your lips don't leak!. If you press too hard, your lips won't vibrate as well as they will if you aren't pressing too hard!.

Next - do the pencil exercise every day!.
http://www!.youtube!.com/watch!?v=_INaCr8rd!.!.!.

The pencil dude, Eric, has a bunch of excellent videos that will help you!. You should watch them all!.

You need to practice what is called long tones to get rid of the wavery uneven tone!. They are mind-numbingly boring!. Watch tv while you do them!. That's what helps me endure the mental anguish!. Play a scale, holding each note for about 10 counts, increasing in volume, then backing off!. Work very hard at holding the note steady!. Do it really, really soft, then do them really loud (without distortion)!.

Your problem has several root causes, and in 8th grade, you will still be solving several at once!. It takes 3-5 years of steady work on a trumpet just to get an embouchure that will really, really sound good!. You'll have fun in the meantime, and it's worth the effort, but don't get discouraged, and mainly don't give up!.

Do these exercises every single day!. Warm up well, then play your trumpet loud and hard for a minimum of 30 minutes each day (but do not resort to pressure to keep playing)!. Rest if you need to!. 10 minutes 3 times is better than 30 minutes if you are needing to cheat or sounding bad!.

Record yourself playing for an entire practice session before you start these things!. Record yourself in one month!. The improvement will blow you away!. Keep doing it!. In one year, you will be shocked if you stay after it!. The other huge thing you need to do is get some lessons from someone really good!. I'm talking college professor of trumpet!. Mow lawns, petsit, whatever, but save up and take at least 3 or 4 lessons!. They will set you on a right track, diagnose issues if you have any (we all do), and then you can practice what they taught you, even if you can't afford to go back very often!.

OH, also - join www!.trumpetherald!.com !. There are trumpet players on there from your age up to old professionals!. They are super nice people and will help you any time!.

-KevinWww@QuestionHome@Com

good job noticing ur tone-not many kids do!.
push a steady stream of air through, dont tense anything up besides your lips (shoulders relaxed, dont scrunch up ur face) etc, also try to blow the air slightly up ward
!.!.!.!.practice really high notes and do whatever sounds good!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

ask your music teacher for help!.Www@QuestionHome@Com