Trumpet exercises?

Question:I am a sophmore in high school and i've been playing for a little over a year now.....the hightst note i can play clearly is a double G...i am curious as to whether or not i shuld stay consistant with my exercises (lip slurs, long tones, interval studies etc.) or are there others i shuold change to to increase range and tone quality and note accuracy?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: I am a sophmore in high school and i've been playing for a little over a year now.....the hightst note i can play clearly is a double G...i am curious as to whether or not i shuld stay consistant with my exercises (lip slurs, long tones, interval studies etc.) or are there others i shuold change to to increase range and tone quality and note accuracy?

I am a professional musician in Chicago. I have played clarinet and bari sax for 18+ years. This last December, I decided to try my hand at trumpet- and so far, so good!

One thing I've noticed, is that for trumpet players, the importance is placed on embochure. For woodwind players, the emphasis is placed on throat and tongue position. Being a woodwind player, I have applied some of the same concepts to trumpet, and have gotten decent results, though somewhat diminished on trumpet.

Play a Bb scale from your lowest note to your highest, slowly, and pay attention to what your throat and tongue are doing. Try and get as even a tone as possible for the full range.
Play it again, lowest to highest, but try to go one step higher. (Make your throat and tongue continue in the pattern that it followed up the scale.) When you hit that note, just hold it as long as you can. Then do it again, faster. After a few repititions, try to hear the note in your head, think about what your muscles were doing, and go for it. You may crack it, but don't stop. Try to adjust accordingly.

Another thing to do: keep going on your intervals and ESPECIALLY THE OVERTONES. Start at your lowest note and slur up to your next overtone, through the series. Don't move to the next overtone until you have the clarity and tone that you want. Then, start a half step higher than you did before, and go through the process again. It takes a little patience, but it is well worth it. Spend ten minutes a day, and after a couple of weeks you should start to hear some improvement. After a couple weeks, try tonguing the overtones in rhythmic patters (ie. 16ths for 2 counts each). If you find that you are cracking the beginnings of notes, or that the second or third tongue attack breaks, slow it down and try to hear it in your head. Just try to be steady and consistant.

Remember that you are your worst critic- especially if you care about what comes out of your horn. Keep up on your scales and intervals, and everything else will fall into place.

And most importantly- remember that you love it, and have fun with it!

Good luck!

The magic bullet: practice while standing with the back of your head against a wall. Really!