How to Play High Notes On Trumpet 

Yes, I do teach that to my beginners, but it helps to have something like this to help show them physically how to do it. This is obviously an extreme and you will need to unfurl the lips a little, but not a lot.

Thanks for the great comments. I sincerely hope it helps. For some it works and others it does not. I’m always open to trying new techniques.

Thank you very much. I'm not familiar with those methods. I have heard of the Balanced Embouchure, but I've not researched it. I'll have to check those out.

As a former student of Roy Stevens from the early 1970's you are 100% correct. I paid Roy $45, an hour in 1976 for lessons you're giving for free on RU-vid, LOL. Your video proves what I learned from Roy Stevens if born with an underbite you could be another Maynard Ferguson.

That’s awesome!

Glad you liked it!

This is impossible to answer without seeing you and hearing you. I suggest you get with a trumpet teacher in your area.

Hi Jay! That would be awesome. Thank you.

@@jltrumpet81 Thank you!

Please don't. You would be translating misinformation.

​@@trumpettech456okay mister 23 subs sure...

@@ThePinkLemon1468 like that is an argument . Haha.

Yes, this works on all brass instruments.

Yes, it is. CMW Model

😂

The faster the air comes out, the higher the pitch, in theory. We talk about sizzling air to increase the speed. I’ll see if I can make a short demonstration video to explain air speed and how to control it.

@@jltrumpet81 "Comes out"? You mean out of the bell? Out of the lungs? What do you mean by "sizzling"? How did you measure the air "speed"? Pitch is frequency, what does that have to do with "speed"? When you write "speed" are you referring to air flow velocity?

@@darryljones9208 yes, the velocity of air. Imagine a water hose without a nozzle on the end. The water just flows normally out. Hold your thumb over the end and it creates some resistance and the water shoots out with higher velocity. This is the same with our airstream. Our tongue is the thumb over the end of the hose. That creates a “sizzle” in the air. Blow air out with a normal open mouth, then gradually push your tongue forward towards the back of your top teeth. You will hear an increase in air velocity and even the pitch of the airstream will go up. It also correlates with whistling.

@@jltrumpet81 but wait. There is never an open mouth when playing, there is always a lip aperture which is far more narrow than the air path through the oral space. so then there is already a nozzle of sorts. (Not to mention the acoustic resistance of rhe instrument itself). And if there is already a dominant resistance, then the lung air pressure already exists right beforethe aperture. Narrowing the path before it would reduce the flow and reduce the air pressure available. Do you really think that narrowing the air path BEFORE the lip aperture will increase the air velocity THROUGH the aperture? If so how did you measure that air velocity? Obviously the vibration is at the lip aperture. Not on top of the tounge. Is the velocity then the same for all dynamic levels on a contant pitch? How is that even possible? Wouldn't the velocity also increase as we increase the blowing effort to play louder? How then could we play dynamics on a contant pitch?

@@darryljones9208 You ask really great questions. I can tell you are an engineer. I won't pretend to have answers to all these questions. I did make a short video that will become public today at 3:30pm Eastern. Be on the lookout for that. I may have answered some of your questions you raise, but definitely not all of them. I do not have the equipment to measure the velocity that comes out. I wish I did. In theory the velocity of a given pitch will remain constant at any dynamic. Often times we hear people play crescendos or decrescendos on a pitch and hear their pitch go sharp or flat. This is a good sign that they are not maintaining a constant velocity of air. Most often we refer to them lacking in support or not maintaining a firm embouchure. All of those things play a role. Yes, the vibrations of the lips are where the sound comes from and the initial frequency. There used to be a good video on RU-vid of a trumpet being played with silicone lips and an air compressor. You might be able to find it. The changes in the velocity of the air through those synthetic lips changed the pitch allowing the trumpet to play different partials. It's a really cool video that shows how simple it can be only using air speed to control our pitch. Make sure to watch my video when it comes out this afternoon. As with anything trumpet related, what works for me might not work for you. I always keep an open mind to experimenting and finding what works or doesn't work for me. Thank you for this great conversation.

Yes, there are different schools of thought. You have to find the one that works for you. I also do a bit of unfurling, but this is a great way to approach for those players who play with too much “pink”. Lynn Nicholson has a great lesson on how to play with the unfurling method. He calls it the MF Protocol. Check it out.

Works for some and not for others. I’m an advocate for trying different approaches until you find what works for you.

I do agree that some have a more natural ability to play high, but I also believe that anyone can gain control of the “normal” trumpet range. “Normal” being low F# to High C. After all, those are the money notes. Everything above that is extra, and for some people, it’s never needed. However, if you can get to F above High C, then your High C will be reliable in a performance setting.