Piccolo Trumpet: The Untold Secret! 

The piccolo trumpet exposes the "fast air" thing for the myth it is. High-range playing is actually falsetto playing. Just as you do when singing, you drive the falsetto range down into the normal range and vice versa, in order to disguise the transition. The falsetto knack is the very thing that prevents most players from developing the extreme high register, and educators aren't aware they're doing it so they can't teach it. They attribute it to "fast air", but they're sadly mistaken. Percentage-wise, a very small proportion of trumpet players ever manage the knack of falsetto playing. Extra support plus feel is what they're mistaking for "fast air". It's the embouchure set for playing in the falsetto range that squeezes their air-column, the way air moves between blades of grass trapped between the thumbs.

It practically goes the way of the piccolo (flute), you have to be proficient on the ("concert") flute before taking the octave-higher-pitched counterpart.

Great primer on the picc. Thanks. One thing I noticed about the picc is that air velocity is even more important than on a B flat. Increased velocity, decreased volume (like you said).

Thanks!!!!!!! I was about to buy a Piccolo trumpet because I thought I was going to be able to play high tunes like you said. Thanks again for this valuable advice I don't wanna get stuck with something is not going to work.👍👍👍

You had me at "forget it"! Haha! Nice work. You should post more videos. You're a natural AND you sound great!

In my youth (Early 80s) I played a Bach Piccolo trumpet, and found it very easy to play. It would be great if you could partner with a distributor to compare and comment on the playability of different horns. As a music teacher I have access to a lot of different student horns and a few intermediate level, in addition to my professional horns, the differences in intonation and playability can be startling.

"and play it high in the stratosphere" lol

Heard Maurice Andre in concert in high school in the early '80s in Minnesota. He was amazing!

That was actually more informative than I expected. Don’t know why, but it was. Thanks.

This was very informative! Thank you for sharing.

Thank you. Great info.

Piccolo with A pipe allowed me to play notes written in the treble key of keyboards. The transposition is somewhat staightforward by reading the treble notes as if they were in the Bass clef. Allowed me to play along with organ or piano and directly reading the same sheet.

when i played one, i used a Bach 7e which, although it wasnt comfortable in the high pitches of the Brandenburg, its did everything else extremely well, and was comfortable and had a full sound. The horn responded to it very well and did not cause me to over exert on most anything.

I bought a piccolo trumpet, and indded with the standard mouthpieces it does not play easier the higher octave Bb4-Bb5. BUT then I realized that the fault is in the mouthpieces and I bought small mouthpieces of 11mm-14,4.mm diameter from resin or acorn that are normally used for wooden cornetti musical instruments , AND THE MIRACLE HAPPENED ! Playing the Bb4-Bb5 octave became almost as easy as playing the Bb3-Bb4 octave in the standard trumpet.

Thank you ! I like your presenataion !

Fascinating video. I've been curious about this instrument since hearing Delerue's 'Grand Choral' from Day for Night. I wonder if Delerue knew Maurice André.

Very nice Sound

I always wanted to try my hand at piccolo trumpet way back when I was a first trumpet in the band but I never had the opportunity. Now I no longer have the chops for it!

Trumpetgeek nation is the best I have ever saw in my life I would give a 👍

Very Interesting Thanks

Beautiful

A Trumpet player from Cuba. Thanks for the inspiration an knowledge!!!!

I have a yamaha 4 000 series, struggle with high range thought to opt fr piccolo now I realize it would still be the same so I rather work on the current one tnx

I was at a summer music program back in the mid-1970s, and recall a moment when one of the faculty, who was a trumpeter, called out to anyone who might happen to be listening: "some people say the piccolo trumpet is difficult to play. That's not true at all. _It's damn near impossible!"_

Oh the statement on his t-shirt is exactly same as my current lives

You earned a like just from the intro. lol

Wow, great video! I'm just getting back to playing trumpet again. So I was looking at a regular Trumpet and the Piccolo...I think I'll get my b-flat trumpet and maybe next year, check out the piccolo. Great informative video.

That is great

Saxophones are top quality, great instruments. Piccolo, ' snare drums...super ...flutes too....good.

Clean

This talks sense. The piccolo trumpet is very difficult to play and requires a totally different technique. For most starting players the piccolo ends up sounding like a kazoo, until you learn not to overblow which is harder than you think. This guy with his little sample at the end shows he’s mastered the instrument. One comment there are very many variants of design of piccolo trumpets depending on the trumpet maker.

I've never even tried to play any brass instrument and this was very interesting. The speech is very quiet, though.

Young man perty good video

THANK YOU for checking myself before I proceeded to wrecking myself. :)

Can you suggest any beginners music to play and how is trumpet music different then piccolo trumpet? (How can I read it cause I don't know what the fingering are compared to what note I'm playing)

Ah - so it takes just as much effort to buzz at the right frequency, but there are fewer partials to reckon with in the same range. Makes perfect sense.

It must be technically possible to play Brandenburg 2 on a modern non-piccolo trumpet, but you only hear it played on replica baroque trumpets or on piccolo trumpets. I suppose players who aren't aiming for "authenticity" just go for the tool that will make hitting the correct notes more reliable.

Hello, i have a question about your "pipe bag". wWhere did you buy this?i want to have this too! Thank you for answer!

What mouthpiece are you using for the piccolo? I'm having trouble finding the right one...

Piccolo in the key of A, with a piece of music in the key of D, what would be the transposition

It sounded like a bird built a nest in your bell! I have tried playing them… They are a challenge. That’s why I play a trumpet in a flugelhorn, a lot less stressful!!! 🤪🤪🤪

whats the song you were trying to play in the beginning?

It's adorable & it has 4 Valves.

I passout a lot trying to play high notes when I was in high school. I can only go up to A or B, so I gave up playing trumpet eventually.

How do you start blowing this from the beginning, I have a piccolo trumpet, please help me I am ready to play

I wonder if the pícalo French Horn does the same thing?

The Bach mouthpieces for the high register have often a rounded rim which digs in my lips. The Schilke 15A4a works much better . It is big and flat but falls immediately straight down in the cup so those bottoming out easily have normally enough room. The wide diameter assures flexibility. The tone however is sadly (at first?) not really beautiful. The 14A4a is more rounded, I think. I never tried it.

實用！

Oh heck I was under the impression I could player higher B flat music 😕

Playing pieces with the trumpet in “A”. Are there any slides that need pulled out? If there is a piece in E what would be the transposition ?

What brand is the trumpet you play in this video?

Is there such a beast as a piccolo trumpet leadpipe NOT made with yellow brass??

Another reason most players use the A lead pipe is because it provides better intonation. Longer tubing equals better intonation.

I once went to a music store and found a piccolo trumpet and like you said it's not 99 percent easy to play one is did play 7 years on it and now I would like to get my hands on a piccolo trumpet one day again

What Brand/Model Piccolo Trumpet do you use?

Make more videos pls :(

That'sexactly what I thought when I asked my teacher to bring his picc in.........Watch me hit the screaming notes. Boy was I pissed when I found out I couldn't hit SHIT!

Yep, she's a wee beastie!

I've seen a piccolo trumpet pitched in C.

Please make more videos

Why do you only have 125 subs

Have you tried the natural trumpet?

So you can play high notes better not easier

Top secret: practice 40 hours.

A is a good country key

It costs more, is harder to play, requires relearning your fingerings, sounds objectively worse unless your are Maurice Andre (no offense but I'd give odds that almost everyone sounds better on a Bb (pic wise, hats off man)), doesn't swing and qualifies you to play Penny Lane. On the upside, it will actually help you to learn to play upstairs by giving you the sense of where the sweetspot is up there... It obviously takes years to decades play.

That low g is so sharp holy crap

There is a piccolo trumpet

Ha, ha, ha, "when I was a young trumpet player", YOU are a YOUNG person boy. NB: Wondering what you will say when you are 80?

Eb piccolo trumpet

69th comment

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Penny Lane brought me here 🙂

Picc sucks, Eb is the smallest I'm comfortable with

And if your videos that long I'm surprised that it cannot be that bored like for example it's nothing interesting I'm looking at it sounds like like nothing I can't even describe

If you wanted to be more interesting like at least two dance moves have another partner you do challenges and stuff yeah just wanted to tell you cuz I was bored to death

Good explanation of piccolo trumpet. Glad you touched on harmonic series. Baroque music often in D lays great on the A side of piccolo trumpet putting it in F.