This is EXACTLY what i was looking for! Ive looked all over and found absolutely nothing that talks about my break at double a flat! hopefully this can help me get past it! Thank you SO much for talking about the REAL stuff!!!
+Lientz Wow so glad the break portion made sense to someone. Good luck with working through it, I know it is a big challenge but keep chipping away at it. Best, Jon
Hi Jon, this video for where I’m at was EXTREMELY helpful. Just had a massive click in my range shedding what your doing in the beginning of the video, riding The partials through all 7 valve combinations, keeping the same embochure, keeping the control up to my highest notes. Only plan to keep doing that all all my scales super soft, and playing for real on the bandstand. Other amazing points, your seriously helping out someone like myself who is a gigging trumpet player. Thank you 🙏🙏
Omg. I can’t thank you enough. Really really really thank you so much!!! Before i could hit high C forcefully. And it wouldn’t work anymore after 5mins. Now since i’m practicing those things. I used way to much air which my chops couldn’t handle. Now i’ve been playing way softer and paying attention to my tongue arch. Now all of a sudden i can hit the G above high C. Its still a bit messy. But i hope after some practice it will be clean. Thank you so much! 😃
I just began playing trumpet after 50 years, at 64, getting back is hard and the talent is gone. But you make sence re-technique, I can get upto F, but find hard to play the Chromatic in sequence, and after F, I am sunk to go high up to G, . Thanks for the Tips: will attempt it to see how well I fare .
Excelent videos. My 8 years old boy currently playin the Flugel, and he is beggingin to have issues over high C when he had been playing for a while. Back to technique. Thanks for your work.
I really appreciate people like you.. I wish I was able to go back in time and have you be my.forst trumpet teacher..lol.. im trying to get my chops back after 24 years and I'm going crazy.. your concepts are spot on, but my brain is totally failing to apply some of this.. If I was rich I would juts move down to Florida and spend a year taking lessons with you.. God bless ya and thank you for what you do.
My break is right at High G. I can play an A on my legit and lead piece, but the G eludes me most days. Some times I can find it, so I am getting there, but I'm still in the phase where I am learning the control in that area. The Ab is the same. But the A is more comfortable.
My break is an A. Little buggers to play but I can go much higher. You're completely right though with your words. I personally find it slots better if I under pitch it.
One thing I can recommend is don’t use your actual muscles to go higher because eventually you will hit a wall. Of course your muscles do have a role to play but instead of tending or stretching to go higher use your air. Set a nice relaxed embouchure and just blow that air. Think of it as a hose. If you want it to go farther you can close in on it but eventually get to a point where it’ll just completely close up. But if you keep letting the water flow faster and faster (and of course this won’t be a normal house hose lol) it’ll start to go farther. Same with air. Push that air with a lot of pressure from the abdomen to get them out. It’ll also help with endurance
Herbert L. Clarke talked about playing softly and some of his exercises are to be played with *one breath* over and over which is only concieveable if one plays very softly. I'm curious how your time in Hawaii. I grew up there.
My own theory is that many fail to play the trumpet and do better on a larger instrument. From those "ordinary trumpet players", only a small percentage of trumpet players manages rather soon to play extremely high with ease and those who can, think that the others can do it too if only they were doing it right. Maurice Andre thought too (it seems) that everybody could do what he did. Those who have the right lips for it still need to practice, maintain etc of course. Perhaps they too have certain technical weaknesses they find impossible to overcome. We all keep trying and already tried a thousand things. If everybody could do it, it would be included in normal trumpet study courses but many trumpet teachers can't do it either.
This is true but you need strength in order to pull off techniques...I am stuck on top line F, I feel my embroucher breaks down from strength..I can’t get the corners tight enough and still powerfully tongue. I believe I am not strong enough but many you’re correct..I am a little confused at this point. ( btw you are a freak and you deserve it you worked hard...that said you make it look too dam easy, and that’s a good thing.
Lol well half way there I suppose. It is about learning mechanics. Even if the mechanics are solid without good pitch recognition accuracy will be elusive. Best, Jon
@@Rufftips how do I speed up(mechanics) my air like that to be able to play low c slur to double high C 😵🎺 I can clearly see you are not using much air.
I'm having a very difficult time getting past the double g. I can get the A out but it's not playable and very hard to do. Feels like I'm just not doing something quite right to get the rest of the way to my goal of a playable double c. Your vids seem to be helping and I will continue along the lines of your advice and hope for more results.
Do try an octave slur from B below high C to B below double C. Skip the A and see if you can get the B to pop out. Focus your air, flatten your chin, arch your tongue. If it does pop out the A/Ab is most likely your break. This is where a lot of time will be spent learning to control the A. Think of it like pedal tones. They don't feel the same as a low F#. The A does not feel like the G so you have to discover how to control it. Chances are the A wants to sit high on pitch you will have better luck if you let it be where it wants at first. Don't try to get a full tone at first just find where the pitch wants to be then learn to bend it if you need to. Best, Jon
Rufftips I got the G# the A and the Bb to speak yesterday doing the octave leaps. I started out by doing them in the middle register and thinking small and focused and then went up an octave. And I did this at the end of my practice session. I've been doing a combination of things you're teaching, Joey Tartells " 5 notes" and Rex Richardsons advice on trills along with numerous others. I do have questions though, do I need to work on range everyday and how much is too much? In my desire to reach my goals sometimes I feel like I over do it which seems to set me back. Thank you for all of the advice and instructional videos.
bachstrad77 first off let me say congratulations, you've just unlock the door. Now for how much is too much and how much should you do. This is an exceedingly difficult question to answer. Let's start with the concept that you should have a well-balanced practice routine. Covering technical exercises, melodic studies, études, range exercises, flexibility exercises, tonguing exercises, solos, jazz studies, sight reading are all part of developing as a well-rounded player. Many of these exercises can incorporate your full register. I like to play throughout my entire register at least once each day. I do this in a variety of ways throughout the week. As you develop your upper register and become more and more comfortable it is highly likely you will play throughout your entire register in several different types of exercises each day. To build up to this type of playing will take time and can take years. If you over do it one day, do other things the next day. There is no reason to try and rush the expansion of your register. You're much better off if you utilize the concept of solidifying your register. In other words, strengthen what you have and build off of that as opposed to trying to only work on this new extended register. I'll put one other way, don't sacrifice what you have for what you want. You will have to spend a good amount of time figuring out how to connect this new register to what you already have. This can be quite demanding and very taxing on your chops. This is where you need to be careful. Figuring out how to control this register you will be using a great deal of concentration on what you're doing. You can never let this become too taxing by using too much pressure or manipulating your chops in a harmful manner. Take your time with this I have every faith you will get it figured out you've unlocked the door now you just have to explore the room. Best, Jon
Great vids John..... it's great to see someone talk about it and actually be able to demonstrate what he's saying... you sound AWESOME....question for you bud... have you ever developed a calis on the inside of your lip????
Carlos Zermeno absolutely. At times I have had a schedule where I was playing 6 days and 6 nights a week. 10-12 sets a day can create a bit of a strain on lip tissue. There were also times that I would have the callus soften up from a relaxed schedule and then peel off. I would then have it redevelop as my playing increased. I know other players that have this same layer of hard skin. I have never felt it was a problem or affected my playing in any way. Best, Jon
@@Rufftips THANK YOU SO MUCH for responding to my question, AND THANK YOU for sharing your vids.... I've learned so much from them, especially when you talked about over blowing and how we should back off just a bit especially during our own practice sessions..... once again YOU sound AWESOME... looking forward to more of you're vids...
how are you not stretching as you go that high? I can see your outer places changing, but your lips aren't moving one bit. Do you have a video on how to stop stretching and how to have proper form as you go up like you did? Thanks !
betac I do not have a video on how not to stretch necessarily. I will offer you a few things that I have posted previously. I may try to figure out a way to discuss this topic I think it is important. There are some young players that do find themselves pulling their corners back which is not a good way to approach the upper register. Here is a video one forming my embouchure. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-nuyiyc2Pi7Y.html
betac In this video I discuss a little bit about my discovery of jaw position which I think is also very important to our upper register. I show some close video of what I am doing with the jaw and tongue position ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-LJXt8SL8VWo.html
betac I think in this video I discuss to a greater extent how I think about keeping my corners set and a conceptual forward push. This keeps me from pulling my corners back. This might be the most helpful video for you concerning this topic. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-HuDPiipnuyE.html
betac I will think about this topic and see if there’s a way to discuss it and offer some ideas how to remain forward instead of pulling back as we send in register. Thanks for the question. Best, Jon
Hi Jon, great vid. But can you tell me what fingering to use once you're above Hi C? Or doesn't it matter......Please help me here, I've hit a brick wall at D.
57dogsbody I would start with the standard fingerings which I imagine you have done. D sharp E flat 2 E open F 1 F# 2 G open I would start with those fingerings they’re the same as the octave below. After that it’s only going to be experimentation that finds a solution. You might be having trouble because you’re not forming your embouchure correctly To facilitate playing in this register. Unfortunately there’s too many unknowns for me to be able to diagnose anything. As I have often said range or the upper register is all about discovery
Hey Jon, I don't know if you remember me but I came by one of your vendors in Indiana and I you let me try one of your new strom flex mouthpieces for the Soprano Cornet. Happened around April 1st or whenever NABBA happened. But anyway, I really enjoyed this video. Also was wondering, I have to play a high D on the trumpet and was listening to you talk about the break. My is usually around an high C or sometimes C# (on a good day). I was wondering how I can get the D to pop out. Tried all the techniques and dosent seem to work. Any suggestions? Thanks
+Bobby Feller Work your way up in octaves chromatically from G above the staff. Not longer than half notes and hear the octave in your head. Dont think about not being able to hit the note just hear the octave. Support with a good core flex and focus your chops forward. Hear the octave. Best, Jon
Hi Jon. I will be marching my rookie season at the Crossmen this year. I wanted to try-out on lead this year, but they wouldn't let me because I was too young and they didn't want me to mess up my chops so I was put on second part (and I can completely agree with their reasoning), but I would definitely like to be able to play lead next year. I just have a question regarding my embouchure which I'm not sure will affect my lead playing in the near future. Up to high E above the staff, I am able to maintain the same embouchure, but once I try to "push in" my corners to go for those F's and G's, my embouchure starts to shift towards the right side of my face. If I try to shift my embouchure back to the center, I just can't get those notes or, or it feels like I'm just pushing air against a brick wall. Any tips?
Without seeing and hearing what you are doing I am shooting in the dark so... I will shoot in several safe directions. I would not push, or conceptualize pushing my corners forward. Try a slight jaw forward movement. Nothing big just a slight motion to help support the chops. You might try flattening the chin to achieve a similar effect. Do not pull the horn in harder this becomes counter productive very quickly. Also flex you mid section more for this register. Your abs play a roll in creating air support. Finally tongue position is key and the most difficult to explain or describe. I find the tip of the tongue placed at the top of the bottom teeth and slightly pushed forward in a curled position activates air support and supports the bottom lip. Again this is the most difficult to describe. Never do things to the extreme, that hurt you or cause the sound to suffer. Best, Jon
CoolCat Garcia You might take a close look at jaw position work on flexibility studies and try bending studies as well. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-LJXt8SL8VWo.html
I have Much trouble just playing and keeping endurance and energy in the high C area, I feel as if i just dont get the notes but i can play them sometimes. Any tips? I really need some help
edstud1 this might help figure out whole steps and half steps. There are B# and Fb in music. They exist. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-6BP6KNmihV0.html
pugtato try fixing your embrocher, in 8th grade my horn angle was shit but in 9th i fixed my horn angle and embrocher and as a result i was able to hit a triple g
pugtato or try playing with little top and mostly bottom lip so the air is a focused stream and i play on a 3c, i hope this helps although its hard to explain over the internet, just try different mouthpiece locations i hope this helped
It is difficult to provide a video to fix each problem. The key is to find a teacher to help you. My videos are just there to help folks think about things and seek help when they have a serious problem. Best, Jon
Jayden Maerend I put in a lot of practice time over the years. I had some very good teachers. I was given a very good foundation by my first teacher. And I was lucky to be able to play in some very good situations with some very good players. I haven’t stopped learning and exploring over 48 years. Believe me there are players that are far better than I. I have been lucky to learn from them. Best, Jon
Rufftips that’s what I needed! I learned how to play trumpet in high school from a percussionist lol my first teacher was great but when my lip started doing weird things and I asked him he really couldn’t help me cause all he knew was “tighter, faster”. After playing for Now about ten years I have no endurance or range since tighter faster only takes you so far. Thanks for the insight and showing that it’s not all just brute force that gets us up in the high register!
adfasd The problem here is you want the music universe to revolve around the B-flat trumpet and it does not. It revolves around concert pitch. Your example of A4 = A440 or 440Hz is absolutely correct when you are referring to concert pitch. So all instruments are not in concert pitch we must start with that fact. If you take the saxophone family the soprano sax is in B-flat just like a trumpet. The alto sax is lower and pitched in E flat. The tenor sax is in B flat an octave below the trumpet. The Baritone sax is again in E flat an octave below the alto sax. So let us break this down in the saxophone world. When a saxophone player is reading saxophone music the fingerings are exactly the same for every note no matter what saxophone they are playing. In other words if you’re reading B-flat music or E flat music it doesn’t matter the fingerings are the same on the corresponding instrument. So if you’re playing an alto in E flat a C is the same fingering as on a B-flat tenor. The thing that changes is the pitch. So if you put any treble clef music in front of a saxophone they’re going to use saxophone fingerings to play it. So in order to get the saxophone to play the correct pitch according to concert pitch you have to change the pitch of the music they are playing. To get it correct you have to put the Bb Saxophone music up one step from the concert pitch you want to sound. For E flat alto or baritone saxophone would be written a minor 3rd down. Again we have to remember the universe is not revolving around anything but concert pitch. Yes concert pitches are in relation to hertz they can be described by calling out a sign wave frequency. However, when the instrument itself is pitched in a different key than concert C the correlation to hertz now different and the music or notes on the page have to be adjusted accordingly. When you look at music score it shows what every instrument is playing. Scores are written either in concert pitch for all instruments or they are what is known as a transposed score. Ah here is our answer. Every instrument not pitched in concert pitch has to transpose the music or read music that is already transposed. I don’t know what your plane situation is but here in America when you become a music student in a public school you learn to play your instrument through the usage of a beginning band book. All of the books are transposed appropriately for the instruments that are being played. This is because these instruments are not pitched in concert pitch. What we say is a flute is in C a violin is in C. What that means is when they play a C they are playing concert C. If they playin an a yes it is an a
