My son has been playing the trumpet for about two years. We have moved a lot because I am in the military, and currently does not have an instructor. He is having a very hard time with notes above high C. He strains very hard while playing the D on up, and it sounds like it too. Then of course, he is exhausted after a couple of those notes and has to stop for a minute or two. He is 14, and plays on a 7C mouthpiece, and his silver trumpet is in excellent shape. I have checked to make sure his us breathing from his diaphram, has good posture, etc.

Is it normal at this stage of the game for him to have to fight it so?
Would a different mouthpiece help?
Is there a good book someone can recomend that give tips for working into the high notes?
Does the placement on the mouthpiece need to change that dramatically to make it happen?
Is there a practice routine that might help?

Any pointers would be appreciated.

Marshall,

About which high C are you speaking? The note naming system for treble clef is foggy; If you`re referring to the C above the staff, or 2nd ledger line C, your son is doing FINE! If you are referring to the C within the staff, then he has some issues. I can not help with not being able to play above C in the staff without seeing him (and probably not even then - I`m just a student, too), so if this is the case, get him a good, respected teacher. Not a teacher from a local music store, but a true professional trumpeter. Call a local symphony and ask to be put in contact with their principal trumpeter or something. If you want some help finding a teacher in your area, email me with your city and state and I`ll ask my college professor and some other first-line pros I know.

Now! If you were referring to the C above the staff, congratulate your son. I didn`t have a dependable, workable high C until late my senior year of high school. Rather than think about getting high notes, he should be concentrating on improving everything between low F# and top C. After all, 95% of what us trumpeters will ever play is in this range and it`s vital that we can play fluidly within it.

Ask your son to open up his Arban`s book to page 191 and pick a lyrical etude and work on making it as beautiful as possible. If he doesn`t have an Arban`s book, get him one. Go to a music store and say "I`d like the Arban`s book for trumpet." Also consider picking up any of the method books by Vizzutti, Charlier, Stamp, Concone, W. Smith, Clark, and Schlossberg. These are all standards and are invaluable to trumpeters.

The only way I know of to build a high register is to use it. Play stuff that includes all of his range, but as smoothly and nicely as possible. Musicality will make him great!

Cheers! and contact me if you`ve more questions,
Aaron Norlund
Aaronnorlund@hotmail.com

p.s. - visit www.trumpetherald.com
and http://www.bachbrass.com/phpBB/

do lots of lip slurs and long low tones. make sure he`s not cramming the trumpet against his face as this will result in embouchure problems. have him kepp doing arpeggios as high as he can and as many octaves as he can and his range will steadily improve. and make sure he`s playing everyday. the more he plays the better he`ll be. and the stronger he`ll be. and make sure that he`s not blowing like he`s scared to play. when you play high you need to be confident and be sure that you will hit the notes that you want.

Thanks for the help. He can play up to the C in the staff just fine, it is anything beyond that which he struggles with. I will check regarding having the trumpet too tight against his mouth. The way he tightens up, I suspect that is an issue. I will also check on the Arban`s book. He is in the third book of the Essential Elements 2000 band method. We will be looking into lessons for him, but it will be a couple months before we can make that happen.