Hey everyone, I`m a sax player who can now play all of the woodwinds quite well, but I`ve always wanted to play trumpet and trombone well. I`m letting a friend borrow one of my alto`s in exchange for his trumpet, and I`ve started messing around. I can pretty much play everything below a G on top of the staff; for some reason I just can`t hit notes or partials any higher. I`ve tried "tensing" up my embechoure, moving my lips around, blowing faster and more narrow, but I just can`t seem to hit anything higher. Everything else seems to be going great though, I can read basically any music at this point that doesnt go above a G (lol), i`m able to play scales and chromatics very quickly, turns out trumpet isn`t as hard as my peers told me! If anyone could relay any helpful information on how to hit higher notes; (I`ve tried working my way up in scales, I end up cracking the note and falling a partial below). Any help would be greatly appreciated! And in return I could always give you hints on woodwind instruments (save for the Oboe.. thats one heck of a difficult instrument)

hey i also play the sax. im renting a trumpet today and well, all i know is to not pucker your lips and like the c scale. i was wonderin if u are self taught or if u have a instructor. well if you can tell me some about playing the trumpet i would like that alot. do you like playing the trumpet? better than the sax?

Ahh well unfortunately I`m not the person who should be giving you tips on how to play the trumpet. Yes, I am self taught as far as brass goes; I read some fingering charts and can play music, but because I`m self taught I was never taught the proper way to play higher partials. I`m still stuck at a G. If however, you ever have some sax questions- I guess you could say I`m the person to ask as far as these forums go.
Since yesterday my tone has improved a great deal and my lips dont become as tired as quickly, but still the higher range gives me problems...

Still waiting on help from real trumpet players! Come on.. someone help out us saxes!

hi. i guess i am what you would call a real trumpet player because i`ve been playing for three years in school and have had some private lessons. what helps me get to the g above the one that sits on the staff is just practicing alot. i used to do partials up higher and higher over and over and over again. but now i just stick to scales. i usually just play notes higher and higher untill i cant play any higher in the Bb Concert scale(C scale to trumpets(c,d,e,f,g,a,b,c)) you know what they say: practice makes perfect

One things I`ve noticed about most good woodwind players is the formation of the chin muscles. They tend to flatten and almost form a point. This is great for supporting the edges of the lips and keeps the bottom lip flat and "pulled", for lack of better description. This is a great formation for sustaining a reed, but completely wrong for trumpet.

Use a mirror and check your chin when you play, you will probably notice it flattenning out and forming a bit of a point at the bottom (with the muscles pulling to the sides). For trumpet, you want these muscles pushing inward to support the bottom lip. Stop playing and just put your lips together (like you always do when closing your mouth). This is probably the closest thing to a proper embochure. You want to have as round an opening as possible (vs. sax or clarinet where the bottom lip tends to go flat). With your lips in this closed mouth position, try blowing out without moving the lip or chin muscles.

Then try tightening into a `buzz`. Make sure the chin muscles do not flatten. You can also stick a pencil in you lips and try to hold it horizontal to the ground (do NOT use your teeth at all). This will also help form the lip and chin muscles correctly. If you can hit a G now, correcting this should push you to high C pretty quickly, though your natural lip setting is for reed, and that`s going to be very difficult to alter.

Good luck!

I am a sophmore in highschool, Ive been playing the alto saxophone since 5th grade. I have been playing the trumpet for 3 months. I can get to the high G on the top line. It takes pratice and tightening lips. The sax is easier though.