I kno that they say it doesnt matter what kind of mouthpiece you have you can hit any note it you practice on almost any mouthpiece... i just wanted to kno what the best recommendation is for a highschool student. I am always on first part and always habing to hit the highest of notes and I can most of the time on my 3c but sometimes i can't hold them... which is probably not the mouthpiece just me. So any suggestions on how to help with that?

Well your problem sounds a bit like mine, it's the strength of the muscle in your lip embrochure area as well as the speed of the air your pushing through your mouth piece. For your embrochure do lip slurs and chromatics as well as areppegos they work very well well when it comes to that because it helps strengthen the individual muscles. For your air however try crutches to build up your diaphram for better control as well as pedal tones that help when you go low the way the air feels there is the same way it should when you play in the upper register, to get that same feeling of how you should breathe you can lay down and breathe from your stomach while you place your hand on it that is the way it should feel when your playing as well. Hope it helps ^__^

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Oh I must thank Toptrump and cantevergiveitup for those air suggestions lol.

I'm a college trumpet player, and range has never been my strong suit, but it has been getting better over the years. I think the real secret to range is building up a strong lip through lots of practice. At the same time, 3c is a really funky mouthpiece, and some players (myself included) find that almost ANY other mouthpiece works better. I'm a college senior and I'm doing pretty well with a 7C these days.

I've been using a Schilke 20B for oh, about 35 years, and it really is the chops, little beaver. Like any athlete, you have to develop the entire muscle group as well as the individual muscles themselves. Play your way through the Arban's in a week - that'll do wonders for you.

Check out some of the other threads that deal with range - you'll find some great suggestions in them for developing the embochure AND increasing range, flexibility and endurance (I wrote some of them myself, I do believe.)

I've been at this a long time and have learned a lot that I have no one to pass the stuff on to. That's why I'm here. If I can help the next generation of cat's coming up, then I can fade on oputta here happy.

Be cool!

3c seems to work best for me and my friends

if ur not a 3C *smaller rim*..try a 1.5 C *bigger rim*....or a schilke 14B *smaller cup*...or a denis 2w *larger cup* and if u can afford it..try it in gold..that helped ALOT

correction: dennis wick not dennis

as far as mouthpieces go, go with what feels comfortable and works best for you, i personally use a 1.5 cause i find it comfortable, lots of flexiblitly, and my range still gets up to a super A, mind you i'm majoring in music. n e ways a lot of high school kids use the seven C, its nice and generic, cheap, and a good starter mouthpiece, its not to hard to play high notes and u get decent enough flexibility, as u become a more advance players most teachers will encourage their students to move to a larger mouthpiece, alot of the ppl i konw use 3 C mouthpieces. if playing trumpets something your goin to do alot, ie like community bands or w/e, post secondary, try different ones out, a good rule of thumb when lookin is teh smaller mouthpiece are good for range, but not as good tone and flexibility, where as the bigger mouthpiece can have a bigger tone, but more air is needed for the range, however after practice and so on and so forth ur range will be just as good as it would on a smaller mouth peice, sorry for my rambling but hopefully theres somethin good in there

You can practice 24 hours a day and not significantly develop your range.

Those that don't have range have not committed themselves to correct, albeit boring and arduous, exercises.



½ hour of careful, focused exercises will give you more progress than 4 hours of “trial and error”, scattered, practice.

You have to practice your focus most of all. Focus on 80% pedal tones.

Focus on air and avoid getting distracted about lip.

Don’t give in and grab a 14A4A to make your notes easier to hit. Your tone will be crap, and worse, you will be less likely to develop your range.

Famousde has hit it right on the head - if you don't live the basics everyday, forget it. Developing your chops consistently over a long period of time is the only way to develop into a true trumpeter.

When going "up", you have to go down just as often, just as focused - its a balance of development. Otherwise, you end up being like a body builder who only does lat pulls - what's that going to look like?

The key to upper range focus is focus out, not up. In other words, as you climb, don't think through the top of your head, focus through the back wall of the auditorium.

And, again, it's doing the basics eveyday. This drive-thru, remote-control mentality wil get you nothing but frustration and crap for sound. Devote the time and energy, you will have a legitimacy that cannot be doubted or taken away.

you know what? i'm not trying to be rude or anything but don't listen to the guys who recommend different mouthpieces. my advice is to get the one that fits your comfort level the best i play with a 3c because it fits me best, because i used that one all my life (when i first started.) so if your getting a new mouthpiece it should be the same cup size (3c) but try different stlyes that improves different parts of your embrochure. (like megatone or other ones that fits you best.) i started off with a 7c but that wasn't for me. so the standard size mouthpiece i play with is the one you could buy anywhere the vincent bach 3c because it fits my comfort level

Good advice, MM - like I said, I've been playing om a Schilke 20B for like forever. Same great sound, same great range.

Good advice, MM - like I said, I've been playing a Schilke 20B for like forever. Same great sound, same great range.

I started out on a 7C in 5th grade... then went to 3C (played it for about 3 years... all through junior high) Then I went to a 5C (liked it for about a year)... Then, I found my favorite of all and I've been playing it ever since (about 10 years)...

The Monette B15M (equivalent to a Bach 1 1/2 C)... Has beautiful warm, dark tone for orchestral/wind ensemble... and centered pitch with a really nice "zip" to the high range. I played lead trumpet in Jazz and Symphony with the same mouthpiece... Very versatile.

www.monette.net (Wynton plays monette's)... so did Maynard.

The guys are right... It's all about consistency and finding the right "fit"... The right fit isn't magic... you gotta work on your chops no matter what size or function.

If you can get a hold of Jimmy Stamp's warm-up method... works like a champ. Also, Earl D. Iron's is pretty rad.

I went and saw Wynton Marsalis at the Seattle Opera House. He was doing his jazz thing with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra... afterwords I asked him for some trumpet advice... he chuckled and said, "longtones, baby... longtones!" And walked away.

I'll tell you why Monette mouthpieces are BETTER than the standard Bach mouthpieces...

Take the Bach mouthpiece first... If you tap both the cup and shank of the mouthpiece, one side at a time, in the palm of your hand, you'll hear that the pitches don't match up... and they should...

If you take a Monette Mouthpiece and do the same, you'll have a perfect octave (centered pitch)... this is so important...

I'll tell you why...

At the turn of the 20th century, Bach trumpets were made to be both in the key of "A" and "Bb" (It might have been a different key option instead of A... can't remember) ... There was a trigger that cut off tubing to change the key for easy transposition.

The mouthpiece was made to function for both keys... and when it came time to remove the tubing and trigger to make a standard horn in Bb, the mouthpiece was never adjusted...

Monette mouthpieces are shorter in length than Bach mouthpieces for this reason... and I can tell the difference right away.

When the pitch is naturally centered, you don't have to adjust your embochure to lip anything in tune... plus, if you can visualize the note and control it with airflow, the upper register is a lot easier to navigate through.

Monette's are also individually hand carved out of soft gold...