Lemme start off by saying I am definitely not a trumpet expert and I need a lot of help. That said, next year my high school is putting on a musical(West Side Story) and I want to play. The teacher gave me the music and I assured her I would be able to play by the end of summer. Fast forward to the present day and I have only begun looking at the music and I realize that it is far to hard for me to understand. I am trying my best but I need some help. I will list my many problems below so please help me and try to keep the insults to my intelligence to a minimum. Thank you.

1. The key signatures. What if there are five sharps or 5 flats?!?! What notes are sharps and flats then? And three sharps and three flats. It is all so confusing.

2. What the hell is an E sharp? There`s no such thing as an E sharp in my book. Yet they`re all over the place in this music. There are also B sharps. How would I play this?

3. What the hell is a gliss? I play a little trombone is it like a glissando? Where you have to play all the notes between the two notes? Maybe.

4. In front of some of the notes there is this little checkerboard thing. It looks kinda like a flower maybe up close. What does that mean?

5. What does it mean when it has the words "Shake" and a little wavy line above a note?

That is all for now but I`ll probably find more stuff. I know that I should probably get a tutor or take some lessons but money is a little tight right now and I`m trying to learn whatever I can on my own. Thank you in advance for your help everyone.

how long have u been playing trumpet?

Hi Alyssa,
Firstly, don`t despair. Most of what you`re after is Music theory, and some Trumpet Playing techniques.

Pressure for West Side Story is a problem, and my easiest solution is try to get with the other trumpet players in the band to do some re-hearsals - don`t wait. It will help heaps. Go for the 4th Trumpet part if you can. If the teacher is after you to be the star, then just advise her maybe next year...

My advice may not be so clear, but I will send more info later. Hope this helps.
1. Key Signatures.
There is a circle of Keys. I will send you a link later, for piano. It helps with this and helps explain. The Flats or sharps in the key signature are played for the duration of the piece until a new (change) in key signature occurs. If a bar has a note that has a sharp or flat in front, then this carries through for the whole bar only.

2. Think of Sharp as raising half a tone. So E sharp becomes F. B sharp becomes C. They do exist, and is usually the transposition.
Flats drop half a tone. C becomes B etc. Very easy to see on a Piano keyboard.

3. Gliss..it sounds like you know this. Lip slur up,and valve up to the note.

4. I am not sure about this, but if it is above the stave, at the start, it is usually the repeat point where you come back to.

5. Shake. Heavy hand vibrato. Usually for affect.

There are lots of Trumpet Music Theory books out there, that can really better explain.
As Byrd once said to Miles Davis, if you want to really understand music, you gotta play a piano. The theory is essential, and the foundation to the written music.

A shake is the same thing as a trill.

Try this link for Sharps/Flats/Accidentals etc
http://www.mibac.com/Pages/Theory/Main_Theory.htm

Another link to help on theory. There`s a whole book here.
http://www.questionsink.com/PDFs/BMT/B.M.T.e-BookPart4.pdf

Hope it helps. Keep swingin`

On shakes: This is from Peter Bond, and a good explanation...


Although the names are used interchangably, a shake and a lip trill are two different things.
As the name implies, a shake involves moving the horn in an exaggerated hand vibrato, ala Louis Armstrong (where the shake probably originated). The result usually has a dixieland kind of sound to it.
A lip trill is accomplished with a whistling-type motion of the tongue to oscillate between two pitches (oo-ee-oo-ee). The result is smoother sounding and stylistically different (Maynard Ferguson, Bill Chase, etc). This "tongue" trill generally only works above the staff, where partials are close together, so in big band section work, when a trill is called for, the lower voices usually have to move the jaw or shake the horn (as described above) while the guys above the staff do a tongue trill.
Some players (and famous ones at that) who never developed the ability to "tongue" trill, do physically shake the horn on the chops in all sorts of ways, but it really wears on the chops, so developing this technique can really save a lot of wear and tear on the face.

In "legit" music, "tongue" trills can come in very handy; such as when playing the Haydn or Hummel concerti on a Bb trumpet. It obviously has to be practiced in such a way as to sound stylistically consistent, but it can be done. It is a normal skill for french horn players and natural trumpet players. I use it all the time (with a 1-3 fingering on the top-of-staff "g."
Peter Bond

I have been playing for two years only. I did take the 3rd trumpet part and thank God for that because I could not even fathom trying to play 1st trumpet now. Thank you so much Peter for all of your help. I will be getting a teacher soon but you saved me big bucks since I probably won`t have to go to as many lessons.

In direct answer to your questions...

1. The key signatures. What if there are five sharps or 5 flats?!?! What notes are sharps and flats then? And three sharps and three flats. It is all so confusing.

First off let me say the order of sharps is F C G D A E B and flats is B E A D G C F
5 sharps is the key of B, it has F C G D A sharped... this key sucks.
5 flats is the key of D flat, it has B E A D G flatted, this key also sucks.
3 sharps is the key of A, it has F C G sharped, this key does not suck.
3 flats is the key of Eb, it has B E A flatted, this key is quite fun.

2. What the hell is an E sharp? There`s no such thing as an E sharp in my book. Yet they`re all over the place in this music. There are also B sharps. How would I play this?

E sharp is F, B sharp is C. If you see an F flat it is an E, same with a C flat, it`s a B

3. What the hell is a gliss? I play a little trombone is it like a glissando? Where you have to play all the notes between the two notes? Maybe.

Gliss is indeed short for a glissando.

4. In front of some of the notes there is this little checkerboard thing. It looks kinda like a flower maybe up close. What does that mean?

That is most likely a double sharp, which means you riase the pitch a whole step... these suck. Example you are in the key of C (0 flats and sharps) and you see a C double sharp. This would be played as a D. If you see an E, it would be an F sharp, if you are in a key such as G (one sharp) and you see an F double sharp, you would play a G I believe. Double sharps and flats suck.

5. What does it mean when it has the words "Shake" and a little wavy line above a note?

Not 100% sure, but take the advice of what the others have said on this one...


HAVE FUN WITH WESTSIDE STORY!!!!