I wouldn`t consider myself professional yet but I`m a male and I play the trumpet.

girls seem to have good tone and technicality but it seems that they don`t have what it takes to be popular.(I;m not saying that a girl can`t be as good as a guy) i think that girls seem to chicken out more on high notes and don`t generally (not all of them) have the trumpet attitude.

In my school band, we have about 30 people. All of our flutes and clarinets are girls, except for one guy clarinet, and everybody else except me (on F horn, trombone, and occasionally trumpet) is a guy.

And Derek, I don`t think girls "chicken out" on the high notes, they`re just not as fond of going out of their way to attract attention as the guy trumpets. (Generally speaking, of course.)

I am a female trumpet player, and I am can play the highest in our school, I am in grade 10, but play first chair in the Grade 12 band. We are not afraid to go high, and its not that we don`t have the chops. Its just not something we are particularily fond of. I know lots of male players who don`t like to play high but attempt to go get attention.

- Girls are smart pretty and funny, we don`t need to play loud to get attention (unlike the boys) Just kidding

Not sure if the female players had the guts or not to get above high C, some do, but playing high isn`t for the faint of heart and not necessarily for the sole purpose of getting attention either .....for me, its just the sheer rush of being able to soar to high Fs and Gs and occasional double Cs if the mood is right. Thats what its all about. The technical stuff is great, and spending much time on it pays off, but being able to take off is....well....you know when you get there. Its a rush thats hard to explain.

ya you need to be able to play technically and give people what they want at the same time and recently that has been high notes. It seems like females sometimes like to play random high notes when they`re practicing to see how high they can play but then they can`t put those notes into context. Also girls that i`ve heard aren`t as cocky as the rest of us so of course they don`t get as well recognized. You have to show off sometimes if you want people to hear you and think "wow what a trumpet player"

Exactly! I couldn`t have put it better.

i get along ok on trumpet and i`m female. i play lead in our school`s top jazz band. but unlike the boys, i don`t feel a need to show off. sometimes i think they`re compensating for something....i have noticed that stereotypically the guys are eager to show off range and the ladies are more emotive players. i see more women in orchestras and the like, and more guys in pro combos etc. but gender roles in the music world are changing, and i think you`re going to see a lot more of us on trumpet in coming years. hell, last year our entire trumpet line was female (except james....and he was on 3rd)

Congrats on your ranking! Thats quite an accomplishment to be sure. Lots of hard work on your part. Every horn player has their motivation to play..not all exactly the same..and as long as you`re enjoying what you`re doing, thats the key I believe. Not sure I agree with you regarding the growing numbers of women horn players. Might agree with you on the numbers up through high school and college. Once out of school though, not sure the ratios really change that much. Played in too many legit and jazz groups and only every so often will come across a female horn player with any appreciable chops. Playing in a praise band right now (all male) and would really like to see a talented female player step up to the plate.

i don`t feel a need to show off for evrybody but if you want people to know you`re good you`ve got to show them. anytime i get a chance i`ll play for musicians that i meet and i`ll typically show off tone first range second and technicallity third. the technicallity takes them by surprise after the range..

It doesnt matter what gender you are. All that matters is how good you play.My band has a total of 6 good trumpet players. 3 are girls and 3 are boys. I myself ranked 3rd chair and overall 4th chair. Which is pretty good considering im a freshman and there are 13 trumpets total. i want to place higher next year and I have a whole summer planned out in order to do so. The male trumpet players love to show off. The girls just wait until they are called to play. Our section is wery competive. We dont even consider it a surprise to see girls kick butt!

Well i currently play the trumpet but my band director doesn`t want me too because im female so he put me on french horn. i still play the trumpet and always will its just hard to play that type of instrument when your band director and the world thinks its for males

that doesnt sound like a good band director

I heard this girl play in NYC recently...she`s amazing!
www.cindybradley.com

I have seen and heard a number of female trumpet players who are very good. In fact, one of the most impressive double and triple tounguing runs I have ever heard aside from Al Hirt was played by a female trumpet player. Also in a band where I assist with the brass section, we will have two female trumpets next year, and the one who will be a senior is pretty good. She could be really good if she would take her horn home every night (Ronni, are you reading this?) There is also a female in the beginnig brass class I helped teach during the past school year who, as a beginner, believe it or not can switch back and forth between trumpet and euphonium without blinking. I don`t know a definite reason that trumpet ranks seem to be dominated by males, but it certainly doesn`t mean females can`t play trumpet just as well. I don`t think it has anything to do with wearing lipstick, lip gloss, or such .