So, do you want to learn how to play the high notes? All it takes is practice, posture, a good embouchure and lots of breath.
Steps
Step 1. Take the trumpet in your hand, take a deep breath and place the mouthpiece in front of your mouth
Blow into the mouthpiece until you can produce a sound using the least amount of air and physical energy possible.
Step 2. Use a piano if you don't have a good ear
Play a note on the mouthpiece, and then another one tone above. Keep doing this for two minutes. br>
Step 3. Play three notes up, 5 notes down, start over and try playing a scale
Also try making a mermaid, where you start from the center of the scale, go up in hue and back down to the center. Try to do this technique without pausing, but don't force yourself. If you can't play the higher notes, don't push yourself over the edge. With practice you will be able to learn everything.
Step 4. Mount the mouthpiece on the trumpet
Step 5. Blow into the trumpet for one minute without playing any notes
Take large breaths and exhale relaxedly. Use hot air. Make sure that the flow of air is constant and do not stop between inhalation and exhalation.
Step 6. Start playing major scales, making long notes
Start with the C scale, moving up to the next scale. Do this for 5-10 minutes.
Step 7. Start by playing the arpeggios (1-3-5-8)
Again, it starts from Do and continues upwards. Do this exercise for 2-5 minutes.
Step 8. You should be warmed up enough by now
If you are not, do some lip slur, going no higher than the high E.
Step 9. Begin by playing the high G
If you have a metronome, set it to 60 beats per minute. Hold the note for 4 beats (4 seconds in this case) and go half a step up every 2 beats, until you reach high C. Do this for 2-5 minutes. If it's not too much, continue with this exercise until your cheeks have become strong enough to continue.
Step 10. Continue increasing your extension by performing lip slurs
Start with C and go up and down, always with the same fingering. Keep the slur low so you can hit every note. Practice, and gradually increase in pitch, half a step at a time, and try to get as high as possible.
Step 11. Repeat
Once is not enough. These exercises require continuous practice. You will begin to lose strength after just two days of rest. Persistence is crucial if you want to increase your reach.
Step 12. Once you get to the highest note you can play, play it again and again, staccato with your tongue
This is a tedious job, but it pays off adequately by allowing you to build the right musculature to play that particular note. So, follow a rhythm and play!
Step 13. Try buzzing your lips together to mimic the sound of a trumpet
Get up to the highest note you can play. Hold the same mouthpiece and place the opening of the lips on the lowest playable section of the mouthpiece (screamer or closed mouthpieces help a lot). Now, blow a strong and fast flow of air and see how high you can get to play.
Advice
- Rest often while playing. In fact, muscles are built while you are not playing. By playing too much, you simply break other muscle fibers without giving the muscle time to rebuild.
- Always maintain good posture, don't hunch over.
- Avoid tuning on the piano. This last instrument has, in fact, a tempered tuning. Rather, tune using an electronic tuner, or better still, a strobe tuner. Learn to recognize notes by ear, especially those of your group members!
- Breathe with your belly and not your chest. It will give you more air pressure, useful for reaching higher notes. Support the note with the stomach, not the diaphragm.
- Never force high notes by pressing your lips harder on the mouthpiece. It can lead to embouchure problems (soreness, abrasions and weakness). If your highest note comes out shrill or doesn't feel right, do all the necessary checks to make sure you sound good and possibly correct the error. Your lips should rest on the mouthpiece forming a very small circle, and the flow of air should be fast and concentrated on the same point. Squeeze your lips together until you form a smile. Sit straight with your hands relaxed on the trumpet. If you can't reach a note, play a scale starting at a lower note and work your way up to the note. Furthermore, it is very important NOT to blow too much, involuntarily raising the pitch of the trumpet by half a tone; rest after a maximum of 5 minutes.
- If you have to play a high note, put your tongue up. In this way the air pressure increases, which will be forced into a faster flow in the mouth, creating the high notes.
- When you breathe, let your tongue go free, like a panting dog. This will open up the throat more, allowing more air to pass through.
- Don't limit yourself to the scales to reach the high notes. Study arpeggios, chromatic scales and attacks (always resting) on the high notes.
- Don't just blow from the lungs, also use your abdominal muscles to help you push more air out.
- Maintain a firm embouchure (relaxed in the middle, hard at the corners).
- Never push the horn. Keep the pressure on your lips to a minimum.
- Breathe deeply, filling your lungs with enough air to play the notes.
- Don't just use the embouchure for high notes. As you study the high notes, you should also study the low ones. This way you will be able to play well in all registers.
- Avoid inflating your cheeks when playing in the higher register, in order to produce a faster flow of air. If you can't do this on your own, try pressing your cheeks with one hand as you play the highest register, to develop muscle memory in the cheeks. Obviously, you will improve over time.
- Study in front of the mirror. It will help you improve your posture and know if and how you are setting your lips.
- Think of the "o" in the throat and in the mind even if the note is high.
- Try increasing the major scales by an octave without removing the mouthpiece from the lips between one octave and the next. If you can play from low C to high C always keeping the same embouchure, you will notice great improvements in range.
- Do a lot of exercises by vibrating your lips, with and without mouthpiece. Practice in this way over the entire range, from the bass notes to the upper notes. Perform this technique without hiding the mouthpiece in the cheeks. This will build muscles to support you as you play, without putting pressure on the mouthpiece.
- Sit down to improve your breathing.
- Try to relax the mouth as much as possible and do not bite. If you can play the high notes with the same embouchure you use on the low notes, you will improve a lot in terms of range.
- Don't worry only about improving your range in the high notes, also focus on improving your low register with slurs and pedals. In this way you will not only become a more complete musician, but you will also improve your tone and your ability to produce notes in various registers and without difficulty.
- At first, try to keep your lips still and change the tone using the flow of air. After that, squeeze your lips together and see how high you can get.
Warnings
- You may feel faint or light-headed. If this happens, take a break. Perhaps you are tightening your throat or chest too much, increasing the circulation of oxygen and blood to the brain. Practice, as usual, solves everything, and little by little you will learn to control the flow of air, while the body will get used to better breathing control.
- These physical conditions, while not pleasant, indicate that you are using a lot of air, in most cases. There is a reason why Dizzy Gillespie was called "Dizzy" (stunned)!
- Refer to Bill Chase and Maynard Ferguson.
