Trumpet Diaries

[redmancba]

Well, as some of you know, I am primarily a guitar player, but I had been listening to a lot of Miles Davis and I absolutely love the sound of the trumpet. So, I decided I would rent a trumpet (the shop I teach beginner's guitar at rents them out through Music Man). I got it last Wed. A brand new Yamaha trumpet.

I had heard that trumpet was very hard to get at first, but I wasn't that worried. I got it home, oiled the valves, greased the slides, and tried it out...it took almost half an hour to even get a note out of it! I called my Grandfather (he played trumpet in high school) and he told me how to form the embrochure in a very colorful way. He said "Conor, you don't want to put your mouth on it like you are kissing your girlfriend, you want to put your mouth on it like you are kissing your Grandma on the cheek: with your lips real close together and tight!" :laugh: Well I certainly had a good laugh out of that. Before I stopped practicing on Wed. (my lips felt like they were going to explode) I was able to get some notes, and even play C-F, so I felt pretty good about myself.

Then Thursday came around and I felt like I had not progressed at all. I couldn't get out a clean note, they kept jumping fifths/fourths (on a trumpet, you can play two different notes on each valve combo; for instance, with no vavles, you can either play a C or a G; it is based on the speed you buzz your lips at) and I was very frustrated. Well, then I remembered that I had only been playing less than 24 hours and didn't feel so bad about myself. I didn't finish up too bad on Thursday.

On Friday, I had a good practice session, and felt I was making progress. I could get out good clean notes, but I was still having trouble with going to play a G and getting a C or visa-versa. I felt pretty good about it though.

Yesterday I practiced a good hour in the morning (with short breaks of course, for the sake of my lips) and I was finally getting a grip on the fifth thing. I still had trouble, of course, but I could start on a C and then move up to a G and back to C by the end. Unfortunately, I became very sick yesterday afternoon and I am slightly afraid to play today. Which brings me to my question: If I am sick (cold, runny nose, sore throat, etc.) and I play the trumpet when I am sick, if I play it after I am better will I be at risk for getting sick again? Basically, I am wondering if I can play it now without the risk of making myself sick again in a few days.

Well, that's all for now. I can safely say that I am thoroughly enjoying trumpet so far. Thanks for the opportunity to do this. I'm sure it will help.
Conor.

 

[ken]

Nice diary, redmancba.

Many years ago when I blew a trumpet, my instructor had an even more coloufull description of blowing in the mpc :cry:

 

[Melissa]

redmancba, that's awesome! Trumpet is one of the neatest sounds, I think, in the brass section (apart from French Horns...I adore those) I have always wanted to learn how to play, so when my cousin brought his cornet over to my house, I went crazy, but I couldn't get a decent sounding note out of that thing, so I feel your pain.

I do wish you the best of luck, though! 🙂

I don't think you can get sick from yourself. Kind of like how you can't shock yourself or really tickle yourself. Not entirely sure ont he medical aspect of it, but my mom would know, I'll ask her later.

 

[redmancba]

Thanks Melissa. I also figured that it wouldn't do any harm, so I got back to playing this afternoon. I couldn't bear the thought of losing another whole day of practicing (I didn't practice at all Sunday, I mostly slept), so I thought "I'll do it regardless of the consequenses (and damn the torpedoes!)."

Wow! Still hard, but getting better. I worked a lot on the lip slurs again. It hurts (the lips), but it hurts so good!

 

[Melissa]

I'm glad you are getting more comfortable with it!

one of my friends was showing off once and blew a rip in his lip...don't practice too hard 😉 lol

 

[redmancba]

Wow, it's been quite a while. I took a break from the trumpet for a month or so (too frustrated), but whenever I hear Miles Davis, I can't keep away. I started up again last week and it has been great. I have a lot more information now than I did when I started, so I am slowly but surely getting better. The best part is that I am out of high school now and both my parents work during the day, so I am able to practice a lot more (They say they don't mind, but I know they really do). I'm not sure about sax, but on trumpet it seems one of the big factors in ability is the highest note you can hit. Before I stopped the highest note I could hit was third space C - and that was a rarity. Now I have hit (a few times in fact, but not consistently) a G on top of the staff. It sounds small, but it is very rewarding to hear that note come out. I'm still working on my sound (kind of thin), but I know it takes years to get a nice full sound, so for now I'm just going to keep practicing.
Thanks for reading,
Conor.

 

[redmancba]

Ah, well, I have now graduated (this past Wed.) so now I have even more time to play. I've been going pretty strong for a while. I usually get in about an hour to an hour a half (broken up into about half hour sections, some of the best advice I've ever gotten), so I'm plodding along pretty well. Just today one of my friends who has been playing for quite a while lent me some music and "Pomp and Circumstance" was in there. I must have heard that song a thousand times at rehersal and graduation, so I figured since I knew it by heart (after never having heard it before) I'd give it a go, and I've got it down pretty well. It is actually quite a boring song and I feel bad for our band since they had to play that for about half an hour while we walked to our seats.
I'm trying to transcribe by ear Miles Davis' (of course 😛 ) intro and solo in "When Lights are Low" and slowly my ear is getting better and I'm getting more and more down.
Thanks for reading,
Conor.