5 Mistakes Trumpet Players Make
Musicians know that it’s much easier to learn something right the first time than to try to unlearn something and relearn it the right way. Here are the top five mistakes I see young trumpet players making and some advice to help avoid these mistakes.
BAD POSTURE
Posture is key and one of the most important aspects of playing an instrument. You must sit tall, feet flat on the floor, shoulders directly over the hips. Leaning, slouching, or twisting will keep the lungs from fully inflating, ultimately contributing to poor breath support and bad tone.
TOO MUCH PRESSURE
When students begin to extend into the higher end of their range, they often end up with sore and/or bruised lips from pressing the mouthpiece against their lips too hard. To create a higher note on a brass instrument use a smaller embouchure, firm up those corners of the mouth and use faster air. Using more pressure is NOT effective and can cause damage to your lips.
PUFFY CHEEKS
This one is easy to fix. Puffing out one’s cheeks while playing is a bad habit usually only seen by beginner brass students. Puffy cheeks decreases the speed of air going through the horn, making it harder to play the instrument. This habit should be changed as soon as possible because over time this habit can cause the embouchure to break down and cause damage to the muscles around the mouth.
Playing your instrument in front of a mirror is a fantastic idea to help you recognize when you’re playing with puffy cheeks so you can fix it as you play.
THE SMILES
As students’ lips get tired from playing, they often resort to the smiley embouchure. Students who are fatigued from playing discover that they’re able to keep the embouchure tight by widening the corners of their mouth into a smile rather than flexing the muscles of the embouchure, thus limiting flexibility, precision and negatively affecting tone.
BREATH ATTACKS
Brass players should begin every note with the tongue. Beginning students sometimes get away with breath attacks. A breath attack is when the student starts a tone with a burst of air from the lungs rather than using the tongue to start the note.
At the start of every note, the tongue should touch the back of the upper teeth. The sound “Toh” is a good example of correct tonguing. Breath attacks can be hard to fix in a classroom full of new students but having some one-on-one time with the teacher or a private instructor helps make sure the student is tonguing correctly.
The best way to make sure you are not making these mistakes is to find a private teacher who can help you as you progress on your instrument. Sign up today!
