Trumpet-players, how do you hit high notes?

Question

I've tried blowing harder/ breath support, lifting the back of my tongue...none of it seems to help much and so many other people just pop the notes out!?

Answer 1

It is all about maintaining a high speed of air velocity through your horn while keeping your lips vibrating. Contrary to the popular myth, screaming has NOTHING to do with changing embrochures. In fact good trumpet players practice their entire range trying to maintain only one embrochures so that they can learn to jump from one note to another quickly, without cracking it. It takes years of practice to learn to go from a low G (under the staff) to a high G (above the staff).

TO PLAY HIGH NOTES, the number one thing that you should make sure that you do every time is to have solid breath support. Make sure that your air supply is coming from your gut and not from your throat or chest. In fact this goes for any note you play. If you skip out on this, your high note will not last more 5 seconds and it will sound like a goat more than a brass instrument and it will feel like your neck is going to explode.

The second thing you should do is open your throat so that you can let the maximum amount of warm air flow from your gut (I know, i know lungs, but people think of chest when i say that) through your lips and out the horn.

I would be lying to you if I said that "you should never tighten your lips to play high notes". The old trumpet crooner guy tells you this because they realize that jamming the mouthpiece into your teeth and tightening the lips does give you a high note. But doing it this way does two things: it will kill your ability to play anything else after your high note and secondly can "blow out your chops"-- which means significant tissue damage that can put you out of playing anything for a few days up to a few week, not to mention that its like having a brain aneurysm. THE FACT IS: to play any note on the trumpet you MUST have SOME tension, because without any lip tension, you would never be able to produce a vibration. However, like any good person should do, you must learn to produce the best sound with littlest effort. Meaning, you must learn to be efficient.

DO NOT jam the mouthpiece into your lips. In fact, do not put your pinky in the the ring. And produce enough lip tension to allow for a high speed of air to pass through while keeping a buzz going. AND WHATEVER YOU DO, do not scrunch up and force the note out. Doing this closes your throat and subconsciously makes your press the trumpet to your lips harder. You have to be prepared for the high note, both mentally and physically. Make sure to take a deep gutteral breath and in one motion play the note following the three steps. Good luck.

Answer 2

Practice makes perfect.

It's like lifting weights. The more you exercise your lip muscles, the stronger they become and both your tone and ability to hit higher notes will be developed.

Also other aspects of your playing will mature, like the character and finesse of your own personal sound that comes out of your instrument.

Answer 3

Practice, Practice, Practice. I played the Baritone for a while, same embosser, and I was never able to hit the high notes, because I switched back to clarinet after a year.

Just keep practicing.

Answer 4

Push your lips closer together don't blow really hard but do get a lot of air through it that what my Music teacher taught me and I can get higher notes

Answer 5

I used to play trumpet and couldn't hit the high notes either. :(

Try playing piano! The high notes are easy to hit. ;)

Answer 6

ChristianGirl,
You need to stop listening to what your child molesting priest is telling you and start living your own life. Read some books. Do some research on evolution and maybe you will end up seeing how foolish you are being.

Answer 7

you have to tighten your lips