What can i do to stay in tune when I play high notes on my trumpet?

Question

I can hit high notes with ease (high C, high B, etc) but i go sharp once i start playing high notes. I am already in tune its just when i go above a high G i really start to go sharp. Anyone have any advice on what i could do or what i could practice so i won't become so sharp.

i have to keep my trumpet pointed up in the air when i play in marching band.

Answer 1

To maintain pitch in the higher register you need to learn how to control the air flow from your gut through your horn. It is already a task to be able to play high notes, but maintaining them adds difficulty in an exponential order. To both hit and sustain a note you need to make sure that you are using the correct mechanism to play your horn, which is the entire system of your breathe support and how you deliver it through you lips and into the horn.

It starts with the breath you take, which should be deep and collect ino the lungs by the expanding your diaphram (muscles beneath your lungs and above your stomach). While you are breathing, think of the note that you are about to play and how you want the note to sound. As soon as you are done with the intake of breath, you need to start playing the note. Do not store the breath like a contracted spring being held because you want to be able to not let the air go stale. Make sure that the air the flows from you gut/lungs is warm air (as if you were warming your hands with your breath on a cold day). What this does is that sets the mechanism of playing your note for maximum air to flow out from your throat.

Now that you have your air flowing out at its maximum, you need to learn how to control it by allowing your throat to open up. Normally, we pinch notes due to two things: lack of breath support or the closing of our throats. And both of these things decrease the air flow and drive the pitch up. This is a hard thing to do especially because of the gag reflex, which is the body's natural reaction of closing your throat when it believes that it is losing oxygen. This is the choking sensation you feel. You must learn to master the reflex and once you do, you can play longer that ever before.

Last thing is how the air flows through you lip. You need to realize that simple physics state that to play higher notes you must have higher velocity of air flowing into the horn. So now, not only must you concentrate on breathing and thinking the note, keeping a warm breath and overcoming your throat closing, but now you must keep the velocity of air constant through your horn. To do this you should drop your jaw as much as you can and try not to move.

DO NOT under any circumstance push the trumpet into your face as a lot of people do when they feel they cannot play the high note. This is something that you would need to constantly work at to get right. I am in college and I still dont have it down correct all the way. But keep practicing and it will eventually get there.

Answer 2

Range come with time and practice. I would have an experienced trumpet player, like a teacher, look at your embrochure and equipment. It is most likely your embrochure but it could be that you've out grown your mouthpiece. As you go higher you need to make your appature smaller. The key is to speed up the air stream. By making the opening in your lips smaller you can do that. Make sure you do it by squeezing your corners in toward the middle. A combination of that with the normal up and down constriction creates a smaller opening. The trick is to find the balance of the corner, lip, and air pressure for the note. Above all don't pull the corners back. It will give you range, but you'll have worse endurance and a thin tone.

Answer 3

The problems in the high register arise mainly because we musicians tend to pinch in order play that high. Pinching forces a shallower column of air through the horn and makes it go sharp. So first stop pinching, ya I know easier said than done. You know those wonderful long tones you have to play to warm up every day? Take them up an octave (or two) and have a tuner sitting on the stand so that you can see how out of tune you are. When you can visually see how out of tune you are you will be able to adjust your embrasure so that you are more in tune.
Another trick is to drop your jaw, a lot, about as far as it can go. I play flute, but my flute teacher borrowed this technique from a trumpet player she knows. He makes his students practice with pieces of carrot behind their back teeth. You have to be kind of careful when doing this, but it'll train your jaw to stay in the open position while playing.

Answer 4

First of all do not press harder on the mouth piece as you higher in pitch, second keep your trumpet, parallel to the ground, don't point it up or down
Third, do not tilt you head, back or forward.
Finally try dropping your jaw, do not scrunch up your lower jaw or lip, as you try to hit the hi notes. Try smiling a little this will stretch out your lips enabling you to hi high notes and stay in tune.
Finally, tune your instrument mid range, or a few notes high, with all valves open
Have fun and keep practising.

Answer 5

Cool sir, you play the trumpet. Trumpets usually steal the show of the band during performances, thus, is cool. Keep up the good work.

Answer 6

Work on your breath control and develop your lip muscles. Be patient, it doesn't happen all at once. Here is a site you might be interested in: http://www.trumpetmusician.com/trumpet-quotes.html

Answer 7

Its in the lips

Answer 8

dont press you mouthpiece so hard