I have a very important show coming up and I Need to know what Mouthpiece to use for my TRUMPET?

Question

I have the basic 7c and a 3c, I can buy a better one but I need to know what to use, I can play very low all the wat to like high D but when i try and hit the E its harder and i can only hit it if im freshly warmed up, thats on a 7c so my Q is what should i do to give me that extra push

Answer 1

Here are some options:
http://www.schilkemusic.com/

Shilke - 6A4a
.640 (bore)
A shallow 'A" cup with cushion #4 rim for extreme high register work.

Shilke 10A4a
.647
The combination of the shallow "A" cup, semi-flat #4 rim and tight "a" backbore assists with upper register work.

Shilke 10A4
.647
Same as the 10A4a but with a standard "c" backbore, which offers less resistance.

Shilke 14A4a
.673
The 14A4a offers a shallow "A" cup, semi-flat #4 rim and tight "a" backbore allows a player a strong upper register without sacrificing tonal production.

Check out this:
http://www.warburton-usa.com/index.php/products/35-mouthpieces/50-trumpet-mouthpieces

Go for a smaller bore for higher notes and a SV,S, or M cup

However:
A new mouthpiece isn't going to fix any playing problems you may be having. After playing for a while, different trumpet players will use different types of mouthpieces to get different timbres or sound qualities. They do make mouthpieces with very small bores that make it a little easier to play high, but they won't help your playing that much. If you can only hit a high E (I'm assuming three ledger lines above the staff (not top space) then that's good. You should never try and play that high without warming up. If you find that you can't hit the note after you've been playing a while here are some things you can do:

(from a similar question posted earlier)
Ok. So before I give you this secret, you must promise that it never replaces your practicing!! Nothing can ever replace your practicing. Here's the secret and some other pointers

The Secret- (now the cats out of the bag on the internet!)

*the pencil trick*
My friend who went to BYU for trumpet performance was given this trick before he went on his mission (he's Mormon) so that he wouldn't lose his chops when he couldn't practice.
For him, he would lose his chops (he could scream the upper register...) for you, you'll get chops of steal.

Take a pencil and place the tip (just a little of it) of the eraser just under your top lip. Hold it there for 5 minutes. If your doing it right you'll feel the corners of your mouth get hot and tight within a minute or so. If you can't hold it for 5, don't force it. I gave this trick to my buddy who was last chair trumpet in the Wind Ensemble a few weeks before auditions and he took the principal seat.

The pencil trick is like lifting weights for your chops, so when you pick your trumpet up after your pencil work out, you'll have greater strength for the high notes! This works real well. I can play higher then 99% of the trumpet players I meet.

#2 - No pressure. This is one for the long run, but you won't be able to change this real quickly without sacrificing range. The more muscles you build the less pressure you'll need to use. (For some of the real high notes a little pressure is necessary). Practice moving the trumpet away from your face as you play. Pressing the mouthpiece against your lips will let you play higher, but at the expense of endurance, because your not using your muscles to play higher, your using the pressure. The less you press the longer you can play high and the nicer your being to your body.

#3 - Short Tones and Long Tones.

The old idea is that long tones are a great way to warm up. After a lot of new scientific research, people have found that Long tones work your muscles really hard and that warming up with them doesn't make sense. It's like trying to run a 5 mile marathon before a 3 mile race. What would you want to do instead of run 5 miles? You'd want to stretch!

Stretching equals short tones.

Here's what you do:

Start at G (second line), focus your chops and play a short note (not real short, maybe like a quarter note at 120bpm) then after the tone happens (or doesn't happen) while keeping your emboucher focused, take the instrument off of your face, then relax your face and lightly rub the corners of your mouth then relax for 5 seconds. Next do the same thing, but go up chromatically to G# , then down to F# continue to balance going up a note with going down a note. If your chops don't focus properly for the note you want, try again, but only after you take the instrument off of your mouth and release your emboucher. if you haven't got the note in three tries, put the instrument down for a few seconds and start back a little.

There's your warm up! This is great because it forces you to focus your chops properly for each note chromatically, so when you need to play it, your chops are perfect! Unlike with long tones you've got a while to focus. Do your short tones with a tuner.

The long tones will really strengthen your chops....Do you long tones in the middle of your practice, but balance high and low just like you did with the short tones. When you practice long tones, practice with a tuner. Also add something so you don't get bored like practicing a crescendo or Fp on each note.

#4 - Air - Without air, you've got no sound. If you're not using your air properly you wont be able to play well, high or low...

(taken from one of my other answers)
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...

How to breathe. Lay on your back and place a book on your stomach. You should see the book rise naturally without trying to raise it! When you take in a breath take in all the air you can. Breathe in through your mouth! musicians don't breath in through their nose (unless their circular breathing!), it's too restricted, slow and you could never play if you were stuffed up and sick and I've played many a gig stuffed up!

Because there is normally so much air around, people aren't used to taking in all the air they can... they don't need to. Practice taking large, comfortable breaths with an open throat, making sure your stomach is coming out. If your stomach is coming in, you're restricting your lung capacity. Take in your breathe first with your stomach and then your chest. Make sure your throat is open so that you can get as much air as possible into your lungs as quick as possible! You should never tighten your throat! It's never good to tighten anything related to breathing when playing a musical instrument. Tightening creates problems with not only tone quality, but intonation (being in tune), comfort, ease of air flow and stamina!

Posture is very important as it determines how much air can travel into your lungs. If you are slouched your lungs are slouched and restricted. If you are sitting up straight your lungs are open and free to take in the maximum amount of air!

NOTE:
Actually you never want to control your diaphragm. It's actually impossible. The Diaphragm is an involuntary muscle! You never want to push! Let the air come out naturally. Sax players who push normally have a sharp and stuffy sound. Sax players who let their body work naturally have a free, in tune and beautiful sound!

How you use your air:
It's not just about how much, it's about how your air is used. Here's what you need.
- Consistency of Speed. Your air needs to maintain a consistent speed while playing. If your air slows down, you'll go flat.
- Amount. More air gives you a louder volume, less air a softer volume. NOTE* you need fast air to play soft! Most people say speed up your air to play loud and slow air for fast... this is FALSE!

Understanding/Comprehension of technique. Think of your air like a sink faucet. Turn on the faucet and the water comes out at a steady speed, no matter how much or how little water you're using. Your air should be the same way. Ideally, you have an unlimited air source (obviously impossible, so get as much as you can) and you maintain a steady speed while playing, adding more air when you need to crescendo (louden) and decrescendo (soften).

Air is the fuel of your sound, to say you don't need a lot is like saying it's smart to fill your car up ever 2 miles with 1/2 gallon of gas.


Allright! So a mouthpiece isn't a cure-all, you need to practice in a specific way.

Answer 2

According to the mouthpiece comparison chart I have linked below, your Yamaha 11C4, has a fairly wide diameter. It is in the area of a Bach 2 1/2 or 3. A friend of mine is a very good horn player. When she doubles on trumpet, she plays a Bach 10C which appears to be similar to the area of a Yamaha 7. When I asked her why she plays such a narrow mouthpiece, she explained that she is so used to playing a horn mouthpiece, that she wants a trumpet mouthpiece that is closer to a horn size. In light of this you may consider switching to a trumpet mouthpiece that has a narrower diameter. In spite of her excellence on horn (A master's degree from Northwest University in Chicago) her range on trumpet is about a high A. She always asks me (a trumpet player) to take the first part if the range gets over a high G for any period of time. Also keep in mind that it is airspeed that is going to give you the greater range. It's possible that you have not practiced to have the necessary airspeed. Typically a tuba or trombone player switching to trumpet can get a pretty high range very quickly. Trumpet going to trombone or tuba is the opposite. Yet if a trumpet player switches to French Horn, they can typically meet or exceed the horn player's range. You are trying to go from the smallest horn mouthpiece to a larger one. You will lose range. So what you are experiencing is perfectly normal. There is no shortcoming on your part. I really recommend breathing exercises along with as much time as possible on larger bore instruments. Don't waste your money on a lead mouthpiece. Range comes from breath control and wind speed. Everybody wants to "buy" an increased range. You don't "buy" it with money. You invest time into getting it.

Answer 3

I am mainly a trombonist, but I have taken up trumpet for a couple of specific times (2 songs memorized for rare solo performances).

My brother is a semi-professional trumpet player, and he uses a Jet Tone BC-1. They don't make those any more, but Jet Tone makes a VBC-1 (vintage). The outer diameter is about 1 mm larger than the original BC-1, and to him it made a big difference. We found him a BC-1 on E-bay because his original was stolen, and he gave me his VBC-1.

For a beginner (me), with the VBC-1, I was able to hit high C and barely squeak out a high E above the staff, with the emboucher of a 7C beginner (and trombonist).

That's all I have to offer for this question. Find a Jet Tone VBC-1 and you should be able to hit double high G right "off the bat". My brother can do that with his BC-1 even after laying off playing for months -- with normal practice, he has hit double-high C without much effort.

.

Answer 4

Once again, JB has given you plenty to think about. Although I'm a former trumpet player (having turned to Bass many years ago,) I can't offer any other advice except to read JB's comprehensive post.

In particular, I am entirely in agreement with his reccomendations of the : Shilke - 6A4a .640 (bore) and
Shilke 10A4a .647 (bore). Both being, exceptional choices for working in the "land of many ledger lines."

Answer 5

it's not really an issue of the mouthpiece, it's what you're most comfortable playing, If it were me, I'd use both mouthpieces, change them if you need to approach a tune in a different way, but in the end, it's a matter of which you're most comfortable with