Lip Slurs for Trumpet
One part of getting better at trumpet that is as important as it is annoying and frustrating is practicing lip slurs. What I do is follow page 44 of the Arban's Book for trumpet, exercise 22. If you don't have the book, though, the exercise is as follows:
Play 5 measures of lip slurs followed by one measure of a held note. The first measure is 4 quarter notes; the second is 8 eighth notes, the third is 12 eighth note triplets, the fourth is 16 sixteenth notes, and the fifth is 24 sixteenth note triplets. Listen to what this guy here does and try to duplicate it, slowly at first: http://www.bflatmusic.com/lipslur.html
Now the lip slur groupings, followed by the fingering. Begin at G1 and move gradually up. It should kind make sense while you're doing it:
G - B 13
Ab - C 23
A - C# 12
Bb - D 1
B - D 13
B - Eb 2
C - Eb 23
C - E 0
C# - E 12
D - F 1
Eb - F# 2
E - G 0
You can actually go a bit higher than that if you choose, but I prefer to stop there, since by that time I'm usually exhausted and the people in my house are tired of the gross, loud noise that this exercise tends to produce.
Also, keep in mind that this is kind of advanced stuff, especially once you get up towards that E-G lip slur. If you're new to this sort of thing, take it slowly and don't hurt yourself. Your facial muscles are like any others in your body in that they can get messed up and leave you out of commission for a few days. Start with just those first few lip slurs at a slow tempo, maybe around 60 bpm (I use metronomeonline.com for this, but if your speed is an even 60, a clock will do fine), and gradually work your way towards those faster rhythmic figures as you build up to the higher notes.
Like I said near the top, these are annoying and frustrating and tiring. If you do them around three times a week, they will also make you awesome. Notes will fall into place more easily and the bigger leaps will feel insignificant. Your range will probably also improve. Lip slurs, along with a logical warmup routine, long tones, and a few etudes here and there, will make you a better trumpet player and help you stay that way.
