high notes.
i'm getting really discouraged because i'm unable to hit the higher notes. i've tightened my lips and released more air but nothing seems to work for me.
any advice?
long tones are the key. like the other comment, middle range and your max note. just playing high notes in songs will also increase your range and songs are more fun so you dont have to do long tones
My advice is to keep practice and play as much as you can. As the time goes by you will see that you can play higher. Lips are muscles don't forget it.
Find a warm up that incorporates higher notes... Possibly a chromatic scale, or something of that kind. Practice it everyday for awhile. Eventually your lips will just strengthen due to the practice.
Another way to help you hit high notes is to practice in the middle register and play some scales and crescendo as you go higher up on the scales. This is just a general rule of thumb while playing the horn, but it can make a big difference if you practice it diligently. I suggest getting an Arbans Book for excercises to help practice, they're helping me a ton. But in the end the best advice that can be given has already been said above.
A MB instructor showed me a great trick, take a pen or pencil and hold it loosely in your teeth. then use your lips to hold it horizontaly in front of you. This builds the strength of your corners, giving you better control of your air streem and better chops to boot. I thought it was the dumbest idea I'd ever heard when he told me to do it, but I got yelled at if I didn't. By the end of the season I had a solo. It's great because it's something you can do just sitting there watching T.V. or driving.
The pencil trick doesn't work for everybody. It's best to practice long tones in all ranges of the instrument everyday and just try to work your way up. Use a faster air flow as well.
The pencil trick doesn't work for everybody. It's best to practice long tones in all ranges of the instrument everyday and just try to work your way up. Use a faster air flow as well.
I'd slightly contest that the pencil exercise doesn't work for everybody. When someone doesn't feel any positive result coming from it, they're using doing it too much, and forcing stress upon the muscles involved, which equates to fatigue, and lactic acid build-up, breaking down the muscles instead of helping them to form a solid playing foundation.
Another common mistake I see people make with it, is playing right after they do the exercise, when their lips are still in a mode of shock from doing it. This also forces unnecessary stress upon them, and bad habits set in place.
If someone does the pencil exercise correctly, and in moderation, it should help to some degree. An alternative, which also has more ways to work the muscles in the chops, is the P.E.T.E. by Warburton: http://www.warburton-usa.com/index.php/products/accessories/36-accessori...
...They started making them earlier in the year. I got one of the prototypes, and have been using it ever since. Terry Warburton did a nifty video on how to use it, which should show up on the page,
well have no fear!! just try to relax dont force it because if you force a high note nothing will come out juts take a need breath and tightr=en those lips relax and imagine the sound of the note in your head and try to match it with your trumpet it works for me and im sure it will help you alot!!
I've rarely seen the pencil trick work for people, but it's worth a shot. Personally I agree with whoever suggested chromatic scales. I usually start on a low g and do a two octave chromatic scale, then go up a half step and repeat this process until it hurts to much to continue.
Good luck!
If you want to be able to play really high, you need to practice for at least 15 min a day, warming up well mid range and then playing at the top of your range for as long as you can. After a week of this I added three whole steps to my range. Good Luck!