Air
Have you ever thought why a trumpet behaves the way it does when you play? Why a note gets higher? Why a note gets louder? It all comes down to the air stream flowing through the instrument.
Firstly we need to cover some basics:
Faster air = higher note
More air = louder note
In order to change the speed of the air, we can do two things:
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Change the aperture (the whole made by the lips).
A smaller aperture = faster air = higher note.
Do this by compressing the lips together vertically (not by pulling the trumpet towards the lips horizontally).
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Change the pressure of the air.
Higher air pressure = faster air = higher note.
Do this by taking a deep in-breath (see yawning below) and copressing it using the abdominal wall muscles.
My favourite exercises for controlling my airstream whilst remaining relaxed are:
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Yawning
The best in-breath you can take is a yawn ! You do it when relaxed, and open the throat to fill your lungs right down to the bottom.
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Playing extremely quietly.
This is the best way to practice the control of an extremely fine stream of air.
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Playing Star Wars themes.
Playing long, melodic, familiar musical phrases is a great way to improve "chops" and breath control at the same time. My phrases of choice all come from the Star Wars movies !
Downloadable exercises can be found on the
students' resource page.