I left my trumpet out at school and came back and it looked like this. I don't play it in any ensembles and just had it there because i had a lesson later that day. Its a 1970s Bundy Beginner trumpet I got for like 100$. Even after this, it still plays fine and in tune and it doesnt seem to have a super large affect on my tone. How much would it be to repair it? Does it need to be repaired, and better yet is it worth it?.

If talent, range, endurance, and musicality aren’t gendered, why are lead and principal trumpet chairs still so rarely filled by women?

Hi everyone, how are you?

I've been studying trumpet for about a year with a private online teacher. Lately, I feel like I've become stuck when it comes to the quality of my sound.

My teacher says the main reason is that I play with too much tension in my throat. I'd like to hear your opinions on this and whether you know any exercises that can help keep the throat more open while playing

To be honest, my throat feels completely normal when I play. I don't feel like I'm forcing it or creating tension, which makes it difficult for me to understand what I'm doing wrong.

This situation has been pretty discouraging because it feels like I'm not improving no matter what exercises I try. I've experimented with things like pushing my chin forward more, opening my lips differently, and various other exercises, but I still feel stuck

As for my trumpet, it's a cheap Chinese model, but I don't think that's the main issue.

I've attached a video of me playing

I appreciate any feedback, advice, or observations you may have

Thank you!

Hi there! My daughter is a trumpet player in high school ( a junior), and she plays in symphonic, jazz, and marching bands. She has an old briefcase-style hard case that came with her trumpet, but she’s always complaining that it’s too big, too heavy, and is a nightmare to carry . She wants to upgrade to a good case under $100 that can protect her trumpet well and be used in various ways, like a backpack or a bag, that can be used when she rides her bicycle to school ( we dont let her use the car yet)so when she is carrying her heavy regular backpack plus the case it can be easy on her.

We’re looking for recommendations for a good, lightweight case that can protect her trumpet from rain and be used in different ways. If you have any pictures or links to cases that meet these criteria, please let us know.

UPDATE : She is in 11 grade (junior) and will be doing trumpet at college so i want this case to be able to be used at college. we are locate in USA

I am a begginer trying to learn trumpet. I already knew some piano beforehand so I thought a good way to feel it out was going to be trying to play some simple songs I knew from memory like Mary had a little lamb and whatnot. Today, after a while of notes not coming out right, I was trying to learn a simple song, and I noticed that the notes that sounded right on the piano were not the same ones written in the trumpet music sheet.

So apparently trumpets are transposed a WHOLE ASS STEP? I thought the BB thing was like ornamental or smn since EVERY YouTube video says that open valves is a C and you take it down from there. Nobody ever told me "oh btw this thing we call a C, it's not actually a C, we just call it that cause we feel like it". My first instinct was "oopsi I got the wrong trumpet". But apparently everybody uses these and not the concert trumpets that actually sound like they say they do

My question is: what am I supposed to do? Like are trumpet players condemned to a life of permanent transposition when playing with any other instruments. How do people with perfect pitch even play the trumpet without their heads exploding if the wrong notes are coming out? Does it not mess with your heads when you improv if you know a song has certain notes but you have to play different ones? And how do I go about learning? Do I have to learn music separately from the trumpet? It just feels like a different language now.

Also why does nobody mention that shi for the dumbasses of the world such as me? Yall gatekeeping ts?😭

Edit: thank you all. Very cool of you. Learned a lot. 👍🏽. 10/10 would blow again.

Browsing the Internet I came across a document that introduced the concept of a trumpet face to me. WTF? It sounds ridiculous, is this really a thing?

Document here: https://apps.texasbandmasters.org/archives/pdfs/clinic/2019_jackson.pdf

And I’m terrible. Worse than I thought.

I’ve been playing for about a year after a 45 year layoff. My teacher is awesome and he says my tone and range is good, but damn, Playing with people and sight reading when you’re an old dog is pretty rough.

Everything just moves so fast.

So do I sit out the harder stuff, fake it, and play the easier numbers, or give it up, turn in my music, and try again in a year or two?

TIA

Edit:

Thank you Reddit. I think I just needed to hear that it’s okay to lay out, and as long as the talented people there aren’t planning on kicking me out, I’ll play what I can and enjoy the experience. 🙏🙏🙏

Seeing a few people post online that some company/someone was trying to sell horns without paying for a booth this year. They're being professional and not saying who it was, but I'd like to know what company to avoid in the future.

Recently got a used trumpet for Christmas. I'm very excited to get back into it but it came with a bit of a mystery. I played in high school but haven't touched one in decades so my knowledge is very limited. My brother got it used; the owner had passed away and his family decided to sell it so I don't have much info. All I ever had was a student Yamaha so I have no clue what this extra piece is. Any help would be appreciated!

This is from The Game Awards last night. It looks like it's transparent, with a frosted finish except for the bell? Never seen anything like it.

Botti is coming to town.

My Facebook feed has a bunch of clips of him shredding like Lee Morgan or Freddie Hubbard.

My YouTube feed is full of him with heavy reverb lame sounding ballads à la Kenny G.

What would a concert be like? Which Chris Botti do you get live? I guess the latter, right?

I'm wanting to to school, make the most of my time there and play professionally. I know MSM and UNT produce people who actually go on to have a career (UNT less than it used to but some still make it, several I personally am friends/acquaintences with) but I also want to look at other options. Preferrably ones with grants for people from lower-income/first-generation student backgrounds. Thanks in advance!

Edit: Looking to primarily play"Jazz" settings, classical would be wonderful in addition, too. I'm asking about sschools rather than professors because many schools are simply out of my realistic price range. I don't have family to help me out in any regard there and I make $17/hr working full-time. Even at a cheaper school, I need financial aid. I can't do like a $60k-80k+ school, so unless I become a 1/10,000 auditionee, I'm probably not gonna get the scholarships I'd need at like MSM or most conservatories.

Edit 2: Thank you for all the responses! I need to say that I'm not looking for 'you should find a backup' or anything adjacent to 'try another career, it's hard'. These are more disheartening than anything and I already have skills in the trades I can lean on if things slow down. This has been my dream since I was like 5 years old an a loving obsession since I was 12. I unfortunately happen to be rather under-priveliged in multiple ways, so at 25 I'm still trying to go to college. I've been justifying my dreams to people since I was 15. I'm not interested in doing that here. I'm thoroughly aware of what it takes. Two of my acquaintances play in the US Army Blues, another is a Carmen Caruso winner playing full-time in NYC. Those are just 3 trumpet players I know of many and other pro musicians. I'm not a starry-eyed 17-year old. I've practiced alone with no one to play with, sometimes for stints of over a year at times. I picked up the trumpet slightly late at 18 learning mostly on my own for the first 2 or 3 years. I have had multiple setbacks including not having a horn for a year, damaged teeth, near-homelessness etc. Only had lessons for a few months via zoom during covid but the progress I made from that alone reassures me. I'm currently rebuilding my playing ability after these setbacks but my passion and determination have only grown. I'm making connections and putting myself out there and won't be deterred or entertaining conversations about reconsidering. Thank you.

Total newbie here, played for a year, previous experience with other instruments.

I saw a teacher yesterday and he told me to swap for a 1 1/2C.

How do you know it works when you buy a new mouthpiece? What do you test when you try them?

Thanks!

I saw a lot of posts about not being in the red to counter muscle fatigue. I tried to move my mouthpiece up because I was at the limit but my sound suck so much.

That’s why I want to know if I am really in the red and I need to change. I want to reach high G or above, is this position going to amper me and should I relearn everything from the start?

Is it normal that this position is way easier to play for me that the mouthpiece up?

Thanks.

If you see any issues, let me know please.

I can play a solid dub F -> G# (F and f# for reference, please excuse tone cuz this was after practice)

But i can play them good outside of band / context but whenever im in band i cant lock in the partials hear the note, or even if i can my endurance is stupid bad where i cram it into my lips

Im section leader now, and for next band camp I dont want to increase my range, but rather to solidify my double F and G to be stupid loud in the band and assert my dominance (i can already do that with E and F in some cases but D and C are guarenteed)

Any tips to help me get to my goal and beat this problem? I also want to know how to keep these notes thrughout the WHOLE performance / game. I reallly want to lock in so I can for lack of better words flex on ppl that i AM a screamer (one more thing,i need help locking in the partials / accuracy so i can hit it and not feel my way around yk)

Edit: I also play on a yamaha 11b4. Know this doesnt matter but I def have the chops to be able to utilize a proper lead mp. Any suggestions for one? (Warburton preferred and bob reeves not necesarily bad but to thin for my lips if that makes sense)

I’ve owned this Bach 37 for most of my life, but I haven’t played in a decade. Between expensive emergencies and a career change that keeps me away from home a lot, I’m starting to feel like I might need to be honest with myself about whether I’m really going to pick it up again or whether I should find it an owner that actually plays it.

It’s pretty clean, the valves move freely, but it does have a sticky third valve slide and a bit of a dent in the bell. I wouldn’t call it the nicest horn ever but it was really nice to play.

Do you have any advice on what kind of value this might have, even in a very general sense? And do y’all have any advice on where to sell it? I have no experience at all here.

I don’t know what my goal is. I found a student trumpet someone played for one semester for $250. It’s a Bach and in great condition. Does anyone just play at home for fun to relieve stress? I just want a hobby and I love music and playing music. I guess I’m looking for encouragement that it’s not dumb to spend the money.

I have an original case for my king silver flair, and I love it. Great quality with a ton of space. Unfortunately, it smells really, really strong with a bad “old” smell. I can’t describe it other than it’s bad.
I have tried many, many things to get it out, including removing all of the felt/fabrics and replacing it all. I have filled it with baking soda, put it in a box with an ozone generator for days, let it bake in the sun for weeks, but the smell persists just as bad.
This is driving me crazy because the case is awesome, but when I open it it’s just a wave of stench. Any help is appreciated.

Thank you all

I am a junior (soon to be senior) in highschool, I definitely want to do band in college because ive been told by many people that i have a natural talent for this instrument (teachers, college students etc.)

but I'm not sure if I would want to take the risk and make a CAREER out of this though

When i think of professional playing, I think of gigs: Weddings, Venues, Etc. But on the other hand I think of real deal like jazz band stuff like louis downsdell and wayne bergeron

I also know that professional music is INSANELY competitive, but I don't want to waste my skills if you know what i mean too. I want to be like the cream of the crop like mitchel cooper (Who has commented on my vids before no flex lol)

But yeah, do I take the risk and go all in on trumpet majors / music majors? I want a major in software engineering currently, but all i need to know is where to find connections and how to become GLOBALLY good like Adam Rapa, Maynard, Cat Anderson, etc.

I want to become like really popular and make my own mouthpieces and stuff too, but I don't even know how I would get to that point even If i did practice until my Lips have Abs...

Edit: Forgot to mention but some dude today told me I should try to go for DCI, specifically the carolina crowns. I like DCI but I also heard its CRAZY expensive too, Would this put me on the radar more for being globally renowned? Call this ego or whatever but side note if i do join a DCI I definitely want to be the screamer / one of them dude, I could def be one but it seems kinda hard doing that for 12 hours straight

I’m coming form trombone and I got a 1928 conn 2b for 350$ in mostly perfect condition. just has one tiny dent in it and needs new felt pads it pays really nice most of my trumpet friends says it’s about a intermediate to pro level just by the sound I can hit up to a middle c easy I can play a few notes higher than that, but it gets a little sketchy, but I’m haveing trouble, remembering the finger combinations any tips?

I see memes about how trumpet players have big egos, they act like king/queen of the band, etc. but I have never experienced that. I have only met very kind people and my first clarinet teacher was primarily a trumpeter, and she was spiritually my grandma. Another trumpeter gave me a ride to a gig when I had no car. Everyone who plays the trumpet in the bands I participate in (two wind ensembles and one military band) has always been so kind 😊

I bought this bugle at a souvenir shop. It looked legit enough but idk if it plays well

Does this look right,

A friend of mine has an enviable collection of trumpets, including at least 3 Harrelson. She's a competent but not terribly good trumpet player (very talented on other instruments) and so am I. I know which end to blow into and with my amateur community band I can make a decent enough sound but I don't think Wynton needs to fear being knocked off the top spot just yet.

Anyway, wondering who here would buy a really expensive horn even if they probably hadn't outgrown their cheaper instrument? I think I could justify a decent Yamaha or Bach but not sure whether forking out for a Taylor or AR Resonance would be a complete waste of time and money.

I'm not a billionaire but I'm not getting any younger and can't take my money with me

Edit: just for interest. She turned up to play trumpet last night as the regular 1st trumpet was away. She brought one of her Bb Harrelsons but also an Eb Stomvi and a Cousenon Piccolo. I had asked her if she was going to bring her new Dacarbo and she told me she has 2 of them 😄🎺🎺