Questions tagged [trumpet]

A brass musical instrument with a flared bell and a bright, penetrating tone. The instrument has tubing looped to form a straight-sided coil, with three valves.

The trumpet is a brass musical instrument with a flared bell and a bright, penetrating tone. The instrument has tubing looped to form a straight-sided coil, with three valves. It is most commonly found in the key of Bb, but Eb is also common and so is C for orchestral pieces. In addition to these keys, it is less commonly found in F, D, G, E and A. It's rang is normally given as from the F# below the staff to the high C above the staff. However, experienced players can develop pedal tones below the given range and a high register above the high C.

This tag should be used for questions about the construction of, the technique of playing, the repair of, or the maintenance of the trumpet.

Good example questions with this tag include:

Related tags include:

137 questions
10
votes
2 answers

What are the nuts on the rod of my main tuning slide on my trumpet for?

My trumpet has a "steering rod" under the main tuning slide, and on that rod there are three nuts. I wonder what these are for? They could be used for making sure the slide doesn't fall out -- but if that was their sole purpose -- why three of…
PetaspeedBeaver
  • 561
  • 6
  • 16
8
votes
6 answers

Why did Miles Davis put his finger under his ear when he stopped playing?

Watching films of Miles Davis performing in the 50's and 60's I noticed that whenever his solo was done he would take his index finger and press it beneath his right ear. Sometimes he would also shake his head as if it were painful to do so. I'm not…
Tom
  • 408
  • 3
  • 8
7
votes
2 answers

When you flick a trumpet bell what should it sound like?

I've heard conflicting stories on this - some say that if you flick your trumpet bell and it rings (goes "ping") then it's the sign of a Quality Trumpet. Others are horrified if the bell goes ping, insisting instead that their trumpet bell should…
Brian THOMAS
  • 11,543
  • 1
  • 36
  • 79
4
votes
2 answers

Are pTrumpets difficult to play compared to real brass trumpets?

The pTrumpet is plastic trumpet. I've seen a video of Alison Balsom play one. But she's a trumpet Goddess! She could rolled up piece of cardboard sound good. For a kid in year 4 of trumpet, in school jazz band that recently rated 'silver' at a…
Michael Curtis
  • 56,724
  • 2
  • 49
  • 154
4
votes
2 answers

Trumpet transitioning notes

I am a student trumpet player in 8th grade, and for our concert we are playing centuries which is cool and all, but in the solo I have at the beginning which is quite simple. I transition from A to high E, and it just sounds awful. I can play both…
4
votes
2 answers

Can a person learn trumpet using a pocket trumpet?

In Wikipedia, it says that a pocket trumpet has the same range as the normal sized one and is used (usually) by musicians for practice when they cannot carry their normal trumpet. But, can a person that has never played a trumpet (or any kind of…
Shevliaskovic
  • 31,385
  • 20
  • 121
  • 229
4
votes
3 answers

Trumpet practice routine for a beginner

I am a nylon string guitar player (10+ years) and have also played some sax in the past and have always wanted to learn the trumpet. I got myself The Jazz Method for Trumpet, which has been an amazing book because it's lots of fun to play. However,…
3
votes
3 answers

Rotary Trumpet Tubing

Does the rotary trumpet have a cylindrical bore like the piston trumpet, or a conical bore like the cornet? I would assume that it's cylindrical, but for the fact that it has a mellower tone and seems to be less prone to becoming overly brassy.
Andrew Ogden
  • 281
  • 2
  • 5
3
votes
2 answers

Trumpet and braces

I am a sophmore and I play trumpet. I am a decent player in symphonic band first chair for 2 yr and a half so i am deciding to audition for honors band. It is only next week to audition for it. I’ve been working hard to be in honors but there is a…
3
votes
1 answer

I can't play the trumpet after a year: reading notes, playing on the same valve

I play the Trumpet for school and I'm done. I started to learn B's and B flats and Low C's and highs C's and sharps and it all became a blur. Most of the notes are played on the same valve so I'm lost. I can't play when they're on the same valve…
3
votes
2 answers

What happens when you inhale helium and then play a trumpet?

We all know the silly effect that inhaling helium has on speaking and singing, where some wacky speed-of-sound physics makes our voices sound unnaturally and ridiculously high-pitched. A student asked me today what would happen if the same thing…
nuggethead
  • 5,114
  • 6
  • 35
2
votes
2 answers

How to prepare for an audition when chops are tired?

I have an audition tomorrow for my high school band (exactly 24 hours from now) on the trumpet. It's sent in, so I can try a few times during the day if needed. Here's my issue: they gave us the music for the audition less than a week ago. I've been…
Tired Chops
  • 21
  • 1
  • 2
1
vote
1 answer

Why a common Trumpet is in B flat pitch ?

Why is Trumpet mentioned as B flat pitch ? How it becomes suitable for C scale ?
afelixj
  • 245
  • 1
  • 2
  • 8
1
vote
1 answer

Double notes in sheet music for b flat trumpet

I played the trumpet couple of years in high school and getting back again. I stumbled across this in some notes. I can understand how it can be played on piano or guitar but is there any way it is also relatable to trumpet (b flat trumpet)? the…
mrakoplas
  • 13
  • 2
-1
votes
1 answer

Notes associated with trumpet

I recently was looking at trumpet models, and I saw something that baffled me. The trumpets had a note associated with them, an example being: "Standard Bb Trumpet". What do these notes (the Bb in the example) mean?
xilpex
  • 2,202
  • 2
  • 22
  • 49