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one more important thing that i don't is emphasized as much is tone getting a good sound is half the battle everything else is the other half

while playing high notes is fun, the guys who make the most money are the people with the best tone and a decent range to accompany that... not vice versa. I would bet adolph herseth made, and probably sitll makes much more money than any lead player who is looking for the easiest way to make everyones ears bleed. When it's all said and done, it's all about making music, and people who can't do that are out of a job.

dude, it's plain and simple physics. The higher you go, the faster the vibrations are. Faster vibrations require faster air, and the only way you'll be able to obtain faster vibrations with a smaller aperture. Pinched off high notes...? Breath support still applies to this area. You are still using air, just faster air and a smaller aperture for support. The only way you should get pinched off high notes is when you don't have the proper breath support. Breath support is another topic we could discuss altogether. I recommend checking out "berp" and the "buzzing book" to better understand some of these concepts. If you can play a 3 octave G scale in one breath, without resetting, then none of this information applies because you have figured out a way to play 3 octaves with the same aperture size, and that is quite honestly beyond me.

hence why I added the website... www.bbtrumpet.com Pops McClaughlin know's his ****. Knowing about how your embouchure works is like knowing how to swing in baseball. It's great to have the "ideal" swing/embouchure, but how many professional baseball players have the "ideal" swing. Furthermore, Do you think dizzy gillespie had any knowledge about his embouchure worked? No. Is he better then you and me. Probably. Better yet, did Chet Baker play with the ideal embouchure and technique? No. Will he stay in history as one the jazz greats? Yes. There is a certain point where you overanalyze. The trumpet great Adolph Herseth once said "I just put the horn to my face and blow". When Arturo Sandoval first got a trumpet when he was litte, he practiced until his lips ran fresh with blood. What kind of mouthpiece does he play? A 3c. Why? Because " can go to any store and find one". The fact of the matter is that yes you can sit here and debate about which is mouthpiece is better then which, and which embouchure can make you scream like manyard and what trumpet will make you play cool like miles and what is better about upstream or downstream until the cows come home BUT you physically as a player will not get better. So I suggest stop debating about which is cooler and go practice.

Go practice the dang thing. No one is going to get any better talking about doing it! www.bbtrumpet.com

www.bbtrumpet.com very good site about trumpet playing concerns. Playing PP and softer was about the best thing anyone could have recommended to me. It helps develop control of your aperture. Basically, any ape can pick up a horn a toot loud notes, but learning how to play soft is where I think it's all at. Training a smaller aperture also helps with higher notes. I think it would be impossible to play a double G with the aperture size of a low G below the staff. But like daniel said, balance your practice volumes. Warming up at PP is very effective as well, but more importantly, develope a consistent warm up... or find something that you do everyday before you play. This will help develope you as a consistent player which is very important for any brass player. All brass players have there "good" and "bad" days, but by being consistent, you won't have to worry about whether it's a "good" or "bad" day to play a piece. As far as opening up and playing loud and higher, I think it's better to do that towards the end of a practice session. First, you don't want to kill yourself before you get into more refined studies such as maybe arban or clarke. By playing loud and high at the end of your practice session, you should be able to develop endurance to knock out any fanfare. As far as method books go, I recommend Arban clarkes technical studies clarkes 24 etudes and solos max schlossberg daily drills and technical studies james stamp lips drills colins lip flexibilities 36 Transcendental Etudes for Trumpet