Trumpet I Technique Packet Basic Trumpet Playing Fingering Chart Major Scales Long Tones Tuning Chords Technique No. 1 Technique No. 2 Technique No. 3 Technique NO. 4 Articulation No. 1 Articulation No. 2 Articulation No. 3 Amazing Grace (Phantom Regiment 1992) Canon (Phantom Regiment 2003) Adagio for Strings (Santa Clara Vanguard 2013)
The United States Army Field Band The Musical Ambassadors of the Army Washington, DC Basic Trumpet Playing by Sergeant Major Charles Garrett Master Sergeant Scott Holbert Sergeant First Class Michael Johnston The United States Army Field Band 4214 Field Band Drive Fort Meade, Maryland 20755-5330 Phone: (301) 677-6586 Fax: (301) 677-6533 E-mail: fldband@emh1.ftmeade.army.mil Website:.army.mil/fieldband
The U.S. Army Field Band Basic Trumpet Playing Basic Trumpet Playing by Master Sergeant Charles Garrett Master Sergeant Scott Holbert Sergeant First Class Michael Johnston Playing the trumpet is a fantastic thing the trumpet is one of the most stylistically versatile instruments ever created. It can be played in a symphony orchestra, chamber orchestra, brass band, ind ensemble, jazz orchestra, jazz combo, marching band, brass quintet, Dixieland band, funk band, and many other groups of varying sizes and styles. Try that ith a harpsichord! With all of these groups in hich to play, and diverse performance styles to learn, a trumpet student has a substantial challenge. Playing up to one s greatest potential should be a common goal for all performers. Realizing that goal requires the integration of to elements: artistic interpretation and technical expertise. Artistic interpretation is a function of each individual s life experience, personality, and musical taste. The most effective ay to enhance one s concept of dynamics, articulation, rhythmic variables, and tone is through many hours of careful listening. These concepts can only be translated into performance through physical application. This clinic, therefore, concentrates on the physical aspects of trumpet playing. BREATHING Obviously, breathing is essential for survival, as ell as for playing the trumpet. Breathing is a complicated muscular process that the body performs naturally. Trumpet players must learn ho to control their natural breathing tendencies in order to play ithout causing hernias, hemorrhoids, or ruptures. Use the folloing exercise to improve lung capacity, develop breath control, and visually check the muscular breathing process. Without a horn, alk at a steady pace, breathing in evenly and sloly for seven steps; immediately exhale steadily for the next seven steps. Begin and end ith the same amount of air in the lungs. Gradually increase the number of steps to thirty for breathing in and thirty for breathing out. Place a hand on the stomach hile doing the exercise to make sure the stomach moves out hile inhaling and in hile exhaling. Once the thirty step exercise is easy to do, improve breath control by gradually reducing the number of inhaling steps don to one. POSTURE Posture is directly related to proper breathing. If there is stiffness in any area of the body, there is a chance for injury. On the other hand, if a player is too relaxed, poor posture is likely. Whether standing or sitting, never slump over. While seated, sit up straight and resist pushing the back against the chair. Keep the shoulders relaxed and avoid tilting the head excessively in any direction. Never rest the arms on the body. TONE When producing a tone on the trumpet, the ultimate goal is to create a pleasing sound. Tone is determined by physical factors as ell as the equipment used. The shape of the teeth, tongue, lips, and roof of the mouth all greatly influence tone. While the teeth and roof of the mouth are not normally altered, the shape of the tongue and lips can be changed quite easily by the performer. To understand ho the tone is changed by the tongue, say o, e, o, e. Notice ho the o sounds more full or open, hile the e sounds more compact and penetrating. Normally o is used in the loer and middle registers of the horn. The e is used in the upper register, above the staff for B-flat trumpet. The lips must be moved to change partials on the trumpet. Slur from a C belo the staff to a G in the staff. The lips have to compress, ith the top and bottom lips pressing together, in order to slur upards to the G. The lips must do the opposite to slur donards. Do not stretch the corners of the mouth outard or inard to ascend or descend. In order to have the lips compress and decompress easily, the mouthpiece must be placed on the lips ithout the player first smiling or stretching the lips. The mouthpiece may be placed high, centered, or lo on the lips or even a little to one side or the other. Place it here the best results are achieved. There is no single placement for everyone to use. 7 1
Basic Trumpet Playing The tone can also be affected by changes in equipment. Search to find hat comfortably produces the best tone and response for the individual player. A medium/large horn ith a medium-sized mouthpiece is a good starting point. ATTACK An attack is defined as articulating or beginning a note. It controls ho the air is released or interrupted. Say the ord total. Notice ho much more emphasis is put on the first t. Without thinking, one simply makes the sound for that ord. The t sound is articulated tice hen saying total. The physical motion made is similar to playing to eighth-notes. In trumpet playing, attacks are made using syllables such as doh, doo, dah, dee, toh, too, tah, tee, koh, koo, kah, and kee. These syllables are range-dependent; syllables ending ith oh are used for the loest notes, oo for the lo to middle register, ah for the middle to upper register, and ee for the upper register. Experiment to see hat kind of attacks result using these syllables. Use the k only hen double-tonguing (ta-ka) or triple-tonguing (tah-tahkah). The d is usually used for soft or light attacks. The most frequently used syllable is too. PITCH Pitch is hat one listens for hen tuning the trumpet; it is one of the most important elements in performing music. Musicians should all on and practice ith tuners in order to see hether or not they are playing in tune. Electronic tuners, hich are relatively inexpensive and available in most music stores, can be used to hear hat it sounds like to be flat or sharp. Before tuning, make sure that the trumpet is not too cold or hot. Bloing air through the horn for a minute ill ensure this. Tuning is easy if the player remembers hich ay to move the tuning slide. When under the pitch, or flat, the main tuning slide must be pushed in. When above the pitch, or sharp, the same slide must be pulled out. Pay close attention to every note played. Some notes should be adjusted by the use of slides on the first and third valves. The D-natural and C-sharp belo the staff normally need to be loered in pitch by moving the third valve slide out using the fingers of the left hand. Some trumpets require the left thumb to pull out the first valve slide by trigger or saddle in order to bring the pitch don on A above the staff and/or the F at the top of the staff. Generally, most notes can be played in tune by minor physical adjustments in lip compression that ill come naturally hen the player hears here the note should be placed. PRACTICE HABITS Remember to alays set a specific goal hen practicing. Never aste time by practicing hat can already be played. Concentrating on practicing for tenty minutes a day beats an hour of just playing. Alays remember to rest the same amount of time that it took to play the last exercise or passage. If one plays for thirty seconds, immediately rest for thirty seconds. Never practice to the point of muscle or mental failure. If any pain is felt, quit practicing immediately. RANGE Almost every young trumpet player focuses on range expansion as the most important aspect of trumpet playing. Sometimes this is caused by directors that demand notes that are simply beyond the physical ability of a developing player. Often, trumpet players cannot seem to help themselves hen it comes to anting to play higher than others. Good rules to remember hen trying to expand one s range are to monitor posture, avoid using too much pressure on the lips, and control the air stream at all times. Range normally develops a little bit at a time. Use the folloing exercise to improve range, tone, response, and endurance. Play a slurred chromatic scale, quarter notes at 120 beats per minute, from G in the staff up to the G just above the staff as quietly as possible, hile maintaining a good sound. Hold the top note for four beats and stop ith the mouthpiece still on the lips. Do not adjust the lips from this playing position. Immediately exhale through the nose. Take in a breath through the nose and quietly attack the G just above the staff; then slur chromatically don to G in the staff playing quarter notes. Hold the last note until no more air is left. Rest the amount of time it took to play the exercise. Once this exercise can be performed comfortably, move up to G-sharp, then A, etc. Also move donard to F-sharp, F, E, etc. ENJOYING MUSIC Playing the trumpet allos one to enjoy music from the performer s viepoint. It ill offer a greater appreciation of hat music really is. Alays remember that music should be fun! 7 2
The U.S. Army Field Band Basic Trumpet Playing RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Method Books Arban s Complete Conservatory Method for Trumpet and Cornet... F. Goldman and W. Smith Technical Studies for the Cornet... Herbert L. Clark Etudes for Trumpet... Vassily Brandt Lip Flexibilities... Charles Colin Mitchell on Trumpet (four volumes)... Harold Mitchell Etudes Transcendantes...Theo Charlier Recordings by the Folloing Artists Soloists... Maurice Andre, Wynton Marsalis, Adolph Herseth, Timofei Dokschitzer, Doc Severinsen, John Thompson, Vince DiMartino, Tony Plog, Phil Smith Orchestral Brass... Jim Thompson, Adolph Herseth, Susan Slaughter, and Phil Smith. Any major orchestra (Chicago, Ne York Philharmonic, St. Louis, Atlanta, Cincinnati, etc.) ill have great players to emulate Jazz Soloists... Louis Armstrong, Clark Terry, Dizzy Gillespie, Chet Baker, Clifford Bron, Wynton Marsalis, Roy Hargrove, Roy Eldridge, Kenny Dorham, Bobby She, Tim Hagans, Tom Harrell, Blue Mitchell, Miles Davis, Freddie Hubbard, Lee Morgan, Conte Condoli 7 3
The U.S. Army Field Band Scale Supplement Scale Supplement The fifteen major and minor scales make up our musical ABCs. Just as a person ishing to read learns the alphabet first, a musician cannot expect to master an instrument ithout first learning the basic set of scales. By diligently practicing the major scales and all three forms of the minor scales, they ill become automatic, just like reading the alphabet. This ill make playing, especially sight reading, much easier so that the musician can concentrate toards the ultimate goal making music! Each scale belo should be played sloly at first, ensuring that each note is played correctly. Gradually ork for speed, but do not rush. Use a metronome henever possible to guarantee evenness and a steady tempo. The player should practice difficult scales tice as often as easy ones to develop competence in all keys. As skills increase, change rhythmic patterns and increase tempos. Advanced players can still use scales to ork on intonation, technique, range, and dynamics. Use the folloing patterns one at a time or in combination to get even more benefit from scale practice: A D B............ E C - - - - - - - - - - - - F π ƒ π C Major 4 4 A natural minor A harmonic minor # # # # A melodic minor # # # # n n n n S 1
Scale Supplement G Major # 4 4 # E harmonic minor # # E natural minor # # E melodic minor # # # # # n n n n F Major b 4 4 D harmonic minor b # # D natural minor # # D melodic minor b n n # # n b n b S 2
The U.S. Army Field Band Scale Supplement D Major # # 4 4 B natural minor B harmonic minor # # # # # # B melodic minor # # # # # # n n n n Bb Major bb 4 4 G natural minor G harmonic minor bb # # # # G melodic minor b b n # n # n n b b S 3
Scale Supplement A Major # # # 4 4 F# natural minor F# harmonic minor # # # # # # # F# melodic minor # # # # # # # n n n n Eb Major bb b 4 4 C natural minor C harmonic minor bb b n n n n C melodic minor bb b n n n n b b b b S 4
The U.S. Army Field Band Scale Supplement E Major # # # # 4 4 C# natural minor C# harmonic minor # # # # # # # # C# melodic minor # # # # # # # # n n n n Ab Major bb b b 4 4 bb b b F harmonic minor n n F natural minor n n F melodic minor b b b b n n n n b b b b S 5
Scale Supplement B Major # # # # # 4 4 G# natural minor G# harmonic minor # # # # # G# melodic minor # # # # # # # # # n n Db Major bb b b b4 4 Bb natural minor Bb harmonic minor bb b b b n n n n Bb melodic minor b b b b b nn n n bb bb S 6
The U.S. Army Field Band Scale Supplement F# Major # # # # # # 4 4 D# natural minor D# harmonic minor # # # # # # D# melodic minor # # # # # # # # # n # n Gb Major b b b b b b 4 4 Eb natural minor Eb harmonic minor bb b b b b n n n n Eb melodic minor bb b b b b n n n n b b b b S 7
Scale Supplement C# Major # # # # # # # 4 4 A# natural minor A# harmonic minor # # # # # # # A# melodic minor # # # # # # # # # # # Cb Major bb b b b b b 4 4 Ab natural minor Ab harmonic minor b b b b b b b n n n n Ab melodic minor b b b b b b b n n n n b b b b S 8
BASIC FINGERING CHART CORNET, TRUMPET, MELLOPHONE, ALTO HORN.conn-selmer.com Circles above the note represent the valves. Red (filled) circles indicate valves that are to be depressed. These fingerings also apply to valve trombone, baritone horn and euphonium hen these instruments are ritten in treble clef. 3... 2... 1... 3... 2... 1... 3... 2... 1... F G G A A A B B C C D F G G A A D D E E F G B C D D E E F A B C D 3... 2... 1... F G G G A A A B B C
Trumpet in Bb Long Tones 4 b 11 b 20 #
1st Trumpet in Bb Tuning Chords University Band # 4 F Tuning n 7 B-flat Tuning b
Bb Trumpet Technique No. 1 University Band 4 # # 8 b b b 15 b b b # 22 #
Bb Trumpet Technique No. 2 University Band 4 # # # 8 b b b # 15 b b b # 22 # #
Technique No. 3 University Band # # # # 8 b b b b # 15 b b b b # 22 # # #
Technique No. 4 University Band 5 # # # 9 b b b b 13 # 17 b b b b 21 # # # 25
Bb Trumpet Articulation No. 1 University Band 4.. j Œ. -.. j Œ. -........ j Œ. - 5 #... j Œ............ - # j Œ - # # j Œ - 9 bn... j Œ b - b... j Œ b - b... b... b... j Œ b - 13.. j Œ............. - j Œ - j Œ - 17 b... j Œ b - b... j Œ b - b... b... b... j Œ b - 21 n#... j Œ n - #... j Œ......... - # # j Œ - 25.. j Œ. -.. j Œ. -........ j Œ. -
Bb Trumpet Articulation No. 2 University Band..... 4.. -............... Œ 5... #................. # # # # #. -. Œ 9... b................. - n b b b b b.. Œ 13...................... - # # Œ 17... b................. - b b b b b.. Œ 21... n#................. n # # # # #. -. Œ....... -............... Œ 25
Bb Trumpet Articulation No. 3 University Band 4 4............... b.. #.. n.. b.. #.. n. 5..... #....... #....... 10 #. n. #. n#..#. #. n. #. n#.. #. #..... 15 b....... b....... b. b.. #.. n. b. b.. #.. n. 19 b..... b #....... #....... 24 #. n. #............... # # # n# # # # 29 b....... b....... b. b.. #.. n. b. b.. #.. n. 33 b..... b #....... #....... 38 #. n. #. n#..#. #. n. #. n#.. #. #.....
2 43 Bb Trumpet............... b.. #.. n. 46. b....... #.. n.
1st Trumpet in Bb Amazing Grace Phantom Regiment Andante b b 16 3 4 A Œ Œ - Œ - Œ - Œ - Œ - Œ - p 23 bb Œ - Œ j j Œ Œ 31 b b 38 B 3 n n 3 3 Œ j ff 3 3 3 Ó J J J 3 3 3 44 50 C 3 3 3 Ó j p 3 3
1st Trumpet in Bb 4 4 9 17 23 28 A B p q = 95 mf p C Canon From "Harmonic Journey" (2003) ff mp Johann Pachelbel arr. J. D. Sha fff
Trumpet in Bb I Adagio for Strings Santa Clara Vanguard 2013 U U U U stacking U b b b b 4 fp ff Samuel Barber permissible