Reply To: Trumpet Range

[nafmeadmin]

To get a better understanding what you are asking, I think we need to know a couple more things here too. What is the current range of your trumpet players, and what is your goal for their range to be? What grade level are they? I have some ideas for you, but it really depends on what they can already do and where you want them to be.

For starters, working on exercises from the H.L. Clark and Arban method books helps. Even just simple chromatic scales, aiming for 1/2 step higher (or even lower – in the lower register) each day can help improve. Playing in the low register and expanding that helps just as much as trying to expand the upper register.

Besides exercises, make sure that your students are using plenty of air to support the sound and support the upper notes. Us trumpet players don’t have an octave key. Let the air do the most of the work – not the lips.

I think I can help you more once I know what your situation is. Been playing trumpet since I was 10.