Assignment 20- Clifton Grady

How to play a Bb scale on the trumpet

Step one: take the mouthpiece and insert it into the mouthpiece receiver of the trumpet (this is connected to the lead pipe). Then, perform a quarter turn on the mouthpiece to ensure it stay snug in the trumpet, but not so tight that it gets stuck.

Step two: Raise the trumpet to your lips. You never want to bring yourself to the trumpet, but rather bring the trumpet to you. This is to emphasize your control over the instrument, and to ensure you maintain proper posture when playing. This will help you produce a nicer tone.

Step three: Form your embouchure. The embouchure is essentially the shape of your face when playing the instrument. To do this for trumpet, form your mouth as if you are saying the syllable “mmm” inside of the mouthpiece, keeping your lips together fairly tightly allowing enough flexibility in your lips to allow them to vibrate.

Step four: Blow warm air through the tiny hole between your lips (the aperture) so as to make them vibrate. You want to keep your throat as open as possible, as if you were trying to fog up a glass. You want the air to be fast and in a steady stream, but also as warm as possible so as to produce a dark, opulent sound. You should produce the pitch Bb.

Step five: You should proceed as above, but now pressing down the valves and slightly speeding up your air as you go up the scale. The first note is to be played open, followed by C (first and third valve), D (first and second valve), Eb (first valve), F (again, played open), G (again, first and second), A (second valve), and then Bb again (also played open).

Congratulations, you now know how to play the Bb scale on the trumpet.