If TH-cam handed out Emmy's, this video would be the first winner. And if every beginner trumpeter learned this, the world would have 10 times more horn players. Good ones, too.
Hi Charlie, I'm 56 picking up my trumpet for the first time in over 10 years. I played 4th grade - 12th grade and then did not touch it until I was 43 years old.. played for a bit and then life got back in the way. I truly wished I would have learned this when I was 9 years old in 4th grade. I studied your video, got a pair of my wife's sewing scissors, a mirror, and went to work. The next night, I easily hit high G on the staff... after 12 years of not touching my instrument. I wish I knew this growing up. I'm still in week 1 of being back at it and my wife said she is amazed at the tone quality she is hearing. Of course, I feel and hear every imperfection but wow!!! I am going to enjoy playing my trumpet in the latter half of my life. Just wonderful stuff!! I'm finishing up one of your other videos... loud low and soft high... completely makes sense to develop quality sound.
Hi, I’d also say that I haven’t practiced in years but started up again and thanks to finding this embouchure video, I discovered that I DO pinch off my lips for high register and have always had tremendous difficulties just getting to hi C. Now I really understand why and since I’m almost starting all over again, I’m going to practice this to get to where I never could before. Thank you profoundly.
Hey!!! I'm in a similar boat, except I stopped playing about 15 yeas ago (a few years after my daughter was born), and now I'm fifty picking the darn thing back up. (To be fair, I turned 50 in May and picked up the horn around then and have been practicing it since.) Excited to see what this will do for my lip. Still needs lots of work to get back into shape.
Charlie, I must say that you're the one who teaches me play. This is my 4th year playing and I began with your videos, I begin the music school last year and my professor doesn't help me at all. This video really make a change in my playing and I'm so glad that you're so desinterested and generous giving this knowledge, it really helps me (and helps all of us). I'm not in my best economic stability but I really feel that I'm in debt with you, I feel that all this free lessons must be rewarded!! I'm sorry I can't do anything for you othe than be so much thankfull. Thank you so much for everything and I hope that you recieve the reward and recognition you deserve!!!!
I've just bought my first trumpet ever this week at 58 years old, and I am so pleased to have discovered your teaching, so hear I am at 4am in the morning watching your amazing teachings, I've never played an instrument before, but I feel with your help I might just get a tune. Thank you Charlie for taking your time to help people like me.
4 AM? Are your neighbors pounding on your door asking if you know certain Chicago tunes? Also congrats at picking up the horn. I'm in a similar boat that I stopped playing my trumpet altogether about fifteen years ago, and I started back up in May. To my surprise, I still have lip left. To my neighbors' collective surprise, they live next to a shitty trumpet player. Might I also recommend finding a good teacher in your area? They can help you with the mechanics, learning theory (because all musicians should know some music theory), make sure you don't slide into bad habits, and set a practice schedule to help you hit the targets you want.
keep going for it man, I absolutely love trumpet playing even though I haven't been in a band for these past 2 years, have fun with it and get better over time
I'm 56 and start playing trumpet at 32 but had to give up for lack of video lessons. I learned from books and was playing at some point. But I could never find a good teacher. Now with TH-cam I'm happy to find so many lessons. I've ordered a new trumpet and will start again.
Hi! im 33 years old, im from Montevideo Uruguay, I started playing the trumpet at 18 and after more than 8 years of bad study I abandoned it, ... something inside of me pushed me to go back to studying that wonderful instrument that I could never master, ... 1 year ago I went back to practice and just when I was starting to discourage myself I SEE THIS VIDEO !!!!! MAN YOU CHANGED MY LIFE FOREVER !!!!! I SEND YOU MILLIONS OF THANKS !!!! NOBODY ACHIEVED TO TRANSMIT ME THE CORRECT WAY TO PLAY THE TRUMPET, .... AND YOU DO IT !!! INFINITE THANKS CHARLIE!!! YOU CHANGE MY LIFE!
@@germanviquez gracias German. Pero tú aplicas esta técnica? Mi pregunta es, cuánto tiempo dura esto hasta llegar a un buen nivel y si es poco a poco. La presión q se hace en El Paso 2 es muy suave verdad? Gracias hermano
@@ferneyol look... we are all different I suppose the pressure is as little as possible until you feel it... but it does support itself and a lot... if you look at the lips of the great trumpeters you can see punishment in their scars... metal against flesh metal always wins, but if you think about it as a calisthenics athlete, muscle gains are slow!!!! Do not pretend to start the gym and be arnold swazzenegger in 2 days ha ha everything takes a lot of work, I suppose that in 6 months you will be able to feel stronger by training correctly of course! What that means to me is to do it consciously! That's the key... rest your muscles after punishing them! . For example, if I go to the gym on Monday and train my chest, I won't do the same on Tuesday! I do something else until I recover,... You never have to study until you die... or get defeated,... take care of your muscles Greetings!
"This is a big one". I could have really used this in 1975. Back then, I was told (by my teachers) all the wrong stuff about my lips. Basically, I wasn't getting better, just burned out and wasn't enjoying playing, even after being 1st chair in 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th grade. Because of Covid, I started back up and then found this video. Holy crap. Those teachers WERE wrong! You've figured out a simple program for getting it right and it works. Thanks. Now on to re-learning the horn.
Holy Cow! I just tried this. I've been playing for 35 years and ALWAYS struggled with range and endurance. I think I've been playing with the lips in an inefficient position (out/unfurled). Anyway, just tried this and E above high C comes out nice and clear, no excessive pressure, no pushing with the air. It feels super weird right now, but sounds great and makes things so much easier! Thank you!
Charlie, I'm going to be honest with you: THESE LESSONS OF YOU ARE PURE GOLD! Since one month I started to study trumpet by myself and on other instruments I play (guitar, bass and piano) I never had to struggle with the embouchure. Without your videos I would be completely lost and what I appreciate most is the fact that you are very scientific and objective. After all, the trumpet is an instrument where the player has to rule the physics very well :) thanks again and I wish you all the very best!
I hope u see this comment, you are the only person who has been able to show me how to properly playing in the upper register (double G and above) I’m thankful that u took time to make this bro💯u probably won’t ever understand how much I appreciate it💪🏽🤧💯
Hi Charlie your videos are the best. Just fyi, if listeners have a set of ring spanners in their garage they make a perfect visualiser. My 16mm is the exact inner rim of my cornet mouthpiece ! 👍
I am 72 years old, took private trumpet lessons from Renold O. Schilke in Chicago back in the 60's. Mr. Schilke kept telling me what a bad emboucher I had but could not articulate what I was doing wrong. He just simply formed his emboucher unconsciously but told me to "work on mine" while exhaling deeply from the diaphragm. Finally I discover what would have really helped me become a better player!
Well, I'm partially encouraged to try some of these things, and yet discouraged that I didn't know this 30 years ago. I've been under so many teachers. Why was this never discussed? I've always wanted to be so good but have always hit a wall. I can't wait to try some of this. Blessings to you!
Got my first ever trumpet yesterday, ytr 2330, I'm a clarinetist in the past. Was able to produce a relatively clean buzz, with low C, middle G and Middle C, but anything higher just didnt come out. Watched this video, applied the same exact steps and was able to hit high C today. Thanks ahah
32 years old and picking up a trumpet for the first time ever. Paused the video for a bit while I 3d print an embouchure training thingy. Very excited to get started!
Charlie thank you. I played through grade school and some in college. I managed to find my way to 1st chairs, but the entire time I had a problem hitting higher notes and would jam the trumpet into my lips among other things. It caused endurance problems and made me feel limited. Ultimately I put the trumpet down and pick up the guitar until I saw your video. We have a cheap trumpet that my daughter used in her 5th grade band. I followed your lesson step by step. I never thought that a couple of decades later I would find a solution to a problem that pained me so much. I loved playing the trumpet. I'm playing the trumpet again with a much better embouchure and I can feel/hear the difference. Hey really...thank you.
wow such an in depth video on the embouchure. im going through an embouchure change right now and i didnt really know what to focus on and how everything should be working together until i found this video. really cleared up some questions that a lot of teachers ive asked couldnt give me the answers to.
Of all the people I've watched to learn how to play brass in the past few years, your videos I've found the most useful. It's just getting all of it down to a habit and not forgetting to do everything lol
Thank you Charlie. As a returning player at age 73, I now have some hope that I will be successful at improving my tone and flexibility on the trumpet.
Charlie I gotta thank you so much my man, I just had a huge revelation and breakthrough as a direct result of the concepts in this video. Lately I've been having a bit of trouble playing long tones around high C, you made me realize that I was doing everything right embouchure wise EXCEPT I was keeping my lips too close together during steps 3 & 4 which was cutting off my aperture in the upper register. As you said, the sound was cutting off and I was sometimes even getting a faint double buzz at high C and above. I simply opened up my aperture during steps 3 and 4 and the difference was night and day!!!!!!!
I sincerely believe you're gonna be our generation's Carmine Caruso or Claude Gordon. You got a true gift for explaining concepts and analyzing the mechanics of brass playing in a highly accessible manner, thanks for sharing that gift with the world!
I am just starting to play and this is the best video I have seen to describe how to have a good aperture. Thank you so much!!!! You are very good at explaining.
Thank you Charlie, I am a beginner, year one, and you just described every bad habit I do and it explains why I can sound Ok sometimes and terrible the next, that video was a revelation, so much great information, e book downloaded, I will follow the four steps, thanks!
I just sulked away from from a video about warming up with the mouthpiece, annoyed that I couldn't get a tone without the trumpet attached, just sputtering. Sure enough, I went through the four-step setup here just on a mouthpiece, and surprised myself with a nice clear tone. Thank you, great video!
Returned to play trumpet after 50years, had to chuckle at how few notes could be formed without breaking! This instruction is amazing, thanks for sharing along with the mutes videos that are an inspiration. Just returned to trumpet after......grief time flies....50yrs!
I am only three quarters of the way through but I find this awesome and have already got a range of pitches coming out of the mouthpiece. It’s my first day of the trumpet so I’m really pleased. Thanks a million, you’re a ledge.
Started playing again this week after a 20+ year break. Had a mild amount of anxiety before watching this video, remembering the two years it took me to transition from my horrible pre-braces embouchure to something a bit better. Thankfully my lessons instructor steered me the right way and the corrections I need to make seem minor. Thanks for this video!
Wow. Watched you and John Ruff (RIP) and James Morrison. So much info for me, another person who never knew what they were doing and came to trouble. I remember the Farkas book but so much was then unknown by so many band teachers. Maybe severing my lips 50 years ago was the best thing for me; now I HAVE to do it right if I want to come back. thankyou.
I remember the demonstrations of someone playing high C with the trumpet hanging from a string, proving that pressure was not the answer. Learning the embouchure might not be easy, but not learning it will certainly, in time, be harder. You may not have made trumpet playing easy, but I believe you have made it possible.
I'm just starting out (frustrated sax player with left arm in plaster), and found this really helpful, thank you. I am using a 17mm ring spanner instead of scissors. Does the job!
Thanks so much, Charlie! This is the best trumpet playing advise I've had in all my 25 years of playing the trumpet. I can't believe you just shared this with the World because it is priceless. I feel kind of confident your advise will finally set me on a track that doesn't leave me clueless and frustrated every time. I've had two trumpet teachers and played in a big band and no one ever told me about technique so plainly. Now I'm looking forward to turning these four steps and open air flow fffas into a more relaxed second nature and not exhaust myself with all those shortcomings I could never even comprehend, untill now :D Thanks so much again, I just subscribed and am now a great admirer of your personality and your work. Keep it up man! Peace✌️
Omg i think this is the best tutorial for getting the embouchure. I’m finally able to buzz without blowing too much air to the point that I feel like I’m about to faint. I thought there was something wrong with me because I couldn’t do the spitting buzz noise. Thank you so much. 😭
Thanks a lot! You have helped me so much. It's my 3rd day of learning playing trumpet. My lips hurts a lot. But this video will develop my hard way to this beautifull instrument. This video is almost the best in all YT. Best Regards.
Wow thank you. This is fabulous stuff. I was taught using the smile method and have so much to unlearn. This gives me the framework to get it right every time. Awesome.
Man, you are da best. When i were trying with mouthpiece, i were sure that i were good, but when i took trumpet for 1st time... i were making dying cow's noises, and were scaring strangers around. I were having troubles with 2nd note with open valves. But after watching rhis video of yours for several times, practicing with scissors and mouthpiece for 3 days, i noticed that everything have changed for better. Thank you very much!
Hey Charlie! i'm not used to write below the videos, but you realy deserve it. Thanks man, you are a really awsome teacher and a generous being delivering us all that really usefull information for free. Thanks again!
i played trumpet in grade school, and now trying to play again 53 years later, for something special. i'll be watching you many times to get a simple tone. thanks for being there to help.
AWESOME VIDEO!!! Glad that I 'bumped' into your video just this week. I have stopped trumpet for like 20 years and just pick it up on Oct 2019. I am not a good player to begin with, played for 3 years during my younger days. Since picking it up (last year), I took my time to refresh myself with the new trumpet I bought. With some teaching experiences myself (in other field), I understand the importance of systematic approach to teaching and learning. I knew it is important to get a good embouchure from the start, especially when not having a teacher, otherwise down the road I will be in more 'trouble' having to rectify it which will be disastrous and de-motivating. For the past few months, I only manage to squeeze to a D on the staff with quite a lot of effort and stopped attempting high notes so I won't 'spoil' my embouchure. My C wasn't stable as well. After understanding and practicing what you taught in the video, today I hit a E on the staff effortlessly. It only took me a few days of practice. Thanks from Singapore!!! PS: I gotta edit this a little... I hit a F on the staff effortlessly
You're an amazing teacher ! It reminds me that my teacher was every time talking about my breathing, but I realise that most of the problems came from my embouchure. It is so much easy to get a clean sound without getting tired to quickly. Thank you so much for the sharing !
My wife just bought me a trumpet, it’s been 21 years since I played in middle school. Was able to remember the notes but sound was terrible, couldn’t get a consistent buzz and then watched this video. The visualization helped tremendously! Thanks for the clear explanation. Now to practice!
excellent video; great teaching skills. Even when the video was made some years ago, I can see there are people coming in to watch it, including myself.
This was soooooo helpful. I recently started learning the trumpet (and by recently I mean 3 days ago) and I was struggling with how to change pitch into the higher notes. Now I can get those notes easily! Thank you!
Okay Charlie, maybe, just maybe, if I had this information or trumpet teachers in my youth, or as an adult that knew this, I wouldn’t have “lost my lip” in my early thirties. This caused me to stop playing. At 64 years old I picked the trumpet again. I’m glad I found this video. Thanks.
ivan buraschi I'm no professional "screamer", but I can say that being a lead player is not just about playing high...it's about establishing the style and musically leading the section. As for getting sizzle and being able to project, you need to really understand how to super compress the air-stream. Some people call this "spinning" the air. Lips and tongue can only take you so high, and they will not project the sound. Beyond high C-Eb, you need to try to blow more air through the same size hole, to go higher...and more air through a slightly larger hole to go louder. If that's confusing, sorry. I'll be making a video on super compression, soon. Basically, that's why Maynard worked his abs...you really have to use them, and the back muscles, to create lots of compression, when playing very high and loud...but the lips have to also be in a good position, creating resistance to the air you are blowing.
Charlie, this may be the best and most useful trumpet instructional video ever posted to TH-cam. The mystery of the embouchure bedevils brass players endlessly and this is the clearest most helpful and most precise explanation of it I've ever seen. Thank you thank you so much for this. Without the embouchure there is no trumpet playing, it is the foundation of it all.
Me too, buddy. I saw this video a couple years ago and have been working to get through the tremors and misinformation. I can feel muscles that haven't been worked properly fatigue as they should. I can hear and feel the difference I just have 0 endurance and my range has been cut to a high G. Keep practicing and be gentle!
Thank you Charlie. I almost quit playing trumpet because of this video i continue to play.getting better and better.thank you so much. God bless you Charlie
You are good...after 60 years, I am returning to music. My main interest was the Tuba. I was learning the baritone and trumpet but I had to change my minor in 1957 from Music to English. Now, I have purchased mouthpieces for the tuba and trombone. I understand the embouchure better than my experience in college....even though I completed 18 college music hours. I have even studied music theory from TH-cam. Videos were not available in the 50's, 60's, until watching your video. Thank You and I will return to watch this video at least 100 and more times
That was comprehensive, but it was exactly what I needed at the start of my trumpet learning journey. I really hope it is an instrument I get to grips with and this should set me off in the right direction. Thank you for taking the time to put it together. Very much appreciated 👍
So, I don’t play instruments that need air (at least not my own, I did play accordion for a year). I recently got inspired to play the shofar. In searching through all the vids I saw this and WOW! You have a definite teaching gift. The way you describe embouchure had me scrambling for scissors and mirror. I learned so much and even began to feel the mechanics of buzzing the lips and using the support muscles. Thanks for this.
Just returned to this video as a struggle to get ready for back to back Christmas Eve gigs. One thing that has helped me "hide the red" is that I Touch the tip of my tongue to my upper lip. This helps me roll in just enough but not too much. It helps to have a tactile reference point. Thanks so much for the videos Charlie. Keep spreading the love!
This video was awesome though. I'm convinced that about 90% of my struggles with the trumpet are based around bad embrochure technique now. Time to hit the practice room...
Hi Charlie, here I am on Trumpet at age 65 learning how to get the first few notes above the stave up to C. Previously used the brute force method on my trombone. But brute force on trumpet only got me as far as D or E. Thanks to you even on attempt n#1 worked my way up to Bb just below the C I wanted to get to. So the future is now in sight. Just having fun working out how to get my low range again. So impressed I purchased the ebook as a way of saying thanks.
I don't know if anyone replied to your question but yeah, crooked teeth can be a serious issue. My left front upper tooth is twisted a bit and can cut into my lip after playing for an extended period. I never could afford braces as a kid. I play professionally now and do not want to get braces because it will radically change my playing. I overcame the problem with adjusting the amount of pressure I play with. Most players use too much pressure to seal the air around the mouthpiece. (especially in the upper register). Most of the time though a player can play around the jagged part of the teeth to avoid cutting into the lip. Louis Armstrong was known to have 2 completely different embouchures. If one gave out he would switch to the other one. Crazy.
This is HANDS DOWN the very best primer on getting a brass sound, by far. After struggling, mainly through having a flute embouchure (which is just about the opposite to a trumpet embouchure) I now realise I do not have to grip at all tightly and the "red" part of the lips should not be exposed (the exact opposite to the flute technique). It has taken many hours of frustration and despair until I found this video which frankly makes nearly all other videos on this subject quite useless, because they do not go to the detail you show so clearly. A thousand thanks for a brilliantly clear demonstration. In less than ten minutes I got the right kind of buzz after previously spending days and days with complete failure.
Thanks for all these videos, Charlie. I occasionally do routine while watching your videos and it helps make playing easier and gives me new goals for ease of playing over the entire horn.
Samuel Manzo Not at all! My friend Joey Pero plays to the side and has a beautiful sound and range. It's playing low or high, in the red of the lips, that can negatively affect your playing.
Samuel Manzo First of all, I don't intimately know Botti's embouchure, so I don't want to make assumptions. But, assuming he is playing in the red and to the side, as you said: Like I said, I don't believe side to side matters much. As for playing in the red, as well as Botti plays, he might find an increase in range and endurance by getting off the red. BUT, he's got a pretty good thing going. Also, there are many players who have learned to do a lot within their limitations. There is a difference between efficient playing and great musicianship. Sometimes they are one in the same, but often times trumpeters learn to work within their limitations. I think Botti is an example, though he certainly has a lot of facility. Remember, I also stated that there are always exceptions ;)
Great content brother! I've been playing since I was 8...I'm 38 now and can honestly say I've NEVER heard of or done step 1, the hiding of the red! I've only ever focused on making sure my corners are set, etc. I'm excited to get in the shed tomorrow with this new found info. Also, I've struggled at times with that Russian roulette you spoke about because I never considered the 'set'...that seal. Also, I was born with my lower jaw unaligned with my top jaw...meaning that when I close my back teeth, my front teeth NEVER meet or touch...so naturally, I normally don't keep my back teeth touching, unless I'm forcing it. My natural position is my back teeth apart about 1/8 of an inch. When they are touching, the space between my front teeth remain about 1/4 inch apart. I'm wondering how this approach you've discussed needs to be adjusted for that deficiency. Honestly, in my years of playing, I've found that I have a naturally huge and warm sound but transitioning from that natural opening to a smaller aperture to increase in range (with good articulation) has been a struggle. I appreciate your feedback.
Charlie, How important is the alignment of the teeth (jaw) in step one? And does that alignment need to be carried over to the blow? I'm thinking under and over bytes are natural jaw positions that effect the teeth alignment. Thanks for sharing this un-taught critical part of playing a brass instrument.
I don't even play trumpet, but here I am in the middle of the night buzzing into my wedding ring for 40 minutes.
😂😂
@Mckinley Mcfate For real? Come on... 🤦♂️
😂
lmao
First sign of "Hornamania" from the Laurel & Hardy, classic, "Saps at Sea" ........have a care...
Teaching a beginner with larger lips who is struggling to set a proper embouchure. This is exactly what I needed
This is the only video that I have found that explains IN DETAIL, how to properly form an embouchure. Thanks for the instruction
If TH-cam handed out Emmy's, this video would be the first winner. And if every beginner trumpeter learned this, the world would have 10 times more horn players. Good ones, too.
Hi Charlie, I'm 56 picking up my trumpet for the first time in over 10 years. I played 4th grade - 12th grade and then did not touch it until I was 43 years old.. played for a bit and then life got back in the way. I truly wished I would have learned this when I was 9 years old in 4th grade. I studied your video, got a pair of my wife's sewing scissors, a mirror, and went to work. The next night, I easily hit high G on the staff... after 12 years of not touching my instrument. I wish I knew this growing up. I'm still in week 1 of being back at it and my wife said she is amazed at the tone quality she is hearing. Of course, I feel and hear every imperfection but wow!!! I am going to enjoy playing my trumpet in the latter half of my life. Just wonderful stuff!! I'm finishing up one of your other videos... loud low and soft high... completely makes sense to develop quality sound.
Hi, I’d also say that I haven’t practiced in years but started up again and thanks to finding this embouchure video, I discovered that I DO pinch off my lips for high register and have always had tremendous difficulties just getting to hi C. Now I really understand why and since I’m almost starting all over again, I’m going to practice this to get to where I never could before. Thank you profoundly.
Hey!!! I'm in a similar boat, except I stopped playing about 15 yeas ago (a few years after my daughter was born), and now I'm fifty picking the darn thing back up. (To be fair, I turned 50 in May and picked up the horn around then and have been practicing it since.) Excited to see what this will do for my lip. Still needs lots of work to get back into shape.
Similar story to me! Good luck - it's never too late!
@@jackielinde7568 How are you getting on? I'm also picking my trumpet up again after 15+ years!
Any advice for this embouchure in high or treble notes?
29:48 for quick summary
oh my god thank you
i thought we are learning how to play drum here LOL
sweeperz27 a
Bless
sweeperz27 thanks
Examples
13:40 - Step 1 - Hide the red
21:04 - Step 2 & 3 - Create aperture
29:36 - Complete setup
thanks
Thanks
Thanks
thanks
thanks
Charlie, I must say that you're the one who teaches me play. This is my 4th year playing and I began with your videos, I begin the music school last year and my professor doesn't help me at all. This video really make a change in my playing and I'm so glad that you're so desinterested and generous giving this knowledge, it really helps me (and helps all of us). I'm not in my best economic stability but I really feel that I'm in debt with you, I feel that all this free lessons must be rewarded!! I'm sorry I can't do anything for you othe than be so much thankfull. Thank you so much for everything and I hope that you recieve the reward and recognition you deserve!!!!
I've just bought my first trumpet ever this week at 58 years old, and I am so pleased to have discovered your teaching, so hear I am at 4am in the morning watching your amazing teachings, I've never played an instrument before, but I feel with your help I might just get a tune. Thank you Charlie for taking your time to help people like me.
4 AM? Are your neighbors pounding on your door asking if you know certain Chicago tunes? Also congrats at picking up the horn. I'm in a similar boat that I stopped playing my trumpet altogether about fifteen years ago, and I started back up in May. To my surprise, I still have lip left. To my neighbors' collective surprise, they live next to a shitty trumpet player.
Might I also recommend finding a good teacher in your area? They can help you with the mechanics, learning theory (because all musicians should know some music theory), make sure you don't slide into bad habits, and set a practice schedule to help you hit the targets you want.
keep going for it man, I absolutely love trumpet playing even though I haven't been in a band for these past 2 years, have fun with it and get better over time
How are u doing now??
Mine comes today! First x player!
I'm 56 and start playing trumpet at 32 but had to give up for lack of video lessons. I learned from books and was playing at some point. But I could never find a good teacher.
Now with TH-cam I'm happy to find so many lessons.
I've ordered a new trumpet and will start again.
I am coming back to the trumpet after not playing for 15 years. Glad to find this so I can start setting up right at the start of my comeback!
Hi! im 33 years old, im from Montevideo Uruguay, I started playing the trumpet at 18 and after more than 8 years of bad study I abandoned it, ... something inside of me pushed me to go back to studying that wonderful instrument that I could never master, ... 1 year ago I went back to practice and just when I was starting to discourage myself I SEE THIS VIDEO !!!!! MAN YOU CHANGED MY LIFE FOREVER !!!!! I SEND YOU MILLIONS OF THANKS !!!! NOBODY ACHIEVED TO TRANSMIT ME THE CORRECT WAY TO PLAY THE TRUMPET, ....
AND YOU DO IT !!! INFINITE THANKS CHARLIE!!! YOU CHANGE MY LIFE!
Hi. How did it go? How long time did you expend until you feel ready?
@@ferneyol trata de encontrar en el comienzo de tu rutina la manera más fácil para ti de jugar con la trompeta!
@@germanviquez gracias German. Pero tú aplicas esta técnica? Mi pregunta es, cuánto tiempo dura esto hasta llegar a un buen nivel y si es poco a poco. La presión q se hace en El Paso 2 es muy suave verdad? Gracias hermano
@@ferneyol look... we are all different I suppose the pressure is as little as possible until you feel it... but it does support itself and a lot... if you look at the lips of the great trumpeters you can see punishment in their scars... metal against flesh metal always wins, but if you think about it as a calisthenics athlete, muscle gains are slow!!!! Do not pretend to start the gym and be arnold swazzenegger in 2 days ha ha everything takes a lot of work, I suppose that in 6 months you will be able to feel stronger by training correctly of course! What that means to me is to do it consciously! That's the key... rest your muscles after punishing them! . For example, if I go to the gym on Monday and train my chest, I won't do the same on Tuesday! I do something else until I recover,... You never have to study until you die... or get defeated,... take care of your muscles Greetings!
@@germanviquez thanks dude
0:00 Intro
12:32 Step one
13:56 Step two
18:10 Step three
21:15 Step four
"This is a big one". I could have really used this in 1975. Back then, I was told (by my teachers) all the wrong stuff about my lips. Basically, I wasn't getting better, just burned out and wasn't enjoying playing, even after being 1st chair in 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th grade. Because of Covid, I started back up and then found this video. Holy crap. Those teachers WERE wrong! You've figured out a simple program for getting it right and it works. Thanks. Now on to re-learning the horn.
Holy Cow! I just tried this. I've been playing for 35 years and ALWAYS struggled with range and endurance. I think I've been playing with the lips in an inefficient position (out/unfurled). Anyway, just tried this and E above high C comes out nice and clear, no excessive pressure, no pushing with the air. It feels super weird right now, but sounds great and makes things so much easier! Thank you!
Charlie, I'm going to be honest with you: THESE LESSONS OF YOU ARE PURE GOLD! Since one month I started to study trumpet by myself and on other instruments I play (guitar, bass and piano) I never had to struggle with the embouchure. Without your videos I would be completely lost and what I appreciate most is the fact that you are very scientific and objective. After all, the trumpet is an instrument where the player has to rule the physics very well :) thanks again and I wish you all the very best!
Embouchure on guitar, bass, and piano??!!!Please tell me you’re not putting your mouth on the piano. lol
This is the very best explanation I have ever heard and I am 70 years old.
Thank you so very much. 🎉🎉
I hope u see this comment, you are the only person who has been able to show me how to properly playing in the upper register (double G and above) I’m thankful that u took time to make this bro💯u probably won’t ever understand how much I appreciate it💪🏽🤧💯
Hi Charlie your videos are the best. Just fyi, if listeners have a set of ring spanners in their garage they make a perfect visualiser. My 16mm is the exact inner rim of my cornet mouthpiece ! 👍
This guy knows his stuff and is good teacher. Actually , a great teacher.
I am 72 years old, took private trumpet lessons from Renold O. Schilke in Chicago back in the 60's. Mr. Schilke kept telling me what a bad emboucher I had but could not articulate what I was doing wrong. He just simply formed his emboucher unconsciously but told me to "work on mine" while exhaling deeply from the diaphragm. Finally I discover what would have really helped me become a better player!
Well, I'm partially encouraged to try some of these things, and yet discouraged that I didn't know this 30 years ago. I've been under so many teachers. Why was this never discussed? I've always wanted to be so good but have always hit a wall. I can't wait to try some of this. Blessings to you!
Got my first ever trumpet yesterday, ytr 2330, I'm a clarinetist in the past. Was able to produce a relatively clean buzz, with low C, middle G and Middle C, but anything higher just didnt come out.
Watched this video, applied the same exact steps and was able to hit high C today. Thanks ahah
I'm so glad you're back.
Amen brother. Charlie is a trumpeters trumpet player!
thanks for all that valuable info brother
This is the most useful and also motivating video I ever watched regarding trumpet tutorials!
32 years old and picking up a trumpet for the first time ever. Paused the video for a bit while I 3d print an embouchure training thingy. Very excited to get started!
Charlie thank you. I played through grade school and some in college. I managed to find my way to 1st chairs, but the entire time I had a problem hitting higher notes and would jam the trumpet into my lips among other things. It caused endurance problems and made me feel limited. Ultimately I put the trumpet down and pick up the guitar until I saw your video. We have a cheap trumpet that my daughter used in her 5th grade band. I followed your lesson step by step. I never thought that a couple of decades later I would find a solution to a problem that pained me so much. I loved playing the trumpet. I'm playing the trumpet again with a much better embouchure and I can feel/hear the difference. Hey really...thank you.
Seriously the best explanation I've ever seen. Thank you from a French horn player with bigger lips!!
Whenever I'm having trouble with my embroidery I always come back to this video. You just made my practice a whole lot easier.
You have trouble embroidering? And this video helps with that? Hmmmm. Do what?
At least you know where your scissors when. ;) You might want to wash them before using them. :D
wow such an in depth video on the embouchure. im going through an embouchure change right now and i didnt really know what to focus on and how everything should be working together until i found this video. really cleared up some questions that a lot of teachers ive asked couldnt give me the answers to.
I'm a young trumpeter and I love watching your videos and find your tips very helpful. Thank you Charlie!
Of all the people I've watched to learn how to play brass in the past few years, your videos I've found the most useful. It's just getting all of it down to a habit and not forgetting to do everything lol
Excellent. I am new to the trumpet. This is by far the most clear and descriptive embouchure set up I have viewed.
Thank you Charlie. As a returning player at age 73, I now have some hope that I will be successful at improving my tone and flexibility on the trumpet.
Charlie I gotta thank you so much my man, I just had a huge revelation and breakthrough as a direct result of the concepts in this video. Lately I've been having a bit of trouble playing long tones around high C, you made me realize that I was doing everything right embouchure wise EXCEPT I was keeping my lips too close together during steps 3 & 4 which was cutting off my aperture in the upper register. As you said, the sound was cutting off and I was sometimes even getting a faint double buzz at high C and above. I simply opened up my aperture during steps 3 and 4 and the difference was night and day!!!!!!!
I sincerely believe you're gonna be our generation's Carmine Caruso or Claude Gordon. You got a true gift for explaining concepts and analyzing the mechanics of brass playing in a highly accessible manner, thanks for sharing that gift with the world!
I was doing the same thing. As i ascend the apeture was cut. The only result is the squeezed sound. But i can play all of the tone fully below high C
I am just starting to play and this is the best video I have seen to describe how to have a good aperture. Thank you so much!!!! You are very good at explaining.
Thank you Charlie, I am a beginner, year one, and you just described every bad habit I do and it explains why I can sound Ok sometimes and terrible the next, that video was a revelation, so much great information, e book downloaded, I will follow the four steps, thanks!
Guy Cresswell first year player? Keep it up! I've been playing trumpet for years and this guys videos are awesome!
I just sulked away from from a video about warming up with the mouthpiece, annoyed that I couldn't get a tone without the trumpet attached, just sputtering. Sure enough, I went through the four-step setup here just on a mouthpiece, and surprised myself with a nice clear tone. Thank you, great video!
This video is a master class. Thank you
Returned to play trumpet after 50years, had to chuckle at how few notes could be formed without breaking! This instruction is amazing, thanks for sharing along with the mutes videos that are an inspiration. Just returned to trumpet after......grief time flies....50yrs!
I am only three quarters of the way through but I find this awesome and have already got a range of pitches coming out of the mouthpiece. It’s my first day of the trumpet so I’m really pleased. Thanks a million, you’re a ledge.
Thanks for making these info available and advancing state of the art of brass pedagogy in the public.
Mr. Porter you have changed my life
Man, this is the best video on TH-cam I've ever seen on how to start playing trumpet. Thanks!
Started playing again this week after a 20+ year break. Had a mild amount of anxiety before watching this video, remembering the two years it took me to transition from my horrible pre-braces embouchure to something a bit better. Thankfully my lessons instructor steered me the right way and the corrections I need to make seem minor. Thanks for this video!
Wow. Watched you and John Ruff (RIP) and James Morrison. So much info for me, another person who never knew
what they were doing and came to trouble. I remember the Farkas book but so much was then unknown by so many
band teachers. Maybe severing my lips 50 years ago was the best thing for me; now I HAVE
to do it right if I want to come back. thankyou.
I remember the demonstrations of someone playing high C with the trumpet hanging from a string, proving that
pressure was not the answer. Learning the embouchure might not be easy, but not learning it will certainly, in time,
be harder. You may not have made trumpet playing easy, but I believe you have made it possible.
I'm just starting out (frustrated sax player with left arm in plaster), and found this really helpful, thank you. I am using a 17mm ring spanner instead of scissors. Does the job!
This is the best video/lesson I have seen ever on playing trumpet thank you Charlie x
Thanks so much, Charlie! This is the best trumpet playing advise I've had in all my 25 years of playing the trumpet. I can't believe you just shared this with the World because it is priceless. I feel kind of confident your advise will finally set me on a track that doesn't leave me clueless and frustrated every time. I've had two trumpet teachers and played in a big band and no one ever told me about technique so plainly. Now I'm looking forward to turning these four steps and open air flow fffas into a more relaxed second nature and not exhaust myself with all those shortcomings I could never even comprehend, untill now :D Thanks so much again, I just subscribed and am now a great admirer of your personality and your work. Keep it up man! Peace✌️
Omg i think this is the best tutorial for getting the embouchure. I’m finally able to buzz without blowing too much air to the point that I feel like I’m about to faint. I thought there was something wrong with me because I couldn’t do the spitting buzz noise. Thank you so much. 😭
Thanks a lot! You have helped me so much. It's my 3rd day of learning playing trumpet. My lips hurts a lot. But this video will develop my hard way to this beautifull instrument.
This video is almost the best in all YT. Best Regards.
this is the best tutorial ever. You are god for saving me so much of time and helping me enjoy and see results so fast
Wow thank you. This is fabulous stuff. I was taught using the smile method and have so much to unlearn. This gives me the framework to get it right every time. Awesome.
Man, you are da best. When i were trying with mouthpiece, i were sure that i were good, but when i took trumpet for 1st time... i were making dying cow's noises, and were scaring strangers around. I were having troubles with 2nd note with open valves. But after watching rhis video of yours for several times, practicing with scissors and mouthpiece for 3 days, i noticed that everything have changed for better. Thank you very much!
Hey Charlie! i'm not used to write below the videos, but you realy deserve it. Thanks man, you are a really awsome teacher and a generous being delivering us all that really usefull information for free. Thanks again!
i played trumpet in grade school, and now trying to play again 53 years later, for something special. i'll be watching you many times to get a simple tone. thanks for being there to help.
AWESOME VIDEO!!! Glad that I 'bumped' into your video just this week.
I have stopped trumpet for like 20 years and just pick it up on Oct 2019. I am not a good player to begin with, played for 3 years during my younger days.
Since picking it up (last year), I took my time to refresh myself with the new trumpet I bought. With some teaching experiences myself (in other field), I understand the importance of systematic approach to teaching and learning.
I knew it is important to get a good embouchure from the start, especially when not having a teacher, otherwise down the road I will be in more 'trouble' having to rectify it which will be disastrous and de-motivating.
For the past few months, I only manage to squeeze to a D on the staff with quite a lot of effort and stopped attempting high notes so I won't 'spoil' my embouchure. My C wasn't stable as well.
After understanding and practicing what you taught in the video, today I hit a E on the staff effortlessly.
It only took me a few days of practice. Thanks from Singapore!!!
PS: I gotta edit this a little... I hit a F on the staff effortlessly
This was the best guide for me. I finally got a consistent sound! Tthank you!
You're an amazing teacher !
It reminds me that my teacher was every time talking about my breathing, but I realise that most of the problems came from my embouchure. It is so much easy to get a clean sound without getting tired to quickly.
Thank you so much for the sharing !
Thanks! So glad your right eye stayed safe!
New to the trumpet! this video was killer thank you!
This is greatest explanation and demonstration of how to form a proper embouchure in existence. Thank you, Charlie. This is amazing.
I wish I'd been taught this day one instead of my 7th year into the instrument. Thank you so much for the amazing lessons
😂🎉
Bro same here :(
My wife just bought me a trumpet, it’s been 21 years since I played in middle school. Was able to remember the notes but sound was terrible, couldn’t get a consistent buzz and then watched this video. The visualization helped tremendously! Thanks for the clear explanation. Now to practice!
Common mistakes
22:38 not opening
23:00 pulling to sides
23:18 puckering
38:37 lips too close
excellent video; great teaching skills. Even when the video was made some years ago, I can see there are people coming in to watch it, including myself.
This was soooooo helpful. I recently started learning the trumpet (and by recently I mean 3 days ago) and I was struggling with how to change pitch into the higher notes. Now I can get those notes easily! Thank you!
I've been playing trumpet for 9.5 years now and no wonder my playing still sounded quite shit :DDDD
Thank you for fixing my embouchure
Was lowkey using a pair of scissors while sewing last night and you pulled out a pair and I said thank god😂😂
Okay Charlie, maybe, just maybe, if I had this information or trumpet teachers in my youth, or as an adult that knew this, I wouldn’t have “lost my lip” in my early thirties. This caused me to stop playing. At 64 years old I picked the trumpet again. I’m glad I found this video. Thanks.
Great video Charlie thanks so much for the explanation! Could you provide some tips on lead trumpet playing? Thanks!!
ivan buraschi I'm no professional "screamer", but I can say that being a lead player is not just about playing high...it's about establishing the style and musically leading the section. As for getting sizzle and being able to project, you need to really understand how to super compress the air-stream. Some people call this "spinning" the air. Lips and tongue can only take you so high, and they will not project the sound. Beyond high C-Eb, you need to try to blow more air through the same size hole, to go higher...and more air through a slightly larger hole to go louder. If that's confusing, sorry. I'll be making a video on super compression, soon. Basically, that's why Maynard worked his abs...you really have to use them, and the back muscles, to create lots of compression, when playing very high and loud...but the lips have to also be in a good position, creating resistance to the air you are blowing.
Thanks so much Charlie! Hope we can see you in Argentina sometime in the future! Best wishes! Ivan
Charlie, this may be the best and most useful trumpet instructional video ever posted to TH-cam. The mystery of the embouchure bedevils brass players endlessly and this is the clearest most helpful and most precise explanation of it I've ever seen. Thank you thank you so much for this. Without the embouchure there is no trumpet playing, it is the foundation of it all.
Totally agree with you. This is pure gold, and for free too. Thank-you Charlie Porter.
you're a hero!
For god sick man! Thank you so much!!! I was searching all of this anwsers for 18 years. Thanks again for you, this has changed my life.
So yeah, I’ve been playing the trumpet wrong for 10 years now. If you’ll excuse me I’ll be in the corner having an existential crisis 😎
Yoo, me too 10 years! how crazy
mate 20 years at least an hour a day , i sound like a six year old playing!!!!!
@@joeblogs8204 Oooooo, yeaah there's a lot of misinformation about embouchure out there. Hope this video finally helps you
Me too, buddy. I saw this video a couple years ago and have been working to get through the tremors and misinformation. I can feel muscles that haven't been worked properly fatigue as they should. I can hear and feel the difference I just have 0 endurance and my range has been cut to a high G. Keep practicing and be gentle!
Pfffff.
.I've been playing 13 years. Wrong... And now too
Charlie, this video makes you immortal in the brass world! Thanks a lot!
Good information, wish I had know all this when I first started years ago.
Jim Cooper me too...
same
Idem!
I’m just starting
And I get this information
Thank you Charlie. I almost quit playing trumpet because of this video i continue to play.getting better and better.thank you so much. God bless you Charlie
Awesome, Charlie!!
You are good...after 60 years, I am returning to music. My main interest was the Tuba. I was learning the baritone and trumpet but I had to change my minor in 1957 from Music to English. Now, I have purchased mouthpieces for the tuba and trombone. I understand the embouchure better than my experience in college....even though I completed 18 college music hours. I have even studied music theory from TH-cam. Videos were not available in the 50's, 60's, until watching your video. Thank You and I will return to watch this video at least 100 and more times
That was comprehensive, but it was exactly what I needed at the start of my trumpet learning journey. I really hope it is an instrument I get to grips with and this should set me off in the right direction. Thank you for taking the time to put it together. Very much appreciated 👍
So, I don’t play instruments that need air (at least not my own, I did play accordion for a year). I recently got inspired to play the shofar. In searching through all the vids I saw this and WOW! You have a definite teaching gift. The way you describe embouchure had me scrambling for scissors and mirror. I learned so much and even began to feel the mechanics of buzzing the lips and using the support muscles. Thanks for this.
I've been struggling a month to find a good sound and hit the high notes and it just came all at once thanks to you !! Thank you so much !!!
Just returned to this video as a struggle to get ready for back to back Christmas Eve gigs. One thing that has helped me "hide the red" is that I Touch the tip of my tongue to my upper lip. This helps me roll in just enough but not too much. It helps to have a tactile reference point. Thanks so much for the videos Charlie. Keep spreading the love!
If you watch video of him playing, he does this, too.
THANK YOU for this video and YOUR TEACHINGS! EXCELLENT presentation! THANK YOU!!
You are the best trumpet teacher in here! Your way of explaining things is top notch!!!
been a trumpet player for 3 years now imma go cry now 😅
Well, every once in a while you come across a gem like this...Kudos to you sir for being able to teach this precisely!
52 minutes in and Charlie's all "I'm going to cut this video short at this point..."
This video was awesome though. I'm convinced that about 90% of my struggles with the trumpet are based around bad embrochure technique now. Time to hit the practice room...
Substance D how are you doing on trumpet now?
Hi Charlie, here I am on Trumpet at age 65 learning how to get the first few notes above the stave up to C. Previously used the brute force method on my trombone. But brute force on trumpet only got me as far as D or E. Thanks to you even on attempt n#1 worked my way up to Bb just below the C I wanted to get to. So the future is now in sight. Just having fun working out how to get my low range again. So impressed I purchased the ebook as a way of saying thanks.
OK. This makes sense physiologically and mechanically. On lining up the teeth: what if the teeth are crooked?
I don't know if anyone replied to your question but yeah, crooked teeth can be a serious issue. My left front upper tooth is twisted a bit and can cut into my lip after playing for an extended period. I never could afford braces as a kid. I play professionally now and do not want to get braces because it will radically change my playing. I overcame the problem with adjusting the amount of pressure I play with. Most players use too much pressure to seal the air around the mouthpiece. (especially in the upper register). Most of the time though a player can play around the jagged part of the teeth to avoid cutting into the lip. Louis Armstrong was known to have 2 completely different embouchures. If one gave out he would switch to the other one. Crazy.
@@danielcarlheister680 This is, by far, one of the most helpful replies I read in the last month. Thank you very very very much.
@@MrPaulOfield Thank you for your response. Tell me what was helpful about this? I would like to know your experience. Thanks
This is HANDS DOWN the very best primer on getting a brass sound, by far. After struggling, mainly through having a flute embouchure (which is just about the opposite to a trumpet embouchure) I now realise I do not have to grip at all tightly and the "red" part of the lips should not be exposed (the exact opposite to the flute technique). It has taken many hours of frustration and despair until I found this video which frankly makes nearly all other videos on this subject quite useless, because they do not go to the detail you show so clearly. A thousand thanks for a brilliantly clear demonstration. In less than ten minutes I got the right kind of buzz after previously spending days and days with complete failure.
Thanks for all these videos, Charlie. I occasionally do routine while watching your videos and it helps make playing easier and gives me new goals for ease of playing over the entire horn.
Learned more in this 52 minutes than in many hours of Band in school and private instruction… Thanks Mr Porter.
is it a big deal if i play my trumpet off center. Like will it effect my playing.
Samuel Manzo I never thought of it to be. One of the best trombone players I know plays off center and so did I until I adjusted as a precaution.
Samuel Manzo I think it will be more difficult(I play on the side as well). Since your lips will have to be balanced with a different center
Samuel Manzo Not at all! My friend Joey Pero plays to the side and has a beautiful sound and range. It's playing low or high, in the red of the lips, that can negatively affect your playing.
Samuel Manzo First of all, I don't intimately know Botti's embouchure, so I don't want to make assumptions. But, assuming he is playing in the red and to the side, as you said: Like I said, I don't believe side to side matters much. As for playing in the red, as well as Botti plays, he might find an increase in range and endurance by getting off the red. BUT, he's got a pretty good thing going. Also, there are many players who have learned to do a lot within their limitations. There is a difference between efficient playing and great musicianship. Sometimes they are one in the same, but often times trumpeters learn to work within their limitations. I think Botti is an example, though he certainly has a lot of facility. Remember, I also stated that there are always exceptions ;)
Sax veteran, trumpet beginner. Glad to see this just starting out. Kudos.
Great content brother! I've been playing since I was 8...I'm 38 now and can honestly say I've NEVER heard of or done step 1, the hiding of the red! I've only ever focused on making sure my corners are set, etc. I'm excited to get in the shed tomorrow with this new found info. Also, I've struggled at times with that Russian roulette you spoke about because I never considered the 'set'...that seal. Also, I was born with my lower jaw unaligned with my top jaw...meaning that when I close my back teeth, my front teeth NEVER meet or touch...so naturally, I normally don't keep my back teeth touching, unless I'm forcing it. My natural position is my back teeth apart about 1/8 of an inch. When they are touching, the space between my front teeth remain about 1/4 inch apart. I'm wondering how this approach you've discussed needs to be adjusted for that deficiency. Honestly, in my years of playing, I've found that I have a naturally huge and warm sound but transitioning from that natural opening to a smaller aperture to increase in range (with good articulation) has been a struggle. I appreciate your feedback.
Thaddeus Ford so awesome that you've played for so long! Keep it up
This is the best video about embouchure i have seen. Thank you very much!!!
Charlie,
How important is the alignment of the teeth (jaw) in step one? And does that alignment need to be carried over to the blow? I'm thinking under and over bytes are natural jaw positions that effect the teeth alignment.
Thanks for sharing this un-taught critical part of playing a brass instrument.
i sure would like the reply for this question
Man, thank you. I am not kidding, this is the lesson I've been begging for since I was a kid. Really really wonderful.