How To Play A Trumpet

I’ve been playing the trumpet since I was little kid and thought it would be helpful to talk about what things you might think about if you wanted to learn too!

So, you’re thinking of taking up trumpet playing. Cool. Or maybe you’re just curious how the trumpet makes its sound. Still cool.

What is a trumpet?

A trumpet, typically, is a metal tube with one end flared like a bell and a narrower end fitted with a mouthpiece. It is often made of a length (6 – 1/2 ft) of hard bronze that had been bent and coiled, and is hollow through and through, with valve-controlled inlets. Between the mouthpiece and the bell, the body of the trumpet viewed sideways, curiously resembles a paper clip!

A typical trumpet has three upward protruding valve heads which (you see) the trumpet player alternately presses down and releases when they’re playing music. Each valve is encased in its respective cylinder connected to the main tube.

You will also see three rings on different positions on the trumpet’s body. The first ring (sometimes a hook) on the front end of the valves acts as fixed support for the little finger. This helps your right hand get good leverage when pressing/releasing the valve heads. The two other rings located near the bottom, on each end of the cylinders are the slide handles. These slide handles or slides fine tune the pitch and tone of a note.

The mouthpiece is a separate piece that is fitted on the narrow end of the tube. There is an assortment of mouthpieces that produce different sound qualities from mellow to sharp, and in different keys.

How To Play the Trumpet

The sound made by the trumpet is produced by making a buzzing sound with your lips blown through the mouthpiece. This basically creates the trumpet sound. Try it!

Pitch is regulated by the different ways your lips open, its position, and the power when you blow on the mouthpiece. You can play a C, a G, and a higher C by just blowing on the trumpet, without playing any of the valves.

The three valves also control what notes you play. The first valve opened (pressed or played) lowers the note by one tone (e.g. from G to F). The second valve lowers the note by a semi-tone (e.g. from C to B). The third lowers the note by one and a half tones (e.g. from G to E, or from C to A).

Trumpet playing seems complicated! But you can learn and master it with regular practice and determination.