I am a beginning trumpet player and I am wondering which mouthpiece is best to use as a beginner. The mouthpieces I have right now are as follows:

Blessing 7C
Schilke 15A4A (gold plated)
Brasswind 3C
Bach 10 1/2C

I think I am trying to switch back and forth too much from one mouthpiece to the other and am becoming frustrated. I would appreciate any opinions or advice about this. I am an adult and am not in a band and do not plan to be in one. I like to play at home for my own enjoyment. However, at this point I am getting confused about mouthpieces and need some advice.
Thank you.

Carol K

hiya

as a beginner you are probably better to stay with your schilke 15a4a. You should definately not keep changing your mouthpieces until your more advanced and can really feel the deference and adjust.

hope this helps!!!

jaime

reply to Jaime re mouthpieces

Thank you for your reply to my post about mouthpieces. I think you are definitely right that I need to stay with one mouthpiece and not keep changing around. I have come to the conclusion that I have been changing back and forth way too much recently.

Carol K

Are there different sized mouthpieces? My daughter has just got a dental brace - fixed top and bottom. She has been trying to play her cornet - it wasn't too bad - she at least managed some notes ! She has had the same instrument and mouthpiece for ages, so we know no different. Maybe a bigger size would be better ??

the trouble with changing mouthpieces when you have a brace fitted is that your muscles are faced with 2 new challenges instead of one - namely a different size mouthpice and braces.
If you're going to change it's best to change to something very different (tuba's a good option) so that you're using a totally different muscle formation, rather than something that's slightly different to your normal set-up.
you'll find that sound and range will normally find a way of getting back to how it was as long as not too much pressure is placed on the mouthpiece.

hope this helps

Troubleclef,

Don't let the fact that your daughter now wears braces put her off playing the cornet.

There is a trumpet development system called 'The Balanced Embouchure' by a chap called Jeff Smiley. It is a programme of exercises that include rolling your lips in and out that will indirectly help your playing. The system encourages you to create a greater lip mass behind the mouthpiece, which, as a side benefit, makes it much more comfortable to play when you have braces. The author has taught loads of kids with braces very successfully.

The mouthpiece size is probably not an issue at this stage (what size is it by the way), and you will probably be better off looking into this once she has developed a stronger embouchure (which the book and accompanying CD will undoubtadly do).

You can find more about this at http://www.trumpetteacher.net
Regards,

Mark.