What are pedal tones on the trumpet?

_Mark_

Am I correct in understanding that when trumpeters say pedals they are talking about tones below the bass clef f# ? If so, how are they played/fingered? I have several books that fail to mention anything about this? In asking, i'm getting ahead of my abilities as a beginner, but I'm curious.

Libertydoc

@_mark_ Mark, I would say you are approaching a topic that is worth learning even in the beginning. You are correct, the pedal tones are those that are not fundamentally on the horn. Learning to play them will enhance your breathing ability and control of your embouchure; both are items you will need for the upper register.
The easiest way I know of to learn a pedal is to start by playing the F# at the bottom of the trumpet range. Then, once you have the tone, bend it flat. This will involve relaxation of your embouchure, jaw and lips as you want the lips to flop at a lower frequency that needed at the higher registers. You'll find pedals take a lot of air! For the beginning, you can use the same fingerings as you would for the notes in the octave above. You will find you'll be using more lower lip as you go lower. My lowest range (which took a while) is the double pedal C and feels like it is almost all lower lip.
Pedals will likely never sound crisp and clear like the other notes on the horn and, like everything else, they take practice. Pedals are a great way to warm up (read Carmine Caruso books) and the learning books Total Range by Charles S. Peters and Systemic Approach to Daily Practice by Claude Gordon include pedals in the initial lessons. Have fun with them! They are worth your time.

_Mark_

@libertydoc thanks a bunch! Just what I wanted to know. And thanks for the book references, too.

SSmith1226

Low Notes:

Dr GO

Relaxing and opening the embouchure are key to get the notes below F#. But for me these pedal tones are a piece of cake WITH NO WORK on my 4 valve flugelhorns, as long as I keep my embouchure OPEN. That 4th valve just makes bridging so the pedal tones so much easier, but once that 4th valve is engaged, the fingerings for all the notes change.

ROWUK

Pedal tones are the fundamental tones based on the length of the trumpet. They correspond to 1 wavelength. The next tone (2 wavelengths) in the partial series is an octave higher - on an open trumpet, low C. 3 wavelengths corresponds to a second line "g". 4 wavelengths is third space C., 5 is E, 6 is g on top of the staff, 7 is Bb above the staff and 8 wavelengths are C above the staff. Notice that every doubling of the wavelength is an octave higher for C 1, 2, 4 and 8. For G 3 and 6.

administrator

Pedal tones are good for a beginner to know. I'd say they're worth at least attempting to practice. Explanations above are more than adequate so I'll leave it at that.

Trumpetsplus

The pedal tone is the note whose half wavelength resonates in the trumpet. It normally sounds more than an octave below low C due to the end effect of the bell because It is not always clear to the sound wave where the tubing ends. T mathematics of this are way beyond most of us - I defer to Benade.

On flugelhorn and trombone/Baritone Horn the pedal tone tends to be exactly one octave lower. On didgeridoo (a cylindrical wooden trumpet) the pedal tone is about a 12th lower.

Here is a bit more: https://www.jaegerbrass.com/Blo/Entries/2019/12/explaining-brass-instruments---2-the-notes.html

Vulgano Brother

@trumpetsplus I've noticed that the mouthpieces that work best on a given trumpet, the ones that make the trumpet "sing," make for an easy in-tune Pedal C.

Dr GO

@vulgano-brother said in What are pedal tones on the trumpet?:

@trumpetsplus I've noticed that the mouthpieces that work best on a given trumpet, the ones that make the trumpet "sing," make for an easy in-tune Pedal C.

Agreed: Using anything else risks producing a puddle tone.

SSmith1226

Curlydoc

@ssmith1226 strains my eyes!

Dr GO

@curlydoc said in What are pedal tones on the trumpet?:

@ssmith1226 strains my eyes!

...and my lips!

J. Jericho

@ssmith1226 A perfect explanation. Thanks for posting! The guy has an interesting name, too.

Shifty

The comments are pretty entertaining, too.

administrator