Mouthpiece recommendations for young beginners

SSmith1226

I have an 8 year old grandson, average in size, and in the second grade. He has shown an interest in learning to play the trumpet. Thus far he has used a 7c mouthpiece, which is the smallest I have. In the sessions we have done together his comfortable range centers around low C and goes as high on a few occasions as middle G. Is there an ideal average size mouthpiece for a child of this age to start on?

GeorgeB

@SSmith1226
A teacher I know was discussing mouthpieces for youngsters with me a while ago. For whatever reason, many trumpet makers include a Bach 7C with their student horns, and for many it works until they start growing and their needs change. This teacher told me he has pretty good results with moving some of them to a 5C, which is somewhere between a 7C and 3C. I'm familiar with the 5C and used it for almost two years during my comeback, but as my range went up the 5 just wasn't a comfortable piece. But honestly, Steve, it is hard to know what would work best for an 8 year old.

Dr GO

To me it's not a for sure choice; however, populations fall on a standard deviation and the closer a mouth piece is to the middle of that distribution, the more people will find a truly usable mouthpiece. So the odds of the 7C working are the highest. Sometimes, we can use statistics to our advantage.

SSmith1226

@Dr-GO
I agree that the 7c is the most common mouthpiece sold, and across the playing population works for many players. For the last six months the 7c has worked best for me.
Size wise my grandson is not in the middle of the bell shaped curve, but is way to the left of center in size, probably a couple of standard deviations below the mean. In comparison my 8 year old grandson is quite a bit smaller than me. Height wise the top of his head hits my elbow. Head and facial size are considerably smaller than mine. Below is a photo showing the difference with me sitting and him standing. He can play a 7c, but I would wonder whether a 10.5c or a 12 might give him better results, making it easier for him to make music like sounds, thus giving him more incentive to maintain his interest. On the other hand, a 7c may be best for his facial and dental structure. It would be interesting to see whether there are elementary school band directors or private teachers on the site that have extensive experience with this age group and see what their opinion is as well.

Dr GO

@SSmith1226 said in Mouthpiece recommendations for young beginners:

@Dr-GO
...He can play a 7c, but I would wonder whether a 10.5c or a 12 might give him better results, making it easier for him to make music like sounds, thus giving him more incentive to maintain his interest.

This was my personal experience when I started out. I started on the 7c, but my band director had a 10.5 that I tried, and for me the 10.5 was the keeper. Even today, my go to size are still the smaller rim diameter pieces, like my Jettone Studio B and my Kanstul G2. Albeit, I do like the larger diameters on my Flugelhorn, and us a 3C for that horn.

ROWUK

In my world there is no "best" or even "beginners" mouthpiece. The Bach 7C is popular because it is not too big, not too little, it has a slightly sharper inner rim which in my opinion works well with chops that simply don't get enough practice. The critical part for beginners is NOT buying a bigger or smaller mouthpiece, rather getting them lessons with someone who cares enough to lead them to superior body and breath use. The faster that they let their playing ride on that flow of air, the faster they will have little dependency on mouthpiece to fill the job (sound great, play in tune, blend in school band).

Anything smaller than a 7C or bigger than a 3C, I consider to be a specialty mouthpiece and one should know themselves why they chose them. I only played for a year on a 7C. Then it was clear that I was on track for classical playing. I was playing cornet at the time and switched to a 1C with only a week or two of acclimation. That is only proof that my trumpet teacher did his job (and that I practiced a little more than required)!

SSmith1226

@GeorgeB
@Dr-GO
@ROWUK

I appreciate everyone’s input and opinion. Before he played his first note we practiced breath control and breathing using the principles of Rowuk’s circle of breath and I correct him as much as possible. Since I see him only intermittently, he is only in the second grade, and his mother ( my daughter ) is not as enthusiastic as I am to see him learn the instrument, there would be next to no practice until such time that I move to his area on a consistent basis, which I believe will be in less than one year. At that time I will find him a qualified teacher and encourage practice together as much as possible as well as on his own. In the meanwhile we both will continue on the 7c.

Newell Post

10.5C Readily available, cheap, used. Worth a try. I never liked the 7C, even when I was a beginner, due to the shape of the rim. (Very sharp inner lip and heavily rounded outer lip.) I don't know who ever came up with that concept or why. But, for me, it was terrible for endurance. The 10.5C is slightly smaller, but with a fairly flat rim that is much more comfortable. IMO.

barliman2001

@Newell-Post said in Mouthpiece recommendations for young beginners:

10.5C Readily available, cheap, used. Worth a try. I never liked the 7C, even when I was a beginner, due to the shape of the rim. (Very sharp inner lip and heavily rounded outer lip.) I don't know who ever came up with that concept or why. But, for me, it was terrible for endurance. The 10.5C is slightly smaller, but with a fairly flat rim that is much more comfortable. IMO.

Well, the 7C worked for me. The smaller sizes never fitted, and now I am on a 1C Megatone that I had specifically altered to emulate the sharp rim of the 7C...

Newell Post

Yeah, but the kid in question is 8 years old. So the smaller size might work for him, for now. 1C, maybe later.

Kehaulani

I didn't get along with a Bach 7C because of it's rim. However, Schilke 11 is roughly the same size but with a more comfortable rim and I played that in H.S. and college. You might want to try that, just cost a couple of bucks, and f you get it from WWBW, I think they have a liberal return policy.

Schilke 11 used to be called the Model H, which stood for Herseth, Schilke's take on Bud's Bach 7C . . . FWIW.

Dr GO

Kehaulani, Were you able to get the G2 from Kanstul? The rim on that mouthpiece is so comfortable for a small cupped mouthpiece. Makes it easy to fully use the increased depth of this cup.

Kehaulani

@Dr-GO said in Mouthpiece recommendations for young beginners:

Kehaulani, Were you able to get the G2 from Kanstul? The rim on that mouthpiece is so comfortable for a small cupped mouthpiece. Makes it easy to fully use the increased depth of this cup.

I got my G2 from James New. Great mpc. It was based on the G2 that New made for some kind of Miles Davis commemoration.

Bob Pixley

I'd give a 10.5C a try. It's not as small as the number might lead you to believe, and in my opinion, is a much better mouthpiece than the 7C. Nice rim, plenty deep enough, and inexpensive (especially if you buy a used one).

SSmith1226

@barliman2001
@Bob-Pixley
@Kehaulani
@Newell-Post

Thanks for the additional input and suggestions.

adc

@Bob-Pixley
Yea thats what I (and everyone else ) played back in the day (10 1/2 C). Grabs high notes but I found an 8 1/2 C better and finally went to a Yam 11C4

Kehaulani

@adc said in Mouthpiece recommendations for young beginners:

@Bob-Pixley
Yea thats what I (and everyone else ) played back in the day (10 1/2 C). Grabs high notes but I found an 8 1/2 C better and finally went to a Yam 11C4

Well, here we go in circles. Isn't a Yamaha 11C4, Yamaha's take on the Schilke 11?

GeorgeB

This post is deleted!

Kehaulani

Are you in the right thread?

adc

@Kehaulani
It seemed it was close to a bach 8 1/2Cbut for me played a bit better. Its all I use now. I have a short shank and medium shank one.