Best posts made by GeorgeB

@_mark_

Yeah, if they are Bach mouthpieces the inside rim diameter sizes are as follows:
The 2 series 16.50mm
The 3 series 16.30 mm
The 7C is the smallest at 16.20 mm

The C cups are medium and the B cups are medium deep

I always found the 7 to be a cookie cutter ( sharp rim ). The 3 not too bad for comfort, but the 5 size ( 16.25 ) always worked best for me.
NOTE: the deeper cups are more tiring on the lips, bad news if you want to build range.

Spend some time on long tone exercises, especially whole notes. They help you develop good breathing and a smooth tone...and even endurance. The next important thing is working on scales. Start with a one octave C scale ( C below the staff to mid C on the staff ) and slowly over time work your way up a second octave until that great day when you discover you can play a HIGH C ABOVE THE STAFF.

Hope this helps,
George

@Dale-Proctor
Quite a feat, Dale. You have my deep, deep respect.

@SSmith1226

Those guys are so damn good it makes me want to sell all my trumpets and join the Friars ...

@administrator

Oh, yes, a great band with some very good trumpet players over the years, especially Johnny Graham in the 70s and early 80s. Not sure who the current trumpet lead is, but could be Bobby Burns Jr.

I like SEPTEMBER, too. The rhythm is infectious.
George

@Dale-Proctor said in [Hello!

Thanks, George. That movie was made almost 20 years ago, so I have a few more miles on me now.
Don't worry, we trumpet players age well...LOL !

@_mark_

If you don't plan on joining any community band and will be playing mostly for your own enjoyment, I would stick with the trumpet. Every day, things will improve, and one day down the road you will look back and marvel at how far you have come.

George

@SSmith1226
OMG, to be locked in a room and forced to listen to that over and over for 24 hours would be the world's worst kind of torture.

@j-jericho

Thanks for that. Swift has a great voice and it was interesting to hear a swing version of On The Street Where You Live with such a strong big band sound.
I've mostly heard vocal versions of this song with my favorite being one done by Vic Damone so hearing it this way was really interesting. I've always played it as a ballad. Think I'll take a crack at swinging it today.
You never know what you'll find on You Tube.

Where is everybody on Saturday and Sunday ? It is rare to come here on the weekends and find a post of any kind. I have to go to Trumpet Herald on Saturday and Sunday where there is lots of activity if I want to get my weekend fix.

I don't know why it is this way here and right now I don't have any suggestions, but I just wanted to point out that there are a lot weak areas at TB, especially with serious discussions about pedagogy. New young players and comeback players are plentiful at that other site, but sorely missing here, probably because they are seeking help and can't find it here.

Say what you like about Dr. Mark, but when he was a member, there was a lot of posts in the pedagogy department. We need experienced members like Mark to get things going or we will never see any growth.

Of course, this is just in my humble opinion.

George

@discount-bassy

Welcome aboard. I am an old timer ( 86 years ). I played with my own 5 piece band in the 1950's and 60's but gave up the trumpet in 1965 because the market for small bands like mine was being pushed aside for the cheaper 3 piece string bands. I had a successful career in printing and publishing. After my wife of 57 years passed away in 2012 of pancreatic cancer I gave some thought of getting back into music but didn't do anything definite until 2016. Since then I have been playing first trumpet with one of eastern Canada's top community brass and reed bands. It was hard coming back at the age of 79 but becauase I had a 12 year foundation to build on within 6 months I was playing first trumpet with the local Horizons band.

The trumpet is not an easy instrument to play well, but once you reach a competent level it is sure rewarding.
George

@dr-go
Me, too, Doc. He used to post a lot at TH but haven't seen anything from him there in quite some time. I always found Kehaulani an interesting character, and a fighter who really wanted to play the trumpet the way he had before those series of strokes. He had a short fuse, but I probably would have one too if I had to go through what he had. I really respect the guy.

Nice example, Ivan. When I play a new song with lyrics I actually learn how to sing it before before I even try to play it on the trumpet. As your videos shows, matching notes to the lyrics is an absolute necessity if you want the song to sound correct.

@barliman2001

Thanks for that. I love Richard Strauss.
George

@j-jericho

Thanks for that video on Pauly. I was was really saddened when I learned of his death at age 98.

It was players like Doc Severinsen and Pauly Cohen still playing trumpet into their 90s that were my inspiration to make a comeback at the age of 79 back in 2016. Even as things are getting tougher for me at 84, due to a lot of health issues and medications, those guys kept me in there and will continue to do so.

Pauly had a fantastic sound and an amazing ability to make that horn talk. As a lead trumpeter, he was one of a kind.

@ButchA
Hey, buddy, good to see you found a possible solution. I still use my old 1953 gold rim Bach 10.5C now and then, and I have a Bach 10.5CW, the W is for wide and it has that great cushion rim like the larger one you now have. I used to use mine for band work until I found the Wedge, which also has an amazingly comfortable rim.

Starting to play again at 79 after a 50 year layoff has lots of challenges, but as we age proper posture and breathing are more important than ever. Excellent article, Doc. Learned a few new things there, too.

As for the use of the pinky ring, a great local professional trumpet player taught me most of what I know today about playing the trumpet. Too big things I learned from day one: DON'T PUFF THE CHEEKS and ONLY USE PINKY RING WHEN TURNING PAGES , USING A MUTE, ETC. I tried using the pinky ring just for fun a few times and the results were awful. My hand and fingers felt confined. I could never play that way. The only right hand finger that touches the horn is the thumb as it rests against the first valve casing. The other four fingers float above the valves.

Thanks for that interesting article, Doc.

George

I don't play many late gigs these days (before Covid, anyway) but when I had my 5 piece band back in the 50s/60s I did a lot of late gigs, mostly weddings where we played overtime and by the time I would get home it would be 1 or 2 in the morning and man, I'd be so wound up it was near impossible to get to sleep.

Yeah ! Well I had 3 Christmas concerts last week and 2 this week, playing for the 5 local nursing homes, but all were canceled due to Covid + outbreaks. Same happened last year. Pretty damn depressing.
Now not even any band practices until January sometime. But I continue to practice and play 7 days a week.

George

Thanks, Butch. Hope all is well,
Cheers,
George

@Kehaulani said in Not really a "mouthpiece safari" but the need for a "saving grace" type of mouthpiece...:

Just as an observation, and not addressing in any other parameters but sound, I think your sound on the 10 3/4 is tinnier

I too noticed a difference between it and the 3C he played first. I find my sound is tinnier, too when I switch from my Wedge 65MD ( a bit larger than the Bach 3C ) to either of my Bach 10C mouthpieces. I attribute that to the smaller size cups.