Informative Essay On Brass Instruments

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I have always enjoyed playing my trumpet. Playing an instrument is pretty much a life commitment. It is not easy, and it takes several years of practice to become an excellent musician or trumpeter. The first known metal trumpets can be traced back to around 1500BC. Silver and bronze trumpets were discovered in the grave of King Tut in Egypt, and other ancient versions of the instrument were found in South America, China, Scandinavia, and Asia. In medieval times, trumpeters were highly guarded by military units, since they were crucial to relaying instructions over great distances. If a person has the desire to be an excellent trumpet player he or she must know the parts of the instrument, how to warm the embouchure, and how to practice smart.…show more content…
The embouchure is the use of facial muscles and the shaping of the lips to the mouthpiece the mouthpiece of the brass instruments. There are six steps any trumpeter goes through when warming up their embouchure. The first step is correct Posture; always sit up straight in a chair and place feet flat on the floor before playing. This is for breathing; it is impossible to get a good breath in if the back is hunched over, the lungs will not expand properly. The second step is to always breathe from the bottom of the chest, not the top. When the trumpeter does this it expands the lung capacity to max levels of air intake. Third, when the trumpeter breathes, he or she will open there mouth wide and quickly take a breath while pretending to say "OH", this is great for getting lots of air in at once. Fourth, start buzzing on the mouthpiece. Many professionals believe that this is the best way to internalize a good sound as well as articulation and pitch because the trumpet is essentially a large amplifier for the mouthpiece. It is much more difficult to make be accurate and have a good sound on the mouthpiece than trumpet. Finally, the trumpeter plays through the horn. The first sounds he or she should make is long tones. In this exercise the trumpeter will focus on sound quality and playing the notes at the correct tone. When playing long tones the embouchure is getting worked out or stretched. Just like a runner would stretch their legs before running a trumpeter must stretch is embouchure. Generally a trumpeter warms or stretches their embouchure for at least 30 minutes. Another good warm up exercise is Lip slurs. This is a perfect way to loosen “stiff lips”. There are many ways to lip slur generally the musician plays lower notes and then slur to the higher

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