The truth about high notes on the trumpet: it is not your physiology

High notes come from playing lead a lot, in the right environment, with the music leading, and most of the reasons players give for not having them are excuses.

What I mean by high notes

I'm talking about lead trumpet sound. I'm not talking about tiny little squeaks. They have their place in music, but they are not the subject here.

How the best players got there

When they were younger, they treated it like a game. It might have been a high note competition. It might have been trying to play a chart that was way too difficult. It was always fun, and they always pushed themselves.

They were determined. What we are doing here is very difficult, and it would be strange for me to meet a lead player who had never been through a seriously determined period.

They were music-led. They didn't have a huge obsession with the mechanics of the instrument. They put a chart in front of them that was too difficult, they tried to do it, and eventually they managed it. Method books and exercise books have their purpose, but music-led is the way forward.

And they were on the first chair at a young age. Every band rehearsal, they were getting the reps in, and the other three players were not. High notes come from that. It is not something you can't overcome when you are older, and I'm not here to be doom and gloom about it.

The excuses I hear most

"I don't have the right physiology." There is no way of proving whether this is true, so it is a dead end to the conversation. I would say your physiology determines your sound to a point. But I'm pretty sure anyone could play a double C if they knew what they were supposed to be doing and their body knew the coordination.

"I'm not talented enough." Talent is not just DNA. I was fortunate to have a mother who is a music teacher, lots of players to play with, and mentors and idols to look up to. All of that goes into talent. If you immerse yourself in the world of high notes enough, you will figure it out.

"I need to change my embouchure." There are circumstances where this is true, but it is something like 1% of situations. Everyone wants to throw themselves into this camp before they look at the other solutions. Change your embouchure and you will probably end up at the same point on the mountain.

What to do instead

Seek out community opportunities to play lead trumpet, and commit. If I'm not playing lead very often, my upper register goes a bit wayward and inaccurate, and I lose my stamina. If you want to do this, you are going to have to do it a lot.

Be a kid again. Put the speakers on, play some high notes, play along with Maynard. We have all had to do that. If you turn into the judging adult, you will never put the reps in.

Explore equipment with an open mind. If you have played a 3C, a 7C, a 1½C or a 1¼C your whole life and you want to play high notes, it is worth looking at a more commercial mouthpiece. Go shallow, with something like a 10 or an 8 rim, and see what it does for you.

Practise fresh, in short sprints, and not at the end of a long session when you are tired.

Be a better musician

The biggest growth in my high notes came at the same time as my growth as a musician. The two run together.

If my goal is to play a double C, I will never achieve it. If my goal is to play great music, and to make it even better by putting a big, fat double C on the end of a chart, I'm going to find the double C. The goal is aligned with reality, and the adrenaline is there when the moment comes. I have probably played some of my best high notes when I've been surprised at work, because I was trying to serve the music and not my ego.

There is no easy way and no relaxed way to do this. You have to be relentless, practise it every day and push yourself. It does get easier once you understand where those notes lie on the instrument, but you have to find them first.

One thing to try this week

Find your favourite music with a lead trumpet on it, put the speakers on and play along. Treat it as a game, the way a kid would.

Watch the full video

More trumpet advice

• Practise high notes in short sprints, on fresh chops
• Performance nerves: play to an audience of one
• Hear the note before you play it, and let the trumpet come to you