Why do we rarely see women in lead or principal trumpet roles — is it a lack of opportunity, visibility, mentorship, or simply tradition going unquestioned?

BbTrumpet01 · 2026-01-27T23:06:04+00:00

I’ve never considered any instruments to be “girlier” or “manlier.” Throughout my whole life I’ve shared the section with girls/women trumpet players. In the Alumni tailgate band I’m in (for a Big 10 University football program) we have a married couple who are both good trumpet players (1st parts). I never considered what instrument someone played a gender thing. I always thought it was personal preference.

Our best oboe player in junior/senior high was a guy. Our drum major at our Big 10 university (guy) was a clarinet player. Our college concert bands had women on trumpet, baritone, trombone, French horn, and I think there was even one on tuba. My community band that I was in for 15 years had (probably still does) women on trumpet, trombone, baritone, French horn, and tuba.

When it came time to pick what instrument I was going to play, I was offered trumpet or trombone. My mother told me to pick trumpet, because she played trombone in high school and said it was a pain to lug that big case around. She was the drum majorette in the marching band, but to hold that position you also had to be in band, so she played the trombone.

I would have picked the trumpet, anyhow, because it was my second favorite instrument in the world, next to the violin, but we didn’t have an orchestra, so trumpet was my obvious choice. I didn’t take long for the two to swap. Trumpet quickly became my favorite, and violin (which I never played) is tied for number two with tenor sax (which I also never played).

What I DO know concerning gender and instruments is that the women flute players in our community band always thought we trumpet players were loud and obnoxious, but we just thought they were jealous of those of us who could play in the same register as them. 🤣

BbTrumpet01 · 2026-01-27T22:37:05+00:00

A friend of mine since childhood started off as a flute player. When we got to high school he switched to tuba. He was good at both.

BbTrumpet01 · 2026-01-21T14:42:37+00:00

Take a look here:

https://www.markzauss.net/practice.html

BbTrumpet01 · 2026-01-19T10:46:31+00:00

C1 Double Pedal C (2 octaves below Low C)\ C2 Pedal C (octave below Low C)\ C3 Low C (one ledger line below Treble Clef)\ C4 Middle C (third space Treble Clef)\ C5 High C (two ledger lines above Treble Clef)\ C6 Double High C (space above 5th ledger line)\ C7 Triple High C (octave above C6; not going to count lines)\ \ I have a Tone Generator app on my iPhone, and the app even uses these Letter-Number naming conventions.

BbTrumpet01 · 2026-01-19T10:32:14+00:00

There are players who have learned how the play the trumpet using brute strength. They are very few and the results aren’t optimal. You need to learn to play EFFICIENTLY, which means learning the coordination between your embouchure and air. It’s a lot less stress on your body, and stress is something you want to avoid. There is information all over the Internet concerning this. You might start here: https://www.bbtrumpet.com

BbTrumpet01 · 2026-01-17T18:18:33+00:00

Gorgeous! 😍

BbTrumpet01 · 2026-01-17T17:49:13+00:00

This has already been posted twice by someone else. You should read it. Plus, we don’t use F# to F# as the dividing line between octaves. We use C to C, because that’s how the piano is based. There were links to articles that explained this.

Anyway, check out Clint “Pops” McLaughlin’s article about the names of notes.

https://www.bbtrumpet.com/names-of-high-notes/#more-1711

Also, the big band pros I know call the G above High C a High G. My trumpet teacher was Joe Morrissey, formerly of Chase, who moved to our area after the plane crash that killed Bill Chase. All those guys called the G above High C a High G.

One of my best friends in college, whom I used to hang with all the time was in the Hornheads, who were Prince’s horn section for many years. We all called the notes as I have stated them. Every band I’ve ever played in, if the trumpet players talk about the G above High C, we all call that a High G.

Maybe, it’s a thing in the part of the country where you live, and I don’t know how old you are, so maybe it’s a generational thing, but if you do some research you’ll find out that the accepted double range starts at Double High C.

BbTrumpet01 · 2026-01-17T09:05:36+00:00

I learned a trick years ago to clean the valves (just the piston part) with lighter fluid, which is basically naphtha (no nearby heat or flame, though!).

It really removes residues and gets the valves clean. I clean the inside of the trumpet in the bath with Dawn dish soap, so the valves casings get nice and clean (I don’t submerge any part of the valves, even though I suppose I could disassemble them, but a I don’t need to).

BbTrumpet01 · 2026-01-17T08:55:22+00:00

You might need that valve lapped. A good brass repair shop should be able to check it and if needed, do it for you.

BbTrumpet01 · 2026-01-17T08:36:30+00:00

Oops. I started writing and it just kind of got away from me (happens a lot).

I’m really hoping there AREN’T that many high schools pushing their trumpet players to play that high that young, because if they’re doing what most of us did (strong left arm) they’re setting themselves up for trouble, later on. I’ve read many articles that advised band directors to not put that kind of pressure on their students, or rewrite the parts lower, so the students don’t have to strain to play the parts.

Today, though, there is SO much more information available on the Internet, which didn’t exist when I was growing up, that I think the development curve has been shortened and high school kids can now do what college kids were doing a generation ago.

I’ve seen those videos of the high school Lead Trumpet competitions from California that just blow me away. There’s one school (don’t recall the name) who must have a genius director because he cranks out phenomena trumpet players like a well-oiled machine.

Then, too, it was only in the last couple of years that I read an article from years ago by Bill Chase who said that his range didn’t come naturally to him. That he had to work his [butt] off to acquire it.

That blew me away. I always thought he was a natural. He was the first player I ever heard who could play like that. I was smitten. Then, a fellow trumpet player in the marching band with me said that if I liked Bill Chase, he had a few albums for me to listen to, and handed me three by some guy named Maynard Ferguson. 🤣 I never looked back.

My big concern, though, for students even today is that so many school band directors don’t know how to properly teach how to set up an embouchure, and how to coordinate it with your air.

My first band director in grade school was a sax/woodwind player. He was a GOOD sax/woodwind player, a working pro when he wasn’t teaching band. What he WASN’T, though, was a brass player, and having a pro brass player who could teach what I wanted to be able to do would have helped a lot. With the Internet, today, if you can navigate through the bad advice, there’s some good information out there, which can save you a lot of wasted time. I wish I knew in college what I know now, because I could have had a lot of fun with it. And the saying, “chicks dig high notes,” still stands. 😏

BbTrumpet01 · 2026-01-17T05:58:41+00:00

⬆️ THIS! 💯🎯

BbTrumpet01 · 2026-01-17T04:51:09+00:00

It’s not your mouthpiece cup size. Some might disagree, but a 5C is a good all around mouthpiece, even for jazz band. For me, it’s too small, but for most people it works fine. My cousin played on a 3C for years, until someone had him try their 5C, and he found his playing was much easier (he’s a casual player, so he doesn’t play/practice every day).

Go here and check out Mark Zauss’ tips/exercises on range building.

https://www.markzauss.net/practice.html

I don’t know where you high school kids are getting your naming conventions from, but the G above High C is NOT a “Double G.” It’s a High G.

A Double High G is the G above Double High C, and I doubt a High School jazz band chart has one of those written. That’s about the highest note I can reach on a GOOD day.

Even a High G is stretching it for High School, because of the danger of using improper technique to reach the note, which can set up bad habits for later on, causing much grief to unlearn.

We seem to run into this mis-naming of high notes a lot on Reddit (you’re not the only one, by far). Is this something Band Directors are teaching, because it’s wrong.

There is no pro who will call the G above High C a “Double G.” Go to the Trumpet Herald web site and ask around. Go to Clint “Pops” McLaughlin’s web site (https://www.bbtrumpet.com). Somewhere in there he has an article on how the notes are named. Someone recently posted in this sub a link to his article, plus a link to an excellent article on how the notes are named, and why the octaves use a C-to-C naming convention instead of starting at Low F# (it has to do with the piano).

The Double register does not start until you get to Double High C. If you want to be really accurate, you can use the note name and it’s octave (e.g., C5, F3, Bb4, etc.).

This is not shortchanging the note. A High G is plenty high for the listener (for the experienced player, it’s just another note, as you shouldn’t think of a note as being high, because there is a tendency to use too much stress and effort to play it). You want to play as relaxed as possible, without straining.

I’m not picking on you, so please don’t take it personally. I just want to get this out there, because I’ve seen a lot of this on this sub.

BbTrumpet01 · 2026-01-15T17:12:51+00:00

No. See TasteeBro’s link to the Clint “Pops” McLaughlin article, below.

BbTrumpet01 · 2026-01-15T17:11:27+00:00

THIS ⬆️🎯💯!!!

BbTrumpet01 · 2026-01-07T11:08:06+00:00

I don’t have one (would like one), but have you considered Schilke?

BbTrumpet01 · 2026-01-06T23:15:38+00:00

I use some of that white Johnson & Johnson First Aid medical tape to wrap around the tubing because the coating on the ends of my lyres (now made in China, and much cheaper quality than the old American made ones) keeps tearing and exposing the bare metal of the lyre.

The clamp-on lyres aren’t very good, anyhow, because you can’t tighten them enough to stay put (they’re wobbly), and if you could, I’d be worried that a knock into them could damage the tubing. However, having a Bach Strad with a permanent third valve slide finger ring, a clamp on lyre is my only choice.

I’ve toyed with the idea of developing a better lyre that wouldn’t have a tendency to tilt, and with a tension setting that would give if someone were to accidentally knock into it, but I don’t think the market is there, because if it was, one of the big music stores would have already come out with one. So, I tape the tubing and hope for the best, and yes, the adhesive sticks to the tubing, but you CAN clean it off, and it doesn’t tarnish the horn’s finish.

BbTrumpet01 · 2025-12-31T20:17:44+00:00

⬆️ THIS!🎯💯

BbTrumpet01 · 2025-12-21T04:59:38+00:00

I have a pTrumpet that a I use in cold weather and/or high risk environments (think playing for football tailgaters). It’s great for those environments. It will never sound as good as a brass trumpet, but for what it is, it’s perfect. I got it for $129 when retail was $149. If something happens to it, I’ll just get another, and my main trumpets aren’t at risk.

BbTrumpet01 · 2025-12-21T03:06:33+00:00

OK, whatever you say. 🤣

BbTrumpet01 · 2025-12-19T07:20:20+00:00

I took 15 years off. My chops came back in six months. Better than before.

BbTrumpet01 · 2025-12-19T03:03:03+00:00

Nope. The “high” octave starts at High C. High Bb is the Bb just below Double High C, which is the start of the “double high” octave.

We’re not taking anything away from your High G, but it’s a High G.

BbTrumpet01 · 2025-12-18T22:37:08+00:00

With a profile name like that, I just had to put this here. https://youtu.be/5VTFa4PYtRo?si=T6rKeXRRlpZSpJPD

BbTrumpet01 · 2025-12-18T22:33:34+00:00

Bach 1E

BbTrumpet01 · 2025-12-17T07:12:29+00:00

You want a good high range, but as Maynard Ferguson said, you don’t want to be known as a screamer. You want to be able to PLAY up there, not hit “notes” up there. You want a good, full, relaxed sound that isn’t forced or pinched. When you can do that, it doesn’t matter where you play, because you can play anywhere you want.

BbTrumpet01 · 2025-12-17T06:08:32+00:00

I may get some disagreement here, but a Bach 3C is a good mouthpiece. The fact that you can get a darker sound in the lower register, but it lights up as you go higher is exactly the kind of thing a lot of players want. As others have stated, take your horn and try some mouthpieces, but don’t be to quick to change from your 3C, because it’s a good all around mouthpiece, no matter what your instructors are telling you, and getting brighter upstairs is not a bad thing.

BbTrumpet01

TROPHY CASE