Thanks for the message folks! Johnelwood! Turns out that your message really saved me. Believe it or not, yesterday I was really thinking about quitting. I was tired of fighting the trumpet. I was gonna send an email directly to Greg to see if I should quit or not. However, I had to go to work (dishwasher) and was in a panic trying (as a last result) to see if I could find some hope before quitting… I barely spoke to anyone… and fell back upon this thread… I thought no one had responded to my post. Anyways, Johnelwood your story and mentioning charlie porter was my answer!! Red inside the lips!!! That was my question! So, after work, at around midnight I basically rushed home to try it out and BOOM, I started to play! I played “bare necessities” a song I was before goofing around on… of course I couldn’t play it but at midnight I was able to play! So the first thing I did this morning, with my new found hope, I started to practice several exercises (wind-works/ clarke) and FINALLY felt the aperture corners working! I am almost in disbelief! At my darkest hour I saw hope and now feel better than before! I have yet to increase my range (nowhere near high C) but at least I have something to work with… and also know what I need to focus on! Its such a relief! I was gonna quit but now it’s all coming together. Thanks to everyone on wind-works!