Hi there,

Welcome. I’ve been there myself, it took me several laps through WindWorks and even finding other videos out there on YouTube to reinforce / provide different perspectives of what Greg explains here. Each lap through WindWorks was a fruitful one–makes me want to do another just typing this.

What you describe doesn’t sound “normal.” As Greg explains, playing trumpet doesn’t require any more effort than casual conversation (or was that Mendez?).

You just likely need more time experimenting with Shape to find the right coordination of movements that optimize efficiency / resonance.

One thing that’s helped me recently is to form different apertures while looking in the mirror (i.e. Low C, Middle C, then higher) and pull the mouthpiece/horn away. They just try to visually replicate the different look of those different apertures and notice how little effort it takes to change that Shape. We don’t need to struggle / tense up the lips, which reduces the ability of the tissue to vibrate fast.

The only tension needed is in the muscles surrounding the embouchure to keep the lips/aperture from collapsing and cutting off the air. We want the lips to be as free / relaxed as posssible in the middle where they interact with the air.

The other thing which helped me is to relalize that the inner tissue of the lips that touches the air column is what vibrates not the part up against the mouthpiece.

And to just try to use a Less Is More approach–if I can make it to a D or E above middle C with minimal effort, then can I do the same to G, and so on, and so on.

I sometimes catch myself getting into a mental funk where there’s kind of break there between Middle C and D/E above that. I think that’s why Stamp’s warm up (#2?) starts with a middle C going to the D–I try to progress from the C to the D with minimal to “no” change (there is a slight change, but I try to make it feel like there’s no change). That’s when things go well for me. Experienced that today, actually. I’ve been working on a melody that starts on the D above middle C and doesn’t go below that much. Even though that’s not very high, it took me a few days to get used to that.

I just try to think of the aperture as more compact but not tighter–it doesn’t need to be tighter, just start slightly less open with support in the corners.

Air is Very Important as well, as Greg points out; key is to go more for a good full breath and releasing air through the aperture, leading/starting with the release of air and letting the aperture respond to that for the given pitch.

It’s not Strength that you need to build, it’s coordination, relaxation, patience.

My $.02 FWIW, hope that helps–good luck!