I’m sorry you’re frustrated. I have been there, believe me. And I know Greg any many others on this site have too.

I started playing when I was 8, started private lessons at 10 or so, thought if I did what my teachers told me to do and worked hard / put in the time that I could be a professional musician, major in music, etc. When I was in my early 20’s, I decided to major in business and get married and stopped trying to expect a different result when I banged my head against the wall… My range was G above the staff–not the makings of a music major or professional musician…

I played occasionally, off and on over the years, but very little. In 2018, I was learning how to do some household projects on YouTube and ran across trumpet videos by Greg and others that I thought were helpful. For some reason, I decided to experiment a bit with playing–I had nothing to lose, no playing commitments, etc.

I think a lot of it for me was mental, my mental state and I wasn’t that engaged in it really, no expectation. And yet, for some reason, I believed for perhaps the first time that I COULD play higher if I simply learned how to coordinate my body and air correctly.

For me, it was experimenting with a combination of relaxed lips / open throat and softer air/dynamics above the staff that initially got me hooked. I was able to play an A above the staff as easy as the G and my first High C came out shortly thereafter, later that day.

One of the greatest truths of WindWorks for me is Greg’s example of Owning your playing. No one can lay out before you a set of scales to play in a particular order that will develop your skill in a linear way.

I took lessons from reputable teachers from 10 till my early 20’s and told them most of the time that I wanted to be a professional musician. I thought if I kept my head down, worked hard and did the lessons they assigned me that I could do it. None of them told me that I couldn’t, but eventually I figured that out for myself. Until I decided later in life to re-open that chapter.

It hasn’t been a straight line upwards, I’m still struggling with consistency, dynamic control, articulation above the staff, but I have a day job, long commute and a wife and daughter, etc. So I limit my time. I play most days, but not every day, and a little longer on weekends.

There have been a time or two over the past couple of years since finding WindWorks and playing my first High C that I have almost thrown my trumpet across the room, destroyed it or stopped playing forever. And maybe one day I will again. But I’m glad I haven’t.

I’ve learned a bit to let go of the bad days and temper my expectations. It’s still mostly good and I do feel like I continue to progress, even though I have long way to go.

One of the things I have done that helped me has been to focus more on music, especially more lyrical/expressive stuff that makes me feel good from enjoying my sound, rather than focusing on range, technical studies, etc.

Another one has been to watch videos from others out there to see what others say. I took Greg’s advice and owned my playing–I don’t even take his word as gospel, however I have learned to trust it. But there are others out there that have videos on YouTube that I have found helpful–Charlie Porter (especially his Straight Line Approach video), John Ruff (Rufftips), Bryan Davis (Airflow), Larry Meregillano, and others.

I’ve even tried doing the Claude Gordon Systematic Approach AFTER finding WindWorks…BTW, the literal wording of the Systematic Approach contradicts WindWorks as it has you crescendo the higher you go, etc. It is also excruciatingly boring and mind-numbing (holding out long tones until you run out of air, crescendoing until your lungs empty). And, it doesn’t work. But I’m glad for that experience, as it helped put me back on the right track and regain focus.

I don’t think there are better explanations out there or a combination of exercises which helps focus in on all the different factors of playing and owning a pitch than WindWorks.

But we all have our own perspectives and what works for me may not work for you. Actually, it will, it may just require either a different explanation/example or some more time / slightly different approach.

Another approach you could take is to find a local teacher who may be able to help or do Skype lessons with Greg or someone else you trust. That may help you at least get your bearings.

Once you get your initial taste / coffee moment, you’ll probably be good–although, as I mentioned above, it probably won’t be a straight line upward.

Good luck Steve, I hope to see a post from you soon saying that you had a good development.

Steve – what’s your point of knowing “what exactly to do” ?
– I know what to do exactly but like yourself I’ve been limited to the top of the staff for 10 years.
– Yes! – I can’t play above G on top of the staff, that’s my “cut-off” range.
– I’ve been doing singing Cs for couple weeks now and guess what? – I now get nice full sound up to middle C in the staff but I haven’t noticed any improvement above that. Not that I couldn’t play with nice full sound in this range before – I just get more confidence in doing that.

I get all Greg’s concepts and I consider his method flawless and perfect. However – I’m coming to a conclusion that it’s not the method that can’t help me – it’s simply some kind of my physical limitation that prevents me from playing higher.

– I work from the corners and leave the middle of my aperture free to vibrate and it works fine up to about E in the staff.
– Then I add more “tension” from the corners and the sound closes up – my lips stop vibrating in the middle altogether. No – I consciously prevent squeezing my lips together.
– I’ve tried all embouchure formations, all “dirty tricks”, etc. – most important of all – I’ve tried to approach those higher notes nice and clean – nothing works.

I think those who can get to high C within couple years from starting on trumpet are the ones who have natural ability to do that regardless of their technique.
They may play with lots of tension like Greg demonstrates in his videos but nevertheless they get there. Can you see my point here?
Those lucky guys will immediately benefit from the Greg’s method if they trust it.

For me (and maybe for you) – we can’t get there (up to high C) again – regardless of our technique but in our case it has just the opposite meaning. Again – can you see my point here?

– What do you feel with your embouchure when you try to play above E in the staff? I can tell you what I feel: Nothing! This may sound silly, I know. What I mean is I feel that there is really Nothing in the way the trumpet is designed in respect to my physical setup that will allow me to play above the G on top of the staff!
Not clear enough? – I know. I mean I can get solid E in the staff and that already feels like I’m approaching to the limit of… you name it – it just won’t play much higher. G on the staff top at best.

Again – I know what to do, I don’t press my MP into my teeth (I’ve been there long time ago and I fixed that later), I align my top to bottom teeth by moving my lower jaw forward so my lips don’t overlap (I used to play with my top lip hanging over my lover lip – I fixed that long time ago).
– I can play with an open feel in my throat
– I can play with reducing my airflow when playing higher – not overblowing

– I can do anything to make sure I could reach that @#$%^ high C in the worst case
– Nothing works!

Let me say that again – I don’t know how that high C is possible to play at all! It’s not that I’m ultimately stupid that I don’t understand that high C exists on trumpet – NO. It’s just I don’t feel any potential in playing up that high.

I get my clarinet out and I play as high as I need to cover any of the available concert repertoire.
With trumpet? – I can hardly cover 5 selected Jazz standards and NO, NO, NO! – I can’t cover one of my Duke’s favorites – “In a Sentimental Mood”.

Steve – I’m sure I can give my trumpet to a random guy in the street who’s never played trumpet and he’ll outplay me in a month or so.

I once gave a trumpet to an older woman from our previous job and the first note she got out was middle G. Easy! Yes – she easily did that. Nice and clean middle G!
I could play that G more or less with confident sound only after 2 or 3 weeks of everyday practice when I started 10 years ago.

PLEASE! – don’t consider this post of mine as discouragement. No! That’s not the point.
However – I suggest you to stick with the Greg’s concepts and use them as a ‘Reality Check’ after couple months of doing the exercises.
That’s what I’m going to do myself.

Once again – I ultimately trust Greg and I hope to benefit from his method. However – Reality will show me if the method works for ME.
If it doesn’t work out for me I will still recommend the Greg’s method to everyone who wants to improve on trumpet.
I consider this method as a last resort, the ultimate reality check if you will. Meaning – if it doesn’t help you (ME) – there is nothing else that could fix my problems.

So if I fail this Reality Check after diligently doing all the exercises for couple months I’ll consider the outcome to be TRUE and as such I’ll accept my limitations as a given.

SvV, did you see my replies on the other threads about your issues?

Cheers,
Greg

SvV, with all due respect and with my sincerest wishes to your success, I call bullshit…

From 1978 to 2018, I too thought the highest I could play was, nor or less, G above the staff.

I thought perhaps it was due to some physical limitations specific to me, as I spent countless hours practicing Clarke, Arban, Schlossberg, etc. And I took from reputable teachers.

In 2018, after a little experimentation, I realized I was WRONG…

I played my first High C in 2018 and I am pretty sure I have played one every day since and have worked my way upwards. High D or E above High C is now perhaps the limit of my useful range and I hit High F regularly and Double G occasionally. Ive played as high as Double A, 1 1/2 steps below my ultimate goal of Double C, which I know is achievable.

I believe the same or more is true for you and Steve.

But it will take time, patience and persistence and structured experimentation.

IMHO, WindWorks is your best bet, but I encourage you to check out other sources which will more or less reinforce WindWorks.

Own Your playing, no one else will or can, and I believe eventually you will realize, as I did, that it’s much easier than I realized.

I relate to everything you posted above, but I’m pretty confident you are wrong, just as I was, Greg was, etc.

Godspeed and best of luck to you and Steve!

John – I did a lot of structured experimentation as you call it and nothing helped so far.

I played loud, I played soft. I played with a pucker, I played with a smile. I pushed from below, I played fast air, I played slow air, I raised my tongue, I lowered my tongue, I played with ‘taa’, ‘tuu’, ‘tee’, ‘too’, etc.
I pressed the MP hard into my teeth, I didn’t as well (I don’t any longer).
I set my MP more on the top lip, I set my MP more on the bottom lip, etc.
I experimented a lot.

I CAN FEEL where the higher notes ARE! They simply don’t speak to me. That’s it. The middle of my aperture doesn’t vibrate at higher frequencies.

John – one thing you obviously can’t accept is that your experience could be totally different from others and what is MOST important of all – YOUR trumpet playing POTENTIAL can be different from anyone else’s potential.

Maybe for you the transition to start playing above the staff was simply one step away. Imagine someone who is 10 steps away from that range or even 100 steps away.
It’s not simply taking those 100 steps – it’s the ability to retain what was achieved.

Steve asks: “What should I do to play trumpet higher?”. I don’t think he has to do anything special. He has been playing trumpet for 20 years. That means he had enough time to figure out how to play higher.
Let me repeat – there are hundreds of kids who with the worst technique can play up to high C. That shows their potential: they can fix all the bad habits and play up there much easier.

I wish I would be wrong! – Time will tell.
(Sorry Steve, do you need another 20 years to figure it out? Do I need another 10 years to figure it out?)

I understand our experiences are different.

I played for 40 years with a range of G above the staff, then a couple of years ago I experimented and figured it out.

“It” wasn’t just one step or thing, it was a combination of things, mental and physical.

I believe it’s more likely than not that the same will be true for you and for Steve if you approach it the right way.

There are countless great players with great range that say the same thing.

I played countless Clarke scales, harmonic slurs, etc.for years, demonstrating the definition of insanity–repeating the same thing over and over, expecting a different result.

I believe you can do it and hope eventually to see you both post your “coffee moment” on this forum and hope my ramblings somehow help you.

I’m very grateful for my progress and hope I can pay it forward by helping others achieve the same–I think I would probably feel a greater sense of accomplishment helping someone else than achieving it for myself. I know that’s true for Greg.

Keep the faith. But enjoy playing–play music you enjoy playing that you feel good about playing. Be careful not to focus too much on technical development and range. I made that mistake repeatedly due to a lack of structure in my practice/playing and almost burned out and quit.

I’ve tried to come up with a logical structure to follow with my playing (for example, X hours of WindWorks, X hours per week on range, X hours per day on articulation, flexibility, dynamics, etc. But I also pay attention to where my mind and body are and adapt. They aren’t all great days, mentally and physically.

And I try to keep record of where I’m at (metronome setting, number or repetitions, etc.)as that keeps me honest. I have a tendency to think I’m at a higher level than I really am and forget how sometimes I play less often and don’t consider the effect of that on my playing–I expect to pick up from my peak, when I havent been playing much lately, etc. I try to manage my expectations to ensure they’re reasonable.

Best of luck to you both!

John – no worries, all is well.
If I never figure out how to play trumpet well it doesn’t matter much. There are other problems in our lives and there are other more accessible musical instruments to use for one’s musical expression.
After all as King Solomon’s ring was displaying: “Everything passes. This too shall pass.”…