Brass Trumpet

Cornet Flugel horn

Cornet

Trumpet

Flugel Horn

Tenor Horn

French Horn

Baritone

Euphonium

Trombone

Tuba

Congratulations on choosing a brass instrument

and welcome to the wonderful world of music

making.

This pack is designed to help you start playing a

brass instrument through Gwent Music Support

Service.

With the help of your teacher you will quickly

learn how to assemble and hold your instrument,

produce musical sounds, recognize notation and

the following pages will remind you how to do it

when you practice at home.

With enthusiasm and dedication you are starting

out on an exciting journey of enjoyment and self

fulfilment which will stay with you for the rest of

your life.

2 24

Find a quiet room to practice in, with no distractions.

Try to set aside a regular time for your practice.

Start your practice as soon as possible after your lesson, to

help you remember what you have learnt that day.

Always maintain good posture when you are practising.

Try to keep an accurate record of what you do and when you

do it. Diaries help to keep a record of your progress and

highlight problem areas to remind you to ask for help

from your teacher.

Begin your practice session by warming up with long notes.

If you don’t understand—ask your teacher to explain it to

you again.

If you get stuck - stop - come back again later and try again.

Try to do as much sight reading as possible—the more you

do, the easier it becomes!

Remember, what you can't play slowly you can't play fast!

Don’t practice when you are tired.

Practice the whole performance experience - play your piec-

es to friends and family so you experience a few nerves and

learn how to cope with them.

Listen to as many recordings of music as possible and enjoy

the whole music experience.

Gwent Music

Malpas Court Primary School Grounds

Whittle Drive, Newport. NP20 6 NS

Tel: 01633 210800 Fax: 01633 854060 E-mail: gwent.music@newport.gov.uk

The Gwent Music is a Council Service providing music tuition and activities for children and young

people on behalf of Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council, Monmouthshire County Council,

Newport City Council and Torfaen County Borough Council.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ON GWENT MUSIC SUPPORT SERVICE AND OUR

RANGE OF SERVICES, ACTIVITIES AND EVENTS, PLEASE VISIT OUR WEB SITE:

www.gwentmusic.co.uk

Take each valve in turn and clean through the holes in each using

your flexible brush, rinse in clean water and dry.

Now reassemble your instrument: Take the bottom valve caps, put a few drops of valve oil around

the screw threads and gently screw each cap back in place finger

tight only.

Insert all the valves using the instructions on application of valve

oil and take care to replace each valve in the correct valve casing.

Insert all the tuning slides again using the methods and

procedure set out in lubricating tuning slides. Press each valve ful-

ly down as you are inserting the tuning slides as this will re-

lease any airlock.

Finally give your instrument a polish with a clean soft cloth. Finger

prints should be wiped off your instrument every time you return it

to its case after playing. The lacquer finish will stay like new and

silver- plated instruments will not tarnish as quickly. There are silver

polish cloths available for bright shiny silver finished instruments,

for older ones, use a cleaning cream such as Silvo and polish off to a

bright finish.

Lacquer and gold finishes should be only cleaned with a clean soft

cloth and a little furniture polish like Mr Sheen.

Final Cautions: Never insert a valve or tuning slide back into your instrument

without first lubricating it as corrosion could occur and cause

serious damage.

Never attempt to remove a mouthpiece with pliers or vice grips

or by using undue force. The use of pliers will ruin the appearance

of the mouthpiece by stripping the silver-plating and excessive

force could twist and possibly break, the mouthpiece receiving

tube or its bracing.

Never keep loose items in your instrument case that could dent

or mark your instrument whilst transporting it. Do not overload

your case with music books as this could damage your

instrument. Mouthpieces, valve oil bottles etc should be kept in

the proper apartments of your case at all times.

Never transport your instrument without putting it in its case.

Routinely check the handle and catches on your case to make

sure they are in good working order.

22

1. Take in a really big slow breath through your mouth

and then let it out through your mouth and relax.

2. Repeat exercise 1 whilst clapping 4 regular beats

(count at a walking pace).

3. Keep relaxed. Focus yourself over counts 1 and 2,

breathe in over counts 3 and 4. Now, when

breathing out, keep the airflow steady by supporting it

with the abdominal (tummy) muscles. This is the

normal way of breathing when playing your brass

instrument.

4. Breathing must be natural—if you feel dizzy….STOP!

Breathe in Breathe out

Count 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4

focus breathe in breathe out evenly and steadily

Count 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4

Keep your shoulders down

when you breathe in

3

POSTURE

Good posture makes playing easy and

enjoyable.

Keep your arms out at 45° so that the

chest is free.

Stand or sit feeling tall but relaxed—

particularly your shoulders.

If you are standing, keep your knees

flexible and your feet hip-width apart.

If you are sitting, keep your back away

from the chair back and have your

feet flat on the floor.

HOLDING YOUR INSTRUMENT

Feeling at ease while holding your instrument is important.

Hold your instrument loosely in your left hand and

practise raising it and putting the mouthpiece to your lips.

Do this until you feel perfectly balanced and relaxed.

Right Hand

Keep fingers 1, 2 and 3 on the valve

caps at all times and slightly bent.

4

Disassemble your instrument as follows:

Remove the mouthpiece

Remove all the tuning slides, 10, 11, 12 and 16, wipe off all old

grease and set aside.

Remove all three valves and place them in a container of

warm, soapy water, having mixed in some dishwashing liquid

and set aside.

Remove all three bottom valve caps.

Place all the instrumental parts and the remaining body of the

instrument in the bottom of a basin or bathtub. Fill with

lukewarm soapy water and add a few drops of disinfectant such

as Dettol and allow to soak for at least 30 minutes. If the

instrument is old or has not been cleaned for a long time you

may leave it to soak for longer.

Caution: DO NOT use boiling water because if the water is

too hot it will cause permanent damage to the lacquered finish

of your instrument, even silver finishes should be treated with

caution.

If in any doubt, cool the water down rather than take a risk.

Whilst the other instrumental parts are soaking, take your

mouthpiece and thoroughly clean it using a mouthpiece

brush, when done rinse it through with clean water, dry and

polish to a bright shine with a soft cloth.

Return to your basin and using a flexible cleaning brush,

clean as much as you can of the insides of your tuning slides

Do be careful as even the flexible brush will not go round all

the tight bends of your tuning slides. Rinse each in clean

water, dry with a cloth and set aside.

Take each of the bottom valve caps and using a small brush,

an old toothbrush is ideal, clean out any dirt from the in-

sides, rinse with clean water, dry and set aside.

Take the main body of your instrument and using your flex-

ible brush, clean the receiving slides and also clean through

the valve casings thoroughly. Rinse through with clean water

and dry with a soft cloth after shaking out any excess water

from within the instrument.

21

Press each valve down fully to release the airlock before

removing each of the tuning slides, 10, 11, 12 and 16 and

wipe off old grease with kitchen roll paper or an old cloth.

Smear a small amount of specialist tuning slide grease or

Vaseline, which is an excellent substitute, evenly onto each

leg of the tuning slide using your finger.

Insert only one leg of the slide into its proper receiving tube

and then remove.

Repeat the procedure exactly with the other leg and

remove.

Slowly and carefully insert both legs of the tuning slide into

their receiving tubes straight without twisting or bending.

NEVER FORCE a slide back in.

IF IN ANY DOUBT PLEASE TAKE YOUR

INSTRUMENT TO YOUR TEACHER.

Your instrument should have a thorough

clean every three months.

A clean instrument will:

Play better

Look better

Be healthier to play

Last longer

Hold its value better

Refer to the diagram if you are unsure of any of

the parts of your instrument.

20

Keep the mouthpiece above and

below the red of the lips. This is

very important!

When blowing, avoid puffing out

the cheeks.

The playing muscles are all

around the lower face.

Always hold the mouthpiece

with one finger and thumb. For

all brass instruments, except

the French Horn, the left hand is

best. It is important not to

press hard on the mouthpiece

with your lips.

When playing any brass instrument, it is the vibration of the lips that

creates the sound.

Without your mouthpiece, set your lips as if to say ‘poo’. Blowing

through the lips will create a small gap in the centre and with prac-

tice you will produce a raspberry-like buzzing sound.

Now try this with your mouthpiece and see if you can keep a steady

buzzing sound for five seconds.

{ 4 4

{ { {

Breathe in

Count 1 2 3 4 buzz/play

When you can do this, put the mouthpiece into your instrument and

listen to the sound you make. Is it high or low? Your teacher will tell

you which note you have produced.

5

The sound of the instrument is produced by

the vibration of your lips, which in turn is

produced by blowing air between your lips and

through the instrument.

The function of the tongue is to define starts

of notes.

When tonguing, just think of saying “TA”.

The action of the tongue gives clarity to the

release of the air from your lungs.

NOW YOU ARE READY TO MAKE MUSIC!

Your first sound will be either high or low and

depending which note is more natural for you,

you will learn to either go up or down from

your ‘natural’ starting note. Your teacher will

help and advise you.

We are going to begin with the first five notes

of our C scale. It is like going up and down a

ladder.

6

Unscrew the cap at the top of the valve

casing, carefully pull out the valve from its

casing without twisting or turning.

Apply a few drops of valve oil to the

smooth cylindrical sides of the valve and to

the inside of the casing itself and slowly

insert the valve about 90% of the way back

into its valve casing, rotating it clockwise

three or four times in order to spread the

valve oil evenly on the inside wall of the

valve casing.

When you have done this, press the valve

down further and turn the valve slowly

until you hear a small “click” sound, this is

the valve guide locating its alignment slot

on the inside wall of the valve casing.

Complete the procedure by screwing down

the top valve cap, finger tight only.

Now check that you can still blow air freely

through your instrument, if you cannot,

and this is a common problem, unscrew

the valve cap and rotate the valve ½ turn

until you hear the “click”, retighten the

valve cap and blow air through again.

You should oil each valve in turn as they

are not interchangeable and you can easily

check if you have them in the correct

position as each valve is stamped, either

under the felt at the top of the valve cap or

on the upper part of the valve body itself.

This number, either 1, 2 or 3, should corre-

spond with the number engraved on the

outside of each valve casing.

19

These instructions although given for the following instruments

in particular are very broadly the same and can be followed for all

other valve brass instruments.

Trumpet, Cornet

& Flugel Horn

1 Mouthpiece

2 Mouthpiece Receiver

3 Mouthpipe

4 Valve Casings

5 Bell Section

6 First Valve

7 Second Valve

8 Third Valve

9 Finger Hook

10 First Valve Slide

11 Second Valve Slide

12 Third Valve Slide

13 Tuning Slide Waterkey

14 First Valve Slide Waterkey

15 Third Valve Slide Waterkey

16 Tuning Slide

17 Mouthpipe Screw

18 Mouthpipe Outside Slide

1 2 3

4

5

6 7 8

9

10 11 12 13

14

15

16

17 18

1 2 3

6 7 8 9

5

10

16 11 4

13

12

15

1

6 7 8 9

11

12

10

4

13

5

18

Play a note with no valves pressed—ask your teacher if it

is C or G.

Now see if you can move up or down the ladder to the

other end.

Keep each note steady and hold for ‘4’ counts—try to

relax.

7

8 17

16

9

10

15

14

11

12

13