How do i play above the staff on the trumpet with good quality tone? and also how do i double tongue high note

Question

i am playing karl jenkins field show and im tryin to make my way up to first part

Answer 1

To play higher, it takes more air. Practice long tones and low notes.  This well help with using plenty of air and in keeping your embouchure relaxed. Also try going up the chromatic scale without repositioning your embouchure.  Keep it as opened and relaxed as possible.  The tendency is to tighten up as you go higher, but that only pinches off the sound. Don't expect it to happen right away.  This is a life long process.  There are many other things, but this is a good starting place.  Good luck.

Answer 2

Practice frequently.  To get good tone quality above the staff, your embouchure will need to be firmer, but not tighter.  It's hard to explain, but if you practice consistently and with plenty of air, your embouchure overall will improve.

Answer 3

How to play above the staff with good quality tone?  That is THE trumpet question, isn't it? There's a lot of great nuts and bolts exercises to do, but before that, keep a few things in mind:

#1 Don't overthink.  The technique you need can only be developed by personal practice, so make sure your very disciplined about practicing every single day or you'll never get anything done.  Then - when you go to perform or rehersal focus only on the music.  This will free up your brain and lips to let that technique come through.  Remember, your learning technique so you can make music, not playing a piece of music to show a technique.

#2 Stay away from gimmicks.  No mouthpiece or other piece of hardware will make you a better trumpet player or make you able to hit the high notes better.  It takes work, end of story.

#3 How's your breathing?  Lay on the floor and put your hands on your belly.  You should inhale deeply from your gut and feel your fingers rise and spread apart as this happens.  Now stand up and pick up the horn and play - every single time you   take a breath it should be deep and open and your midsection should expand just like laying on the floor. Do not raise your shoulders at all, you will never be able to play above the staff if you do.  Learn yoga, that really helped me.  You should be breathing like this at all times in your daily life regardless if you play trumpet or not, we all should.

Ok, with all that in mind, I really recommend picking up the Vizzutti method books - or book 1 at least.  In the back are some excellent exercises to work on your range and some good advice he gives too.  

Also develop your own simple and slow exercises.  Start on G above the staff and play chromatically up to high C.  When you can achieve that easily, then play up AND down from G to C.  Then tongue the same sequence.  Before you know it, you'll figure out some of your own exercises to do.  This is important because it gets your eyes off of a page of music and you'll tend to focus more on your sound and proper breathing - it really combines your brain and body instead of focusing on notes on a page.  Do this stuff every single day.  When you start to tire - STOP.  Let the blood flow back into the lips and start again.  Rest frequently.  If it starts to hurt your lips stop for the day.  Pain is a very bad thing, you can damage yourself then you won't be able to play for awhile.  

I already answered double tonguing above the staff for someone else, so I'll tell you what I told them:

How is your single, double and triple tonguing all around? The only way to do this is to practice all forms of tonguing in all registers.

Here's a few things to try:

Play all your major and 3 forms of minor scales double tongued, from as low as possible to above the staff. Start at a slow tempo (60 bpm) and gradually increase. You can also do this chromatically. For example Bb starting on low Bb, double tongue all the way up to high Bb above the staff and back down again.

Start on G above the staff, use a metronome at 60 bpm and double tongue a bar of 16th notes in 4/4 time. [ta-ka-ta-ka] Then, continue up chromatically to at least high C above the staff. When this is becomes easy for you, add a bar, then 3 bars, then 4. Also gradually increase the tempo. Create your own exercises in this way and you'll be using your entire brain/body to achieve this technique.

A couple books may help you:

The Clarke method book - play the 1st and 2nd exercises above the staff, double tongued. Start slow and soft. Do not overblow, you need to develop nuance in order to pull off this difficult technique.

The Alan Vizutti Trumpet Method books. His whole section on double tonguing - learn ALL of it, its so natural and musical you'll get a lot out of it.

When you tire, REST! Take the trumpet away from your lips and let them rest for a minute or two - to let the blood flow back into your lips. Then repeat. Stop for the day when you tire too much, you can injure yourself.

How is your breathing? Do you breath properly, from your gut and not the shoulders? You will never, ever be able to do anything if you raise your shoulders even the slightest when inhaling before blowing through the horn. Listen to your sound, hear it deeply, the music you make. Even though its an exercise you should still be thinking/hearing/feeling music. This will help you relax too and play with less pressure.

Practice every day (yes, every single day), slow and consistent, and gradually increase the tempo. It is WAY better to be able to play an exercise well at a slow tempo than to play it poorly at a fast tempo - this is because your brain will process the information better at a slower tempo. Then you'll be able to learn the fast tempo much better and easier.