Joined a marching band already? That’s great! And, you recently got braces too. Well, wearing braces is a whole lot of trouble. You must already know that.
Moreover, if you’re a wind instrument player, it’s just an extension of that trouble. We don’t want to hurt you more by stating the obvious, but there’s no ignoring it!
However, we’re here to help you with playing trumpet with braces on. We’ve once talked about how to play flute with braces.
So, after looking into the fact of playing woodwind instruments, we learned, it’s kind of more challenging to play trumpet with braces than to play the flute.
Anyway, we don’t want to put the wind up for you anymore. Remember, with the proper techniques and measures, all trumpet players can rock a marching band with braces on!
Also, know that the suggestions we’ll provide you with are from experts who actually had braces. You rest assured and follow our instructions.
We now prepare you for playing trumpet with braces! Let’s dispatch the help we’ve for you.
Please Take Time to adjust
You should take your time as much as you need to adjust to the new condition.
How will I manage to play? OMG, it’ll be so hard to form the embouchure correctly! How am I supposed to press the mouthpiece against my mount???
Some players seem consumed by that thought. They get all anxious thinking about how’ll things turn out. Know that you need to relax; being anxious is nothing, just a constant snag in the process of adoption.
That means it will result in taking a long time to get used to it. Nevertheless, being anxious is normal too. Just make sure you are lagging behind for it.
Here’re a few things you could do during the adjustment period. Have a look at them below.
- Practice for a shorter period
- Gradually increase the practice time.
- Targeting to practice for a long time in a day won’t help. Since it’s a time of adjustment, you have to take it slow.
- Be patient in the process. It’s okay if it takes you longer to adjust and play properly.
Don’t Press It Hard Against The Lips
Pressing the trumpet hard against your lips is no way the correct process of playing it, right? I mean, you gently hold it against your lips after forming the embouchure, that’s it.
But, in terms of the condition of playing the trumpet with braces might drive you to press the trumpet really hard against your lips. Feel free to imagine how hurtful it could be!
We’ve some solution for that. You’ll find them in the following sections.
Distribute The Pressure Evenly
Yes, the upper lip is primarily in charge while blowing into a trumpet, but you’ve got braces now. And, you don’t want to crush your upper lip on the brackets of the braces.
So, what you can do is putting less pressure on the upper lip. Try to put the same amount of pressure on both lips. Consequently, it’ll be less painful.
Strengthening The Embouchure
You can try to make your embouchure more rigid. As the embouchure gets stiff, it can take the pressure from the trumpet without crashing on the braces.
Collecting More Air
There’s one more thing you can do to practice effectively with the braces. You don’t leave it all on the embouchure.
Alongside strengthening the embouchure, you can try to take gasp more air to blow air into a trumpet. So, gather as much as air you can and keep a firm embouchure.
Trying Orthodontic Wax
There’s another solution that could save you from hurting your lips on the braces; it’s orthodontic wax. This could help you immensely and prevent all the irritation on your lips because of the braces.
Since we’re here to help, we need to point it out to you too, orthodontic wax might not be helpful for all of us. It’s just the statistic; what can we say?
Frankly, it can help you to some extent, but it might not help you at all! Don’t be disheartened. You can still keep orthodontic was a try and see if it is any help. Some people did find it helpful, and theirs is no to find that for you!
You can ask your dentist for it. Besides, wax is pretty common when someone gets braces because braces can really irritate the skin on your lips. We hope it helps you; FINGERS CROSSED.
Playing the TheTier 2 Pedal Tones
This is a beneficial exercise to get used to the braces and play the trumpet. All the aspects we mentioned earlier with those you can try playing the pedal tones in your trumpet.
Trust me, it’ll adjust your entire playing process.
Tier 2 pedal requires some manipulation of the air pressure, tongue, and lips. Also, they are extreme notes on trumpets. They are the hardest to play. Moreover, the pedal tone can help you to hold your embouchure firmly!
Hence, they’ll help you increase your scale range to play trumpet with braces for their nature.
Go over the points below to practice the pedal tones.
- You can play the octave tester note. It’s the easiest way to prepare for the pedal tone.
- Start with playing low notes one by one. Next, you play one octave lower.
- For instance, you play normal low C on your trumpet, then you blowhard to play the pedal C. Simple!
- Tier 2 pedal tone will train you to play all the upper registers on the horn. Otherwise, it’ll be hard to increase your range with braces. Even if you try to play the upper register without playing the pedal tone, it’s truly going to hurt.
On A Final Note
It won’t be easy to get used to braces and play your horn. All you can do is practice and be patient throughout the process.
You can don’t have a coach for the brass instrument; you can rely on our suggestions. Those are practical and useful too. Good luck playing the trumpet with braces. You can do it!