Why is the cornet such a misunderstood and under-appreciated instrument?
Is it from the fact that many students were started on the cornet and the trumpet is what you play when you “grow up”?
Is it because we seldom see a cornet in our media today?
Is it because the instrument manufacturers feel that they can make more money building and selling trumpets rather than cornets?
Has the need for beautiful tone and musical stylings been replaced by the trumpet’s brighter sound and commanding image?
Where have those beautiful cornet solos gone and why have they been replaced by such screaming solos as “MacArthur Park”, “Get it On”, and the endless list of other such displays of high note pyro techniques?
A new friend to our site thetrumpetblog.com asked a very interesting question to day which made me think of the unjust position of our beloved cornets and this is what he asked, followed by what I replied.
Comment-
“What type mouthpiece would you recommend for a 78 year old guy whose air power and chops “ain’t” what they used to be”.
Response-
“I’m hurt!
Due to the fact that I am 73, I consider your comment to be insulting!
But…… I do understand your question and concern.
From my own experience, I have two thoughts on this matter.
1. Switch to a cornet.
90% of all the recordings I make for our “sister” site http://www.trumpetensemblemusic.com/ are recorded with my Bach ML (medium large) cornet. I find this horn to be very forgiving when it comes to the “bloody” stuff (difficult music). It seems that putting more resistance at the end (the instrument rather than the mouthpiece) is a better way to make life easier for us aging hackers (experienced trumpet enthusiasts).
2. There is no #2”.
My response to his question made me realize that the cornet still does not have the same prestige as its younger cousin. I have written to this unjust imbalance in other posts such as-
Why Did The Cornet Become a second Rate Citizen?
and have no real answer to this situation.
I checked the number of requests for cornet solos and cornet ensemble arrangements and I found far fewer requests than those for trumpet music.
Listen to a good cornet solo played by an accomplished performer is a real treat that should be seen and heard more often.
Check these great performances out-
Flowerdale by Philip Sparke
Share My Yoke Cornet Solo Iain Culross of The Fairey Geneva Band
Kathleen Mavourneen – Cornet Solo
Great article. I started out playing the cornet when I was in 6th grade back in the late 1950’s early 1960’s. My first horn which was a rental was a Conn Cornet. I played it for a couple of years after which I purchased my first trumpet, a King, paid for by money I earned from my paper route. I played in my high school marching band, concert band and then played for a year in junior college. During that time in JuCo my trumpet was stolen. Lucky me got a King Silversonic cornet at at pawn shop in Kansas City. I played that horn for a couple of years and it became my favorite instrument. Life, family and work got in the way of my playing and I ended up not playing for 30+ years. I’m now 65, retired, getting divorced and have started playing again. I lost my original Silversonic many years ago when I had to pawn it to feed the family and pay rent. I lucked out and found another Silversonic on ebay for about 1/3 of what they usually go for. Once I got it, it got a bath, polished up and now I’m the only cornet player in the local group (Freedomband.com) I’ve joined. I love the way the cornet sounds, the way it plays and the appearance of it. Thank you for your recent articles on the cornet…they just confirm my feelings on the instrument and why I play the cornet over the trumpet.
What a great story and thank you for sharing it with our readers.
The number of “comebackplayers” is steadily increasing as is the number of “proud to be a cornet player” movement!
Keep on spreading the word my friend…….
Very good article. I had a thing for cornets for a while because (a) you can stuff one into a backpack pretty easily and (b) if you’re playing on the sidewalk for tips, it sticks out less into the flow of foot traffic (less chance of people bumping into you) and also, it’s a bit unusual looking and that gets people’s attention.
I’m back on trumpet because the student cornets I’ve played really lack something on the low end, but I think getting a decent pro cornet in the future will fix this.