First we must explain to our younger players just what an aperture is and how it affects our trumpet playing.
When we speak of an aperture size, we are speaking of the size and shape of the opening between your lips as you produce a note.
Some players prefer a small opening while other fine players prefer a large opening. What we will accomplish in this post is explain the difference and the advantages and disadvantages of both.
One thing you must understand is that the air must flow between your lips in order for the air to start a vibration of your lips to get a note through your horn. If the opening is too small, this restriction can limit the amount of vibratory area and thus stop any vibrations. The other extreme would be if your lips were too far apart and the same outcome would be experienced. Working towards the most efficient opening is what we will be addressing in this post.
How can we know when the aperture is correct? The answer is the same as it has been in all of our previous post: “The Sound Will Tell You If You Are Playing Efficiently”.
An aperture which is too small generally produces a tight, mousy sound and tends to be sharp in pitch.
An aperture which is too open will have an airy tone and in most cases, be flat in pitch.
Before we can start working to find the most efficient aperture for your playing style, one thing must be checked first. Are your lips even or is your upper lip covering your lower lip when you play. Equally important would be the question, Does your lower lip cover your upper lip when you play. If your answer to either of these questions is “Yes”, then we have a big problem. For your lips to properly vibrate, they must not overlap each other.
Here is a very simple test to make sure that your lips are lined up properly-
Place your mouthpiece in your regular playing position, take a deep breath and start any note in your middle register but be sure to start the note with only the air. DO NOT TONGUE YOUR NOTE. If the note starts easily, your lips could be in the correct position to each other. If on the other hand the note does not start easily, you may have an alignment problem. Concentrate on keeping your lips in position with the upper lip in line with the lower lip. Practicing with only the mouthpiece will help in this exercise. With the correct aperture, you should easily produce notes starting with only air and not notes started with the tongue.
The positions of your lips is vitally important to the production of good tone and if you cannot start a note with the air only, keep working on this before continuing forward on our check list of an efficient playing style.
