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E, A and C# all played first and second valve – but, which is which?
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One of the most commonly asked questions about ear-training is whether or not it ‘actually works.’ And while the positive impact of ear-training must be experienced to fully appreciate, this article intends to outline just one such benefit; how learning the intervals improves your sight-reading practically and by default.
The Trumpeter’s Dilemma
When a student first decides to learn the trumpet, it is common to purchase a beginning method book as a means of learning to play. And while each text has its unique approach, most will start out with something along these lines:
Seems easy enough. And if you were playing the piano, it would be. You just find that key, press it, and voilà! Nailed it!
However, the trumpet is a completely different animal. And most beginners will have no idea whether the note that comes out the end of the bell is right or wrong. This is because – due to the nature of the trumpet – each note is produced in the body. This makes having an internal sense of each pitch priority #1.
For example, it’s troubling to find that both the low C and G in the staff are played with the same fingering. And while this seems like a pretty big snag, it’s just the beginning of our trumpet playing challenges.
C and G are both played with open valves.
To make matters worse, you can play just about any note with any valve combination. And no, that is not a typo. But, to be fair, the trumpet does kind of ‘pull’ you into one of the available notes it is designed to play. However, if you’re not familiar with this feeling, you can pretty much blast out anything.
How Method Books Can Screw You Up
Think about this:
If you were born with properly functioning eyeballs, ears and vocal chords, you learned to speak before you learned to read. And nobody reads without first knowing what the words and letters sound like. It is our awareness of these sounds that allows us to ‘sound out’ our written language phonetically and recognize each sound by its symbol (letter). Yet, many musicians are hell-bent on avoiding this basic truth.
Take a look at the melody below. It is a relatively simple and well-known folk song notated in the key of ‘A.’ The catch – for us trumpet players – is that the bottom line ‘E,’ second space ‘A,’ third space ‘C#’ and top space ‘E’ can all be played with the same valve combination. So, without knowing how this song sounds before you play it on the trumpet, the odds are not in your favor of accurately sight reading it.
You sure that’s the right note?
The Fix: Sound First, Then Notation
Wouldn’t things be a lot easier if you knew what written music was supposed to sound like before you played it? Of course it would be. And the fastest way I know to learn these skills is becoming familiar with the musical intervals. Since every song sounds the way it sounds because of the distances between each note, knowing each of the intervals (there are only twelve, BTW) means being able to read and write any song – in any key – with no problems.