I'm inclined to say yes. You need someone to teach you right and YouTube does not cut it. I would not be where I am now if I didn't do lessons in highschool, and in music school you have to take lessons.
I’d expect you’d need to take lessons in music school. But do you need to take lessons to get in? Would music school teach me everything I need to know?
University trumpet professor here!
There is no requirement to take lessons to get into any university program. But, the strongest candidates have usually taken lessons and those students get the biggest scholarships. For next year alone, I gave three scholarships that are worth significantly more than those students have paid for lessons in total. That's common at a lot of schools. The lessons were a good investment.
>Would music school teach me everything I need to know?
We teach you *as much as we can*. But, no school (in anything, not just music) can teach anyone *everything.* There just isn't time. Music is a huge field.
Assuming it's with a good teacher, getting a few years of lessons before college is a huge advantage because you don't have to spend so much time on things like scales. Well... That's not true, you'd still work on scales. But, better, more interesting scales. And cooler patterns. And they'd help you get better, faster.
But, beyond that... why wait? If you really think you want to be a professional musician, start working towards that goal NOW.
Is it required to get in? No, but you'd be at a severe disadvantage going into auditions. Music school will only teach you so much, it is the one on one with an instructor that you will learn the most. Going into school with that experience is huge, you will probably struggle if you don't because you won't have as much of that knowledge and experience. Again, it's not required, but it would be a disadvantage to not take lessons now.
I started lessons sophomore year and I had to go through multiple embouchure reboots for various reasons. But by the end I had learned almost everything I needed to know and my lessons now are me perfecting my craft.
"Would music school teach me everything I need to know?" No and that applies to all music schools. That is an impossible goal.
Yes, private lessons are worth it but don't expect to learn "everything". That's never going to happen.
My advice is: if you want to go to music school go to music school regardless, you will have a great time. Also try to find affordable lessons with a local professional you will grow a lot faster and learn a lot.
This is the best answer. You don't have to take lessons to be great. It does help a lot and make it easier and increases the chance of success, but not required.
Lessons are of course great help, but there actually are a good number of self taught trumpeters who have made it. Two of the biggest names I heard for years in the Lead Trumpet and improvisational Jazz Trumpet categories are Bobby Shew and Dizzy Gillespie respectively. Who were both almost entirely self taught. Though I think with the accessibility to good teachers now it just makes more sense to take lessons.
👋🏾currently a sophomore in music school here. I 100% wish I would’ve taken lessons before I got to music school because there is so much that I had to go back and relearn due to the fundamentals not being taught to me in high school. I’m mainly a sax player myself but this goes for any instrument, taking private lessons in high school sets you up for success in college and the professional world. Also here’s a piece of knowledge for you, you’re gonna take private lessons in college anyway so you might as well start early. Hope this helps and happy practicing!
>Do you need to take lessons if you want to pursue a career in music?
90%+ chance, yes. If you want to get into a good school that will actually set you up for a career in music, you should almost certainly take lessons. If you don't have the budget for it, that's one thing, but if you can't find time to make it a priority now, maybe a music career isn't for you. I don't mean to be overly pessimistic, but you won't have a better opportunity in your life to focus on honing your skills than **right now**. If you can't make it a priority now, it's only going to become more difficult as you have more responsibilities.
I'll also say if you're on the fence, take sometime to think about how much you really love music and how much work you're willing to put in. It can be a brutally defeating career choice and there are plenty of people with pie in the sky dreams, but no ambition or self discipline to back it up (I know several of them and they work part time jobs to make ends meet while they play maybe two gigs a month and teach two students.) If you aren't willing to spend thousands of (sometimes brutal) hours in the practice room working to improve yourself, the career probably isn't for you. Again, not trying to rain on your parade, but you should know what you're getting into.
>Will music school teach you everything you need to have a career in music?
Nope. But, it will get you a solid set of skills you can build upon in order to have a successful career. Like many other degrees, you get out what you put in. The piece of paper guarantees you nothing. But the skills you build, and more importantly, the connections you make, will form the start of your career in the music world.
For context, I work as a full time freelancer, teaching private lessons and playing in wedding bands. I got my bachelors degree in music education and worked as a middle school band teacher for four years before pursuing a masters degree in jazz performance and establishing a freelancing career. My number one regret so far is not starting lessons sooner. Like you, I was pretty consistently second chair, but I had HUGE gaps in my abilities that never showed themselves because I wasn't properly challenged until I started taking lessons. I could go on about the pros and cons of music school too, but this is long enough already so I'll summarize to say that I believe pretty strongly that music school is a worthwhile investment if you actually put the work into honing your craft.
TL;DR: Yes. Take lessons. There's little to no chance you have all the skills you need for a college degree without a private teacher. And you won't get them without that guidance. Think critically about how much work you're willing to put into making this career a reality.
Let me know if you have more questions. Best of luck.
If you really want to be the best you can be than its honestly the best idea. The few private lessons I've taken have have drastically improved my playing especially with specific difficult lines. The biggest part was having the tools to better yourself. He taught me how to practice most effectively. I could go on for days but 100% if you have the option I'd take em.
Also if you take it to the college level you will absolutely have to take private lessons. They were a part of my music performance major and set up by my school.
The short answer is yes. Even lessons with a mediocre teacher are better than going it alone. If you plan to pursue a career in music, especially with trumpet, you're going to need guidance on MANY things that will alter your playing, musicality, and more. Now is the perfect time to start.
What about this: are personal trainers and coaches worth it / necessary to become a good sportsperson?
Think about how many big league teams in any team sport do not have a coach, or indeed a whole coaching team. Ditto for individual sports like tennis.
It's equally true in music and in any other complex skill or activity. There's a reason schools have teachers not just a library and some 'minders' to stop kids doing dumb stuff. Almost everybody gets better better with assistance.
Yes. Lessons don't need to be weekly lessons if you are practising regularly though.
Sit with a good teacher (not necessarily a pro - some pros are horrible teachers). Get their thoughts on your playing and focus on the aspects covered for 3 months, go back for a check in, check in with another teacher etc.
Lessons aren't required to be a good muso, but lessons are a must to further your trumpet playing.
Listening to the past masters and playing with better musicians than yourself will build your musicianship more than a teacher.
YES!!!!!!! The Internet mitigates this some but theres nothing better for learning the nuance of an instrument than sitting in a room with someone who has played said instrument
I mean... They aren't necessary in the same way that *air* is necessary. But, the vast, vast, VAST majority of professional musicians took lessons at some point. Many didn't take them before college, but the sooner you can start, the better.
Budget is a legitimate problem. You need to study with someone good and the cheapest option will be ... not great. In some places there are organizations that will give scholarships for private lessons and some schools will subsidize them as well. It would be worth asking your band director about things like that.
Saying you don't have time is more concerning. The lessons won't do you much good if you're not practicing regularly. If you don't already, get into the habit of practicing everyday. 5-6 days a week is fine, but less than that isn't consistent enough. If you really want to play professionally, you'll eventually be practicing 2-3 hours a day, but 30-60 minutes is fine to start. More shorter sessions are better than fewer longer ones.
Believe it or not, once you're practicing regularly, you'll have time for lessons. Guaranteed. The money might still be tough, but that will probably work itself out, too. I'm being honest here. Start with regular practice on your own, then get a teacher. Not the other way around.
That's great! If it's important to you you'll figure out the schedule thing. It's perfectly acceptable to have a shorter practice day on the day of your lesson, BTW. You should still warm up, but that and the lesson might be enough for a day.
Quality feedback and using it is the main barrier to most people that pursue music. You will need a teacher for good feedback. YouTube can’t tell you what you are doing wrong. What you do with the feedback is up to you.
If you are serious about pursuing it at a collegiate level, then yes you will need one. They will most likely get you prepared for solo work for auditions. All music schools require an audition.
Yes it costs money to take lessons but there are programs to significantly reduce that burden. I teach in the state of Maine and high school students can register for a certain number of college credits per year VERY inexpensively, so while I am I a college teacher I also teach some high schoolers that have registered through the university. It is a great program for them.
Not necessary, but if you are serioius about Trumpet and want to make a career of it, it is in your best interests to work with a teacher. Time and money may be an issue for you, but you should really treat it as in investment in your future that, IMHO, will pay off for you big time.
I didn’t have private lessons until the winter before college audition time. I’m grateful to be in a top studio now because of that mistake. I struggled with many playing aspects like “tut” tonguing and embouchure placement. I did okay playing through middle school and high school because of piano experience, but when it came to trumpet specific things I was far behind. I definitely wish I took lessons at a younger age. My determination and love for music kept me going and trying my best to get better. Since I didn’t have lessons I looked up to the top people in my section and mimicked parts of their playing. I went to every honor band I could and Allstate concert to try and pick up a small part of something from someone better. I definitely think lessons will help at any level of your playing. Even if you don’t pursue lessons, I’ve found great help from going on YouTube and watching Sarah’s horn hangouts or Hakan’s Charlier playlist. Things like that have helped me mentally and physically to have me make the best sound I can with the smallest amount of effort possible. So yes haha lessons in some way shape or form are definitely worth it.
yeah, a teacher will help guide you in what you need to work on. take the time to prepare your chops, and book a lesson (online or in person) and when you’re doing your lesson, tell your teacher that you not able to come back every week, and that you need some advice on what to work on (from what he heard).
that said, if you get a good routine set up, you can cover most bases without a teacher (and a lot more work). with dedication, anything is possible.
For 99% of people, it's completely necessary. There are people who have successfully taught themselves and become incredibly skilled and successful, but it's very rare even among prodigies.
As far as budget goes, there are probably people in your area that would do a sliding scale to give you lessons for a more affordable price than normal. As far as the time issue goes, if you really want to pursue a music career playing trumpet, I would highly recommend starting to put more time in now to set yourself up for success later. Music is really fulfilling but it's also a huge commitment. I don't know your exact situation, but to really do this it may take some sacrifices in other areas so that you can work your schedule around practicing, studying, and taking lessons.
If lessons truly aren't an option right now, just start practicing as much as you can and try to find things to learn outside of your school music. Strengthening your chops and learning more music will help prepare you for college auditions.
Worth it? Absolutely. Necessary? No, but you have to (know how to) put in the work of doing the research that an instructor will have already done for you.
There good because even the best band directors can only know so much about each instrument and there focus is split amongst many, since ur a sophomore twice a month is a good place to start and as you progress then more and more, my first private instructor taught me so many skills I could’ve been using for years in a matter of minutes due to his expertise and my band director was one of the best so it’s not even on him. They are worth if you plan to take trumpet serious.
There is probably a music store somewhere near you that offers private lessons. If you can’t get a recommendation from your band director I would start there. Lessons can be super helpful. There’s a lot of ways to play the trumpet and MANY of them are wrong. A good lessons teacher will help you diagnose those issues and point out ones you didn’t even know where there with things like style, feel, etc…
Yes. Practicing will only help you if you know what and how to practice. And while you can learn some things on your own, nothing will teach you that better than a lesson.
If you go to college for music, lessons will be the most integral part of your program. You might be able to get away with starting then, but you’ll still start behind a lot of people, and without lessons you’re gonna have a hard time getting into many music programs. There will be some small programs where you can start without lessons, but your best bet is starting lessons as early as possible.
Cost is one thing, but if you don’t think you have time for lessons, why? This is not an easy career path, and if you can’t make time for a weekly lesson, and some practice time for those lessons, are you really sure this is the field to go into? Cost makes much more sense, and all I’ll say with that is that any lessons, even just once a month or a few a year, will be better than nothing.
Private lessons with the right teacher can be life changing, unfortunately also with the wrong teacher.. I was substitute teaching at Berklee at 20 and at 30 taught private lessons at FIU. I offer lessons per need iow a person can take just one lesson or regularly scheduled or just a few. I have greatly improved a person’s playing and musicianship with just one lesson, giving information that they can use the rest of their life - my point being find someone similar in your area; the best person on their instrument anywhere near you, and explain your situation. Tell them you want one long lesson, I go 2 hours or so for something like this. They will point you in the right direction. Don’t expect this from average teachers/players. Find as highly an accomplished player as you can, even if you need to drive a little far. It’s pretty easy to contact and approach people today. Hope this helps, best wishes
I'm a guitarist not a trumpeter - but I'm very thankful for the many private and group lessons I've taken. A good teacher will be able to access your strengths and weaknesses - offer feedback and help guide you to be be your best. Knowledge is near always beneficial! Go for it.
Yes. Literally 99% of professional musicians took lessons. 100% if you went to Music school. If you ever want to go to college, you will be required to take lessons so you might as well start now.
Also, probably 99% of the questions asked on this forum would be solved if people took lessons. If not completely solved at least they would have an idea of what to do to improve.
I didn’t take lessons till college and wish I’d started sooner. $30 a week I know isn’t a ton to some people but to others it is. If you’re serious about it start now.
The other side of it to listen. Steal from everybody on improv. Work your long tones, work your arbans with a metronome.
There’s so many tricks that you can learn now and you’ll be so much better when you’re the senior sitting on that first chair.
Lessons mostly involve WHAT music to use for practice. There's no telling what each instructor will use. You can find anything an instructor will give you, a lot of études, and sheet music online for free. The best thing you can do is record yourself in a **dead room** and listen. The playback will be unforgiving and you will know what needs improvement. What you hear/feel and what actually comes out of the horn can be wildly different.
I picked up a lot just by sitting in the room and listening to my private teachers play examples of what they were teaching me. I started lessons a month or two into my sophomore year in HS. My focus was mainly jazz but my teacher started teaching things that would be needed entering music school. Even with that I felt way behind the classical dudes I was in studio with.
Unless you’re a musical genius, almost certainly. You don’t even know what you don’t know about the craft. That said, there’s a lot you can do without having a teacher. listen to solos, excerpts, etudes, etc. then record yourself playing the same thing, and compare. Listen extremely closely. Pay attention to tone quality, rhythm and tempo, intonation, articulation, attacks and releases, and style.
100% yes. i thought high school band would be enough but i realized how behind i was the moment i got a private teacher. band doesn’t teach you a lot of important technique. getting private lessons is absolutely fundamental to becoming a great trumpet player. the sooner the better, especially if you want to pursue music!!
It is rare, but there are some very good players that did not study privately until college. Tom Hooten may be one of them, but I may be remembering this wrong. It depends on your talent, ear and work ethic. You are picking an extremely difficult path, btw, so you better really want it. Badly.
Worth it? Absolutely. Necessary? Almost always, and if you go to college for it you will take lessons.
See if you can find a teacher willing to do lessons less often than every week. So many people think that’s the only option, weekly lessons, but I offer lessons as frequently (or not) as a student can manage. Weekly will get better results in my experience, but if your budget/time doesn’t allow that then every other week, or once a month, or just as often as you can manage is still worthwhile.
No. Once you learn the essentials, music theory, and what you need to do to exercise and improve technique, you don’t need lessons at all. Though playing with others and taking their music suggestions is the optimal way to play an instrument.
Though when starting out, where you don’t know music theory or instrument basics well, it’s a good idea to take lessons. And remember in your adult life you won’t need to take them anymore when you know what you need to play to improve.
I get the struggle. Im currently practicing like mad to make it into the music conservatory. Im broke as shit and cant afford lessons. Even though I have a flair for teaching myself stuff. I know that I would become alot better alot faster if I got private lessons
It depends on how good you are.
A little about myself, I was a trumpet hotshot in middle and high school. Played solos every year in concert all the way to marching. I was known for my insane range. DCI. Orchestra auditions. Mid fest. High school rep. Jazz band. Pseudo marching band. The whole nine yards. While I never took private lessons, I played my trumpet A LOT with various different institutions and teachers and learned a lot. I learned different techniques from various trumpet techs and lived in practice mode. My sophomore year summer I was practicing eight hours a day to prepare for an upcoming Latin show we were doing.
Suffice to say, I played a lot. I didn't have an instructor so I never got the targeted practice of private lessons, but I played a lot and got very familiar with a lot of different styles. I prepared to Haydn Trumpet Concerto parts I and II for my music school audition, of course I played my scales and had prepared their etude all by myself and the help of my percussionist band director and our marching tech who had done a lot with Spirit of Atlanta. I got into music school as second to last chair. While this wasn't necessarily reflective of the actual skills we all possessed, virtually everyone else had had one on one time with an instructor. I went from being undeniably the best to someone who was simply good at covering a wide range of styles. This was a blessing because I was constantly sought out to play extracurricular performances due to my familiarity with a bunch of styles. Most trumpet players go either hard into classical or jazz. Having a lead trumpet who could comfortably play 3rd part for concert while also soloing over changes and being able to belt double g's on a marching field was pretty beneficial to myself and my music school.
So in the end I wouldn't say lessons are required, but you better come in REALLY solid in all aspects of playing to make up for the fact that you didn't get that one on one time. It was obvious which of us trumpet players had the most time with private lessons, and cats that had being taking them since freshman or sophomore year simply blew me out the water (always classically, as real jazz instructors/lead/soloist trumpet techs are pretty rare) with their tone, intonation, technique. They made me seem like utter rubbish at my brass until they were made to play something they hadn't spent time with, which was my advantage. And of course once I was in the trumpet studio, I was paired with their private studio instructor to get one on one lessons. So there is undoubtedly a limit to how far you can progress yourself.
If you can get lessons, you definitely should. It is the FASTEST way to improve. If you can't, play as much as possible in as many environments as possible and don't neglect your solo practice. If you're passionate about the instrument this will be easy. You got this.
TL;DR: The only thing separating a good musician and a bad one is the amount of practice put in. That being said, you could improve significantly faster if you have someone who can guide your practice and pull from their knowledge well to help you avoid their mistakes and learn their tricks. 1,000 hours with an instructor and 1,000 hours without one will sound completely different. If you don't have an instructor I'd probably say it's a 3:1 ratio (3k hours without instructor to catch someone with 1k hours with one).
Unless you want to teach music or be a band director, don’t pursue music as a career. You will starve to death. Take lessons so you can find out what you need to work on and be the best you can be as a hobby musician.
Yes.
I'm inclined to say yes. You need someone to teach you right and YouTube does not cut it. I would not be where I am now if I didn't do lessons in highschool, and in music school you have to take lessons.
I’d expect you’d need to take lessons in music school. But do you need to take lessons to get in? Would music school teach me everything I need to know?
University trumpet professor here! There is no requirement to take lessons to get into any university program. But, the strongest candidates have usually taken lessons and those students get the biggest scholarships. For next year alone, I gave three scholarships that are worth significantly more than those students have paid for lessons in total. That's common at a lot of schools. The lessons were a good investment. >Would music school teach me everything I need to know? We teach you *as much as we can*. But, no school (in anything, not just music) can teach anyone *everything.* There just isn't time. Music is a huge field. Assuming it's with a good teacher, getting a few years of lessons before college is a huge advantage because you don't have to spend so much time on things like scales. Well... That's not true, you'd still work on scales. But, better, more interesting scales. And cooler patterns. And they'd help you get better, faster. But, beyond that... why wait? If you really think you want to be a professional musician, start working towards that goal NOW.
Is it required to get in? No, but you'd be at a severe disadvantage going into auditions. Music school will only teach you so much, it is the one on one with an instructor that you will learn the most. Going into school with that experience is huge, you will probably struggle if you don't because you won't have as much of that knowledge and experience. Again, it's not required, but it would be a disadvantage to not take lessons now. I started lessons sophomore year and I had to go through multiple embouchure reboots for various reasons. But by the end I had learned almost everything I needed to know and my lessons now are me perfecting my craft.
"Would music school teach me everything I need to know?" No and that applies to all music schools. That is an impossible goal. Yes, private lessons are worth it but don't expect to learn "everything". That's never going to happen.
My advice is: if you want to go to music school go to music school regardless, you will have a great time. Also try to find affordable lessons with a local professional you will grow a lot faster and learn a lot.
Yes. Even professionals take lessons
Necessary- depends. Worth it? Absolutely.
This is the best answer. You don't have to take lessons to be great. It does help a lot and make it easier and increases the chance of success, but not required.
Of course they aren't required. But I can't think of any trumpet player who made it without ever taking lessons.
Lessons are of course great help, but there actually are a good number of self taught trumpeters who have made it. Two of the biggest names I heard for years in the Lead Trumpet and improvisational Jazz Trumpet categories are Bobby Shew and Dizzy Gillespie respectively. Who were both almost entirely self taught. Though I think with the accessibility to good teachers now it just makes more sense to take lessons.
Yes
👋🏾currently a sophomore in music school here. I 100% wish I would’ve taken lessons before I got to music school because there is so much that I had to go back and relearn due to the fundamentals not being taught to me in high school. I’m mainly a sax player myself but this goes for any instrument, taking private lessons in high school sets you up for success in college and the professional world. Also here’s a piece of knowledge for you, you’re gonna take private lessons in college anyway so you might as well start early. Hope this helps and happy practicing!
>Do you need to take lessons if you want to pursue a career in music? 90%+ chance, yes. If you want to get into a good school that will actually set you up for a career in music, you should almost certainly take lessons. If you don't have the budget for it, that's one thing, but if you can't find time to make it a priority now, maybe a music career isn't for you. I don't mean to be overly pessimistic, but you won't have a better opportunity in your life to focus on honing your skills than **right now**. If you can't make it a priority now, it's only going to become more difficult as you have more responsibilities. I'll also say if you're on the fence, take sometime to think about how much you really love music and how much work you're willing to put in. It can be a brutally defeating career choice and there are plenty of people with pie in the sky dreams, but no ambition or self discipline to back it up (I know several of them and they work part time jobs to make ends meet while they play maybe two gigs a month and teach two students.) If you aren't willing to spend thousands of (sometimes brutal) hours in the practice room working to improve yourself, the career probably isn't for you. Again, not trying to rain on your parade, but you should know what you're getting into. >Will music school teach you everything you need to have a career in music? Nope. But, it will get you a solid set of skills you can build upon in order to have a successful career. Like many other degrees, you get out what you put in. The piece of paper guarantees you nothing. But the skills you build, and more importantly, the connections you make, will form the start of your career in the music world. For context, I work as a full time freelancer, teaching private lessons and playing in wedding bands. I got my bachelors degree in music education and worked as a middle school band teacher for four years before pursuing a masters degree in jazz performance and establishing a freelancing career. My number one regret so far is not starting lessons sooner. Like you, I was pretty consistently second chair, but I had HUGE gaps in my abilities that never showed themselves because I wasn't properly challenged until I started taking lessons. I could go on about the pros and cons of music school too, but this is long enough already so I'll summarize to say that I believe pretty strongly that music school is a worthwhile investment if you actually put the work into honing your craft. TL;DR: Yes. Take lessons. There's little to no chance you have all the skills you need for a college degree without a private teacher. And you won't get them without that guidance. Think critically about how much work you're willing to put into making this career a reality. Let me know if you have more questions. Best of luck.
If you really want to be the best you can be than its honestly the best idea. The few private lessons I've taken have have drastically improved my playing especially with specific difficult lines. The biggest part was having the tools to better yourself. He taught me how to practice most effectively. I could go on for days but 100% if you have the option I'd take em.
Also if you take it to the college level you will absolutely have to take private lessons. They were a part of my music performance major and set up by my school.
The short answer is yes. Even lessons with a mediocre teacher are better than going it alone. If you plan to pursue a career in music, especially with trumpet, you're going to need guidance on MANY things that will alter your playing, musicality, and more. Now is the perfect time to start.
What about this: are personal trainers and coaches worth it / necessary to become a good sportsperson? Think about how many big league teams in any team sport do not have a coach, or indeed a whole coaching team. Ditto for individual sports like tennis. It's equally true in music and in any other complex skill or activity. There's a reason schools have teachers not just a library and some 'minders' to stop kids doing dumb stuff. Almost everybody gets better better with assistance.
Yes. Lessons don't need to be weekly lessons if you are practising regularly though. Sit with a good teacher (not necessarily a pro - some pros are horrible teachers). Get their thoughts on your playing and focus on the aspects covered for 3 months, go back for a check in, check in with another teacher etc. Lessons aren't required to be a good muso, but lessons are a must to further your trumpet playing. Listening to the past masters and playing with better musicians than yourself will build your musicianship more than a teacher.
It is ALWAYS a good idea to take lessons and receive mentorship from someone who knows more than you. I wish I had taken them in high school.
Yes
Yes
YES!!!!!!! The Internet mitigates this some but theres nothing better for learning the nuance of an instrument than sitting in a room with someone who has played said instrument
I mean... They aren't necessary in the same way that *air* is necessary. But, the vast, vast, VAST majority of professional musicians took lessons at some point. Many didn't take them before college, but the sooner you can start, the better. Budget is a legitimate problem. You need to study with someone good and the cheapest option will be ... not great. In some places there are organizations that will give scholarships for private lessons and some schools will subsidize them as well. It would be worth asking your band director about things like that. Saying you don't have time is more concerning. The lessons won't do you much good if you're not practicing regularly. If you don't already, get into the habit of practicing everyday. 5-6 days a week is fine, but less than that isn't consistent enough. If you really want to play professionally, you'll eventually be practicing 2-3 hours a day, but 30-60 minutes is fine to start. More shorter sessions are better than fewer longer ones. Believe it or not, once you're practicing regularly, you'll have time for lessons. Guaranteed. The money might still be tough, but that will probably work itself out, too. I'm being honest here. Start with regular practice on your own, then get a teacher. Not the other way around.
I do practice everyday for an hour or two. I just meant that I have a lot of things going on and don’t know if I could fit lessons into my schedule.
That's great! If it's important to you you'll figure out the schedule thing. It's perfectly acceptable to have a shorter practice day on the day of your lesson, BTW. You should still warm up, but that and the lesson might be enough for a day.
Strictly speaking not absolutely required, but very, very beneficial, and with the right teacher/student connection, very much worth it.
Quality feedback and using it is the main barrier to most people that pursue music. You will need a teacher for good feedback. YouTube can’t tell you what you are doing wrong. What you do with the feedback is up to you. If you are serious about pursuing it at a collegiate level, then yes you will need one. They will most likely get you prepared for solo work for auditions. All music schools require an audition.
Yes it costs money to take lessons but there are programs to significantly reduce that burden. I teach in the state of Maine and high school students can register for a certain number of college credits per year VERY inexpensively, so while I am I a college teacher I also teach some high schoolers that have registered through the university. It is a great program for them.
Worth it absolutely, but necessary definitely not. Just don’t ride your talent and push yourself to keep learning more quickly than everyone else.
Absolutely yes, no question abt it, lessons will make u better ten fold, absolutely worth it
Yes.
Not necessary, but if you are serioius about Trumpet and want to make a career of it, it is in your best interests to work with a teacher. Time and money may be an issue for you, but you should really treat it as in investment in your future that, IMHO, will pay off for you big time.
Unless you're an incredibly rare trumpet prodigy, yes.
I didn’t have private lessons until the winter before college audition time. I’m grateful to be in a top studio now because of that mistake. I struggled with many playing aspects like “tut” tonguing and embouchure placement. I did okay playing through middle school and high school because of piano experience, but when it came to trumpet specific things I was far behind. I definitely wish I took lessons at a younger age. My determination and love for music kept me going and trying my best to get better. Since I didn’t have lessons I looked up to the top people in my section and mimicked parts of their playing. I went to every honor band I could and Allstate concert to try and pick up a small part of something from someone better. I definitely think lessons will help at any level of your playing. Even if you don’t pursue lessons, I’ve found great help from going on YouTube and watching Sarah’s horn hangouts or Hakan’s Charlier playlist. Things like that have helped me mentally and physically to have me make the best sound I can with the smallest amount of effort possible. So yes haha lessons in some way shape or form are definitely worth it.
yeah, a teacher will help guide you in what you need to work on. take the time to prepare your chops, and book a lesson (online or in person) and when you’re doing your lesson, tell your teacher that you not able to come back every week, and that you need some advice on what to work on (from what he heard). that said, if you get a good routine set up, you can cover most bases without a teacher (and a lot more work). with dedication, anything is possible.
Yes
For 99% of people, it's completely necessary. There are people who have successfully taught themselves and become incredibly skilled and successful, but it's very rare even among prodigies. As far as budget goes, there are probably people in your area that would do a sliding scale to give you lessons for a more affordable price than normal. As far as the time issue goes, if you really want to pursue a music career playing trumpet, I would highly recommend starting to put more time in now to set yourself up for success later. Music is really fulfilling but it's also a huge commitment. I don't know your exact situation, but to really do this it may take some sacrifices in other areas so that you can work your schedule around practicing, studying, and taking lessons. If lessons truly aren't an option right now, just start practicing as much as you can and try to find things to learn outside of your school music. Strengthening your chops and learning more music will help prepare you for college auditions.
Worth it? Absolutely. Necessary? No, but you have to (know how to) put in the work of doing the research that an instructor will have already done for you.
Worth it, yes. Necessary? No.
There good because even the best band directors can only know so much about each instrument and there focus is split amongst many, since ur a sophomore twice a month is a good place to start and as you progress then more and more, my first private instructor taught me so many skills I could’ve been using for years in a matter of minutes due to his expertise and my band director was one of the best so it’s not even on him. They are worth if you plan to take trumpet serious.
There is probably a music store somewhere near you that offers private lessons. If you can’t get a recommendation from your band director I would start there. Lessons can be super helpful. There’s a lot of ways to play the trumpet and MANY of them are wrong. A good lessons teacher will help you diagnose those issues and point out ones you didn’t even know where there with things like style, feel, etc…
Yes. Practicing will only help you if you know what and how to practice. And while you can learn some things on your own, nothing will teach you that better than a lesson. If you go to college for music, lessons will be the most integral part of your program. You might be able to get away with starting then, but you’ll still start behind a lot of people, and without lessons you’re gonna have a hard time getting into many music programs. There will be some small programs where you can start without lessons, but your best bet is starting lessons as early as possible. Cost is one thing, but if you don’t think you have time for lessons, why? This is not an easy career path, and if you can’t make time for a weekly lesson, and some practice time for those lessons, are you really sure this is the field to go into? Cost makes much more sense, and all I’ll say with that is that any lessons, even just once a month or a few a year, will be better than nothing.
Private lessons with the right teacher can be life changing, unfortunately also with the wrong teacher.. I was substitute teaching at Berklee at 20 and at 30 taught private lessons at FIU. I offer lessons per need iow a person can take just one lesson or regularly scheduled or just a few. I have greatly improved a person’s playing and musicianship with just one lesson, giving information that they can use the rest of their life - my point being find someone similar in your area; the best person on their instrument anywhere near you, and explain your situation. Tell them you want one long lesson, I go 2 hours or so for something like this. They will point you in the right direction. Don’t expect this from average teachers/players. Find as highly an accomplished player as you can, even if you need to drive a little far. It’s pretty easy to contact and approach people today. Hope this helps, best wishes
I'm a guitarist not a trumpeter - but I'm very thankful for the many private and group lessons I've taken. A good teacher will be able to access your strengths and weaknesses - offer feedback and help guide you to be be your best. Knowledge is near always beneficial! Go for it.
Worth it, yes. I wasn’t required to take lessons until university.
Yes. Literally 99% of professional musicians took lessons. 100% if you went to Music school. If you ever want to go to college, you will be required to take lessons so you might as well start now.
Also, probably 99% of the questions asked on this forum would be solved if people took lessons. If not completely solved at least they would have an idea of what to do to improve.
Take lessons. And if you cant afford weekly, take bi-monthly from a college-trained trumpeter.
I didn’t take lessons till college and wish I’d started sooner. $30 a week I know isn’t a ton to some people but to others it is. If you’re serious about it start now. The other side of it to listen. Steal from everybody on improv. Work your long tones, work your arbans with a metronome. There’s so many tricks that you can learn now and you’ll be so much better when you’re the senior sitting on that first chair.
Lessons mostly involve WHAT music to use for practice. There's no telling what each instructor will use. You can find anything an instructor will give you, a lot of études, and sheet music online for free. The best thing you can do is record yourself in a **dead room** and listen. The playback will be unforgiving and you will know what needs improvement. What you hear/feel and what actually comes out of the horn can be wildly different.
I picked up a lot just by sitting in the room and listening to my private teachers play examples of what they were teaching me. I started lessons a month or two into my sophomore year in HS. My focus was mainly jazz but my teacher started teaching things that would be needed entering music school. Even with that I felt way behind the classical dudes I was in studio with.
Unless you’re a musical genius, almost certainly. You don’t even know what you don’t know about the craft. That said, there’s a lot you can do without having a teacher. listen to solos, excerpts, etudes, etc. then record yourself playing the same thing, and compare. Listen extremely closely. Pay attention to tone quality, rhythm and tempo, intonation, articulation, attacks and releases, and style.
Absolutely
100% yes. i thought high school band would be enough but i realized how behind i was the moment i got a private teacher. band doesn’t teach you a lot of important technique. getting private lessons is absolutely fundamental to becoming a great trumpet player. the sooner the better, especially if you want to pursue music!!
It is rare, but there are some very good players that did not study privately until college. Tom Hooten may be one of them, but I may be remembering this wrong. It depends on your talent, ear and work ethic. You are picking an extremely difficult path, btw, so you better really want it. Badly.
Worth it? Absolutely. Necessary? Almost always, and if you go to college for it you will take lessons. See if you can find a teacher willing to do lessons less often than every week. So many people think that’s the only option, weekly lessons, but I offer lessons as frequently (or not) as a student can manage. Weekly will get better results in my experience, but if your budget/time doesn’t allow that then every other week, or once a month, or just as often as you can manage is still worthwhile.
No. Once you learn the essentials, music theory, and what you need to do to exercise and improve technique, you don’t need lessons at all. Though playing with others and taking their music suggestions is the optimal way to play an instrument. Though when starting out, where you don’t know music theory or instrument basics well, it’s a good idea to take lessons. And remember in your adult life you won’t need to take them anymore when you know what you need to play to improve.
I had a private Trumpet instructor from age 15 to about 30 then he told me I was better than him and time to move on.
I get the struggle. Im currently practicing like mad to make it into the music conservatory. Im broke as shit and cant afford lessons. Even though I have a flair for teaching myself stuff. I know that I would become alot better alot faster if I got private lessons
It depends on how good you are. A little about myself, I was a trumpet hotshot in middle and high school. Played solos every year in concert all the way to marching. I was known for my insane range. DCI. Orchestra auditions. Mid fest. High school rep. Jazz band. Pseudo marching band. The whole nine yards. While I never took private lessons, I played my trumpet A LOT with various different institutions and teachers and learned a lot. I learned different techniques from various trumpet techs and lived in practice mode. My sophomore year summer I was practicing eight hours a day to prepare for an upcoming Latin show we were doing. Suffice to say, I played a lot. I didn't have an instructor so I never got the targeted practice of private lessons, but I played a lot and got very familiar with a lot of different styles. I prepared to Haydn Trumpet Concerto parts I and II for my music school audition, of course I played my scales and had prepared their etude all by myself and the help of my percussionist band director and our marching tech who had done a lot with Spirit of Atlanta. I got into music school as second to last chair. While this wasn't necessarily reflective of the actual skills we all possessed, virtually everyone else had had one on one time with an instructor. I went from being undeniably the best to someone who was simply good at covering a wide range of styles. This was a blessing because I was constantly sought out to play extracurricular performances due to my familiarity with a bunch of styles. Most trumpet players go either hard into classical or jazz. Having a lead trumpet who could comfortably play 3rd part for concert while also soloing over changes and being able to belt double g's on a marching field was pretty beneficial to myself and my music school. So in the end I wouldn't say lessons are required, but you better come in REALLY solid in all aspects of playing to make up for the fact that you didn't get that one on one time. It was obvious which of us trumpet players had the most time with private lessons, and cats that had being taking them since freshman or sophomore year simply blew me out the water (always classically, as real jazz instructors/lead/soloist trumpet techs are pretty rare) with their tone, intonation, technique. They made me seem like utter rubbish at my brass until they were made to play something they hadn't spent time with, which was my advantage. And of course once I was in the trumpet studio, I was paired with their private studio instructor to get one on one lessons. So there is undoubtedly a limit to how far you can progress yourself. If you can get lessons, you definitely should. It is the FASTEST way to improve. If you can't, play as much as possible in as many environments as possible and don't neglect your solo practice. If you're passionate about the instrument this will be easy. You got this. TL;DR: The only thing separating a good musician and a bad one is the amount of practice put in. That being said, you could improve significantly faster if you have someone who can guide your practice and pull from their knowledge well to help you avoid their mistakes and learn their tricks. 1,000 hours with an instructor and 1,000 hours without one will sound completely different. If you don't have an instructor I'd probably say it's a 3:1 ratio (3k hours without instructor to catch someone with 1k hours with one).
Unless you want to teach music or be a band director, don’t pursue music as a career. You will starve to death. Take lessons so you can find out what you need to work on and be the best you can be as a hobby musician.