Mouthpieces may be the most crucial equipment choice a student can make for trumpet playing. In addition, it’s the easiest thing to change in their playing to achieve a variety of colors and specialty techniques, such as lead playing or orchestral playing; a dark sound verses a bright sound.

Selecting a mouthpiece

Professional, amateurs and students alike all play on different sizes mouthpieces and brands. However, if your student is a beginner, chances are they have a 7C sitting in their case. A 7C is a starting point, but it is not the correct mouthpiece for every beginning student to begin with. Work with your trumpet students to select a mouthpiece that is comfortable for them whilst not compromising their sound and technique for absolute comfort. There is a compromise between the two. As you work with your students the differences will become apparent. Most likely time is an issue, and working with each individual student can be time consuming. If possible, have your trumpet private lessons teacher or local professional come in to aid you through this process.

Shape and size of the lips

Students’ lip characteristics will affect their success on the trumpet, and will also determine which mouthpiece is most suitable for them. While there is some individual variation in mouthpiece preferences and lip characteristics, there are a few general guidelines that teachers can use to help students get started. While the 7C or 5C mouthpiece is the most common for beginners, the mouthpieces referred to below (Bach sizes 5B and 10 ½ C) should also be available during the screening process for students with different lip sizes, so the teacher can identify the best fit. This way the student can purchase the appropriate size when they go to rent or buy their instrument.

Students with larger lips will be more comfortable on a mouthpiece with a wider inner rim (the open center of the mouthpiece), such as the Bach 5B. A large inner rim will allow the student’s lips room to vibrate, while an inner rim that is too narrow will pinch into the fleshy part of their lips, causing issues in tone, aperture flexibility, and endurance. While many directors may suggest trombone or tuba for students with very full lips, these students can be excellent trumpeters with the correct set-up and mouthpiece.

While students with slightly thinner lips can play a standard 7C mouthpiece, players with extremely thin lips should choose a mouthpiece with a narrower inner rim, such as Bach 10 ½ C. If the rim is too large, the students will have to use additional mouthpiece pressure to make the lips vibrate, and the mouthpiece will demand more embouchure strength than they have. The result will be soreness and poor endurance.

Some students may have a teardrop lip, in which the front part of the lip comes down further than the rest of the top lip. Since this lip formation can lead to an unreliable response, fluttering in the sound, a downward air stream, and aperture control issues, the teardrop lip is generally not well-suited to the trumpet.

If a student with a tear-drop lip has their heart set on playing trumpet and understands the difficulties associated with their lip shape, private lessons can help them develop strategies to minimize its impact on their playing. Since there are several techniques the student will need to use in establishing a good, working embouchure, early tutoring will be crucial to their success.

The Schilke 13C4 can be a good mouthpiece choice for students with a teardrop lip. It is comparable to a Bach 3C, but it has more rim surface area and is slightly more flat, helping to stabilize the teardrop portion of the lip. Its more funnel-shaped cup also allows the lips room to vibrate.

Dental Issues and Mouthpiece Position

Ideally, the mouthpiece needs to be center over the top and bottom lips and centered from left to right from the corners of the mouth. By doing this you are aligning the aperture hole with the mouthpiece throat to allow for a direct air stream into the mouthpiece. With that being said, there are many occasions where that might just not be possible. A student’s dental structure has a lot to do with their comfort in their mouthpiece placement and rim of the mouthpiece.

Examine the student’s dental structure carefully. If a student has any front teeth that are protruded, side-ways or missing, the student may be limited in their comfort and embouchure development if they are unable to make the necessary adjustments. While there are many famous players who have irregular teeth, each student needs to overcome their idiosyncrasies in order to develop correctly.

Their may be students with an extreme overbite or underbite, which will create unevenness in mouthpiece pressure and lip vibration. This unevenness will tend to impede embouchure development, sound production and endurance. An extreme overbite or underbite will greatly hinder their chances of being successful at the instrument. Moreover, students with an overbite may need to push the lower jaw forward to create a more balanced playing surface and correct the direction of the air flow.

Types of Mouthpieces

There are many different types of trumpet players in the world and there needs to be a variety of mouthpieces to satisfy those players. Here are seven of the most typical.

Visualizers– A mouthpiece visualizer is a tool used by many trumpet teachers and directors. This allows the teacher to see directly into the rim of the mouthpiece and analyze what exactly the lips are doing while they are buzzing or to see the aperture placement prior to buzzing.

This teaching tool comes in two configurations. The first style of visualizer is a trumpet rim connected to the shank of a mouthpiece by two long, thin support rods and is actually placed into the trumpet like a standard mouthpiece. The cup is essentially missing from this skeletonized mouthpiece. A benefit of this style of visualizer is the student can direct their air from the rim directly into the shank of the mouthpiece. The teacher and student can then check to see if the air direction is upwards, downwards or straight out. If the air is directed straight out, you will be able to hear air entering the instrument through the shank of the visualizer. Having the student direct their air straight into the shank of the visualizer is a great exercise if a student is having trouble focusing their sound and centering notes properly. Air direction for brass players varies. No one way works better than the other. However, if extremes in the direction of the air flow are present, this tool will point them out.

The second style of visualizer is a trumpet rim connected to a single metal rod to be held in the student’s hand. There is no shank to place into the trumpet. This tool is mainly for investigations into the appearance and placement of the student’s aperture.

Traditional– well, the standard traditional mouthpiece is most likely what you see everyday. It has the typical trumpet rim, cup, throat and backbore found stock or customized from the factory.

Screwrim– Screwrim mouthpieces were developed for players to use the same rim with different cups and backbore combinations. Player can maintain the same comfort similarities to the lips while changing other factors of the mouthpiece like the throat and backbore. Big cups and large backbores are used in symphonic playing while more shallow cups and tighter backbores for jazz or lead work. Most players want to keep their same rim but change to different backbores and throats used for different styles of music or trumpet selections. For a maintaince tip, put just a drop of valve oil on the threads every other week or so to keep the rim from locking to the underpart.

Mega-tone– A mega-tone mouthpiece functions much like a standard mouthpiece, however there is a substantial amount of weight added to the body of the mouthpiece, about double the mass. The standard throat size of a mega tone mouthpiece is slightly larger allowing for more air to be passed through the mouthpiece. In addition, by adding weight to the mouthpiece it enables the player to push their sound to louder levels with less distortion. This idea came from players seeking a darker, warmer sound.

Asymmetrical– This new mouthpiece design was developed by John Lynch. The main usage of this mouthpiece is for enhancing students’ high range. For more information on this mouthpiece visit www.asymmetric-mouthpiece.com/. A special cup design allows for higher notes to be achieved along with lessening the typical mouthpiece pressure to those extreme ranges.

Flugel cup and trumpet shank (fluffy)– This mouthpiece is a hybrid of two different styles. It combines the cup and of a flugelhorn mouthpiece with the rim and shank of a trumpet mouthpiece. The end result is a warm, velvety sound desired for quiet passages or lyrical solos as desired.

Bent mouthpieces– These mouthpieces are intended for students who have a severe over bite that is not correctable by simply pushing the bottom jaw forward. These players play with an acutely downward slant with their trumpet. Standard mouthpieces can be bent anywhere from eight to twelve degrees by various mouthpiece makers or local repairmen.

Mouthpieces for different Trumpets

Trumpets– uses a traditional trumpet mouthpiece.

Cornets– A cornet mouthpiece very different from a trumpet mouthpiece – its shank is smaller in diameter as well as shorter. A traditional cornet mouthpiece has a deeper and more conical cup, like that of a flugelhorn, bringing out traditional smooth, warm cornet sound.

Flugelhorns– Even though a flugelhorn mouthpiece looks a lot like a cornet mouthpiece, they are different. First, the cup of a flugelhorn mouthpiece is funnel cupped rather than cup shaped like that of the trumpet and cornet. Second, the shank taper of the flugelhorn mouthpiece is shaped more for the flugelhorn mouthpiece receiver rather than for a cornet mouthpiece receiver. The flugelhorn shank is a bit larger in circumference. However, the shank lengths of both are very similar, which causes most confusion between the two.

Eb/D Trumpets– These trumpets use a traditional trumpet mouthpiece. A shallower cup and tighter backbore is common in these mouthpieces to aid in the higher range these trumpets perform in.

F/G Trumpets– This specialty trumpet utilizes a traditional trumpet mouthpiece. A shallower cup and tighter backbore is common in these mouthpieces to aid in the higher range these trumpets perform in.

Piccolo Trumpets– This modern Baroque trumpet can use either a trumpet or cornet mouthpiece depending on the mouthpiece receiver the manufacturer has installed on the instrument. Typically, most professional trumpeters prefer this instrument with a cornet receiver mouthpiece. The smaller, tighter cornet mouthpiece backbore helps the smaller piccolo trumpet maintain its characteristic light, exquisite sound.

Plating Effects of Mouthpieces

Brass instrument mouthpieces are made from brass and later plated in the factory to the manufacturers request and/or individual customer.

Silver– Tends to stick or grip to the lips better than gold. Silver plating is standard for any mouthpiece.

Gold– gold warms up to your lips faster than silver because gold conducts heat better than silver. Gold is also a little heavier then silver adding some weight to the mouthpiece as well. Gold plating also allows the lips to move a little more freely (less grip) for players playing with a wet set.

Plastic or Lucite Rims– These rims are great for players who may have an allergy to silver or gold plating. As well, they are great for playing outside when temperature conditions that are less than desirable. These type of rims are available for screwrim mouthpieces.

Another idea would be mouthpieces make from plastic. These mouthpieces are only recommended for players to use for a short time. They are great for extreme temperature use and casual mouthpiece buzzing. They are fairly inexpensive and are very durable.

Understanding mouthpiece numbering

With Bach being the standard for mouthpiece comparisons, it’s best to use them as the measuring means.

The numbers that refer to the mouthpieces, for example, 7C refers to the rim circumference. As the numbers go upward the inner rim gets smaller and visa versa. Mouthpieces generally range in sizes from a 1 to a 20.

The letter in the above example refers to the cup size. As the letter gets bigger, the cup size gets smaller; as the letter get smaller, the cup size gets bigger. The most commonly, everyday used cup is the “C” cup. The “C” is referred to as a medium cup.

Wet-set vs. Dry Set

Wet vs. Dry set is a question and answer that only the individual player can answer for themselves. The amount of lip wetness applied to each person’s lips is an individual one that can not be quantified. Generally speaking, player’s lips need to be supple to vibrate with ease. Supple does not necessarily mean wet, but soft and moist.

A ‘wet-set” is best described as a player that plays with the outer and inner “red”, fleshy part of their lips wet by licking them before they begin to play.

A ‘dry-set” player typically will play with the out “red” fleshy part of their lips dry however moisten their inner lip before playing.

Whatever choice the player makes it needs to be one that best fits them. What works for one player does not necessarily work for the other. Either way, the players lips need to be as supple as possible to adequately vibrate.

Mouthpiece Rim

The rim of any brass mouthpiece is made up of essentially four main parts. The rim diameter, width, contour and edge or bite. The rim decides comfort and endurance for the player. A sharper inner edge to the mouthpiece rim will produce a cleaner more pronounced attack where as a rounded inner rim allows for a smoother rounded attack. As far as outside rim width is concerned, the more rim you have in contact with the flesh the less free the lips are to resonate. In addition, if the width of the outside rim it too much it could also pinch open the aperture allowing problems with endurance and flexibility and range. A medium-wide rim is best recommended, typically what is found on standard mouthpiece. The inner edge of the rim can also affect a students playing. If the edge is too sharp it can reduce endurance by pushing into the flesh of the lips too far. However, a sharper edge will also help with control. It allows the proper amount of flesh to vibrate. If the rim is too narrow, it could push into the flesh of the lips and cause a lack of endurance as well as possible bruising.

Mouthpiece Cup

The cup of a traditional mouthpiece is much like a bowl. The cup of the mouthpiece helps to determine the color of the sound being produced. The bigger the cup size the more volume of air it can hold. The “C” cup is considered a medium deep cup and most standard. As far as shallow cups are concerned, “D”, “E” and “F” cups are referred to as shallow cups. A medium deep cup to deep cup are best used for symphonic playing while shallow cups are best used for high, small trumpet (piccolo/Eb/D) performing. In plain terms, the deeper the cup, the deeper the sound and slower response and ease of low register; the shallower the cup the brighter the sound and the quicker response the easier the high resister.

Mouthpiece Throat

The throat of the mouthpiece supplies the resistance needed to make the mouthpiece in combination with the instrument balanced. The throat can best be described as the hole in the center of the cup. The bigger the throat of the mouthpiece, the more air the player will be able blow into the mouthpiece. In addition, as the throat increases in size, the sound becomes slightly warmer.

By opening the throat of a mouthpiece allows the player to utilize more air and play with a larger core to their sound. The “core” of a note is referred to as it’s most focused point of sound. Meaning, the absence of any extraneous aspects like double vibrations, fuzziness and pitch instability can give the player more “core” to their sound. The core will have a richness, substance as well as purity to its color.

The stock throat size for a traditional trumpet mouthpiece is 27. Very common throats for high school students are 27 or 26. The most common throat sizes for professionals tend to be between 24 or 23. To find out the throat size of your student’s mouthpiece, simply use a drill bit by hand to measure. The number 27 actually denotes the drill but size used to drill the throat at the manufacturer. This set-up allows for a great deal of air to be moved through the instrument but requires a firmly established embouchure and a great deal of endurance because of the additional air being used. If a throat is either too big or too narrow, intonation problems can arise. Too big, flat; too narrow, sharp.

Mouthpiece Backbore

The major role of the backbore is to direct the air being supplied to the mouthpiece through to the trumpet. The size of the backbore also affects the color of the tone being produced as well. If the backbore is too open the student will suffer from deflated endurance and intonation issues; if the backbore is too tight, the student will feel as if there is no wiggle room to adjust the instrument’s pitch and sound where they want it. General rule of thumb, the bigger the backerbore the darker the sound, the tighter the backebore the brighter the sound.

Mouthpiece Shank

The shank can best be described as the part of the mouthpiece that is inserted into the mouthpiece receiver of the trumpet. The mouthpiece and the mouthpiece receiver need to create a tight seal for proper a sound to be produced. If the seal is not tight, there will be an air leak resulting in very flat intonation and overall degraded sound.

If the shank of the mouthpiece is too big in circumference the student may realize the intonation of their instrument being very flat in addition to their mouthpiece not going in as far as it should. Compare that mouthpiece with other mouthpieces of the same brand and size and make a slight mark on the mouthpiece with whiteout for example to give you a reference for were the mouthpiece fits. The whiteout will rub off after you are done with your trials. Check that mouthpiece with other trumpets and other mouthpieces with that specific trumpet. If the shank is too large, you can simply send the mouthpiece back to the music store or manufacturer and describe the issue to them. There should be no problem with them exchanging the mouthpiece for a different one as long as the mouthpiece was recently purchased new.

Mouthpiece Repair Tools

Stuck Mouthpieces– A mouthpiece puller is a tool that may only be used occasionally but when you need it, you’ll be glad you have it. It is always better than a wrench or bruit strength. Never use a wrench; you could possible twist off the mouthpiece along with the leadpipe of the trumpet. Your repair bill will go from a tip for the repair man to get your stuck mouthpiece out to a $100.00 soldering job to mount and fix the leadpipe back into position.

Mouthpiece Shank damage– A mouthpiece trueing tool is a must to have around in-case of dropped mouthpieces. If the shank is damaged (bend) this trueing tool can be inserted into the shank and twisted to bore out the dent in the shank.

Dirty Mouthpiece– for mouthpieces, have your students use a mouthpiece brush to clean the inside of it. A dirty mouthpiece can result in poor intonation and response.

Trumpet Mouthpiece Manufacturers

Bach	www.bachbrass.com
Denis Wick	www.deniswick.com
Yamaha	www.yamaha.com
Monette	www.monette.net
Warburton	www.warburton-usa.com
Curry	www.currympc.com
Greg Black	www.gregblackmouthpieces.com
Schilke	www.schilkemusic.com
Marcinkiewicz	www.marcinkiewicz.com
Stork	www.storkcustom.com
Jet-Tone	www.jet-tone.com
Kelly	www.kellymouthpieces.com
Reeves	www.bobreeves.com

Mouthpiece Comparison Chart
Bach Numbering	Monette Numbering	Schilke Numbering	Denis Wick Numbering	Yamaha Numbering
1C	B1-5	20, M1	1	TR17C4
1 ¼ C	B2	M1.5, 15	2	TR17B4
1 ½ C	B3	16C4, M2	2W	TR16C4
2C		14	3	TR15C4
3C	B6	M3, 13C4	4	TR14B4
5B		14D	4	TR14D4
5C		13B	4C	TR14C4
6C		12	4C	TR13B4
7C	B-7F	11	4B	TR11C4
10 1/2C	B8	9C4	5	TR8 C4