It appears that almost no one plays cornet, just trumpet. I can’t hear the difference. What’s the deal?
What is different about the pro models, which cost substantially more?
Are there new mouthpiece designs which make it easier to hit high notes?
First of all, you can get better answers from the various trumpet communities online. Try trumpetherald.com, also a Facebook group, trumpets, trumpeters, trumpeting.
If you have a really small kid starting out, and can find a good cornet, with fast valves and no frustrating faults, a cornet is better to start out on, because it’s easier than a trumpet for small hands. But they’re hard to find. Later on they can switch to trumpet.
If you’re buying a trumpet for a rank beginner, I suggest a used Yamaha student model. The Yamahas are very dependable, usually don’t have frustrating sticky valves, and you can get an excellent used one for under $400. Watch out for older ones with “red rot” - a fatal decomposition of the brass of the lead pipe.
As for “pro” models, not necessary until later on. My sons played on a Bach Strad reverse lead. Nice trumpet, but later on my son said that its intonation was poor, that he was always having to “lip up” to avoid playing flat on it. He won a Xeno at a competition, decided it was a better trumpet, so we sold the Bach. We also bought him a Bach Artisan C trumpet, (we went to the biggest brass store in the Greater NYC region and he tried everything they had), which three pros have tried and said that it is wonderful. But there are reviews online from some saying that they don’t like them. I guess we lucked out. Moral of the story is to take the teacher with you when you go to buy a pro model.
Best to start a beginner on a 7C or a 5C (or something similar) in terms of a mouthpiece. Yes, there are “screamer” mouthpieces that make it a bit easier to hit high notes, but there are tradeoffs. In any event, these would not be used until much, much farther along in training - certainly not until the young person has been playing for 4 years or so.
You’d be well-advised to find an excellent local teacher with experience with beginners. I started my oldest with a young conservatory grad. He was fun, enthusiastic, made an immediate improvement in my son’s sound. But the young teacher was so thrilled with my oldest’s rapid improvement that he gave him very challenging, high-range, advanced repertoire WAY too early, causing my son to develop a fatal flaw in the way he achieved high range, by constricting his airflow. This did achieve the high notes very fast, but it also limited his high range, and thus limited his development as a serious trumpet player. That oldest son, when he played in advanced ensembles, scrutinized the other players, and told me to use a certain teacher for my younger son, saying, “None of her students have any bad habits.” I only wish I had started my older son with that teacher, too. For the younger one, she was perfect, gave him a fantastic foundation - and that kid has no limit on how far he’s going with trumpet. I’d suggest that you contact the local conservatory, if you have one. Also ask the high school band teacher for recommendations - he will be intimately familiar with the shortcomings of any of his players, will hopefully be able to steer you to the best teacher in the area.
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HI,
Could you suggest me one Student Trumpet form this list http://besttrumpetsguide.com/best-student-trumpets-reviews/