How to Scream on the Trumpet

The modern trumpet is a brass horn that uses a series of valves and slides to create a certain sound. With the highest register of any brass instrument, the trumpet screams higher than the cornet, saxophone and trombone. The act of making a trumpet scream involves achieving such high notes on the scale that the horn sounds as if it is wailing for dear life.

Get your lips ready to push air quickly through the mouthpiece and create a screaming effect on the trumpet. Play regular exercises or songs for several minutes to warm up. To improve on this technique and play this style at any time during a performance, practice this every day.

Reserve enough air in your body to be able to push multiple fast notes in quick succession. Think of this reserved air as a high-pressure air tank. Although higher notes do not require as much air passing through the horn as lower octave notes do, they do require quick bursts of air from the mouth of the player.

Position the tongue so that it resembles the “ee” sound your mouth makes when you are speaking. The tongue should be placed at the roof of your mouth to increase air speed while playing. This short, quick burst of air helps create a higher-pitched sound, allowing for screaming. The more emphasis you place on the air, the louder the scream.

Squeeze your lips together as tightly as possible to reduce that air flow to the concentrated stream necessary for creating quick bursts of air for trumpet screaming. The speed of the air traveling through the horn must be quick enough to create the high tone and screaming effect.

Practice these techniques until you are able to create these sounds at any time during a performance. The key to effective trumpet screaming is all in control and speed of the air.