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First and foremost, if a person can pick up the horn and immediately and intuitively make a noise come out, there is promise. My youngest son was able to blow a full beautiful low C the first time he tried at the age of four. No, I didn't immediately start teaching him how to play the trumpet. He was much too young.

My point is that you must fit the person to the instrument sometimes. When it comes to the trumpet, I feel this is critical. Let's think about the type of instrument a trumpet is meant to be. It is typically one of the loudest and/or most heard instruments in the band. It is typically used to carry the melody rather than the background rhythm in most songs. If you cannot hear the trumpets when they are supposed to be playing, there is obviously something major missing from a song.

What type of person are you? Do you like to be heard or would you rather blend in with a crowd? In music, do you like the feel of the back-beat or are you more inclined to flow with the melody? In over 30 years of playing in bands, as a soloist, and every other possibility, I have seen many trumpet players. The best ones are the people that can be described the same way as the horn they are playing. Trumpet players like to stand out in a crowd. Trumpet players are not usually shy, introverted people. Trumpet players want to carry the melody and be seen doing it.

Yes, these are generalizations, but as stated, the best players do tend to be this way. As a beginner, if you can blow the horn at all, you have a good start. I have taught my younger brother and my youngest son how to play the trumpet. Both had a natural affinity for the horn. I also tried to teach it to one of my sisters and my older daughter. In their cases, they never really learned, because just blowing the horn was difficult for them. Learning anything more was almost impossible. If I hadn't had success in teaching my brother and my youngest son, I might have thought I was just a terrible teacher. My daughter turned to the clarinet and did well at it. She just didn't have a feel for the trumpet.

Starting out - find a used trumpet or cornet (often much easier to blow for a beginner) at a music store or through an acquaintance. If through an acquaintance, have the music instructor check it out for you before spending much money on it. Often, people spend a lot of money on a horn and then when their child quits, the horn does not get treated very well. Unfortunately, they usually will not get near as much as they

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