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paid if they try to sell it. The music instructor can tell you if the horn is worth buying and approximately what it might be worth. I would never spend more than 2 or 3 hundred dollars on a used trumpet unless I could get some guarantees on the quality. That is why music stores have lease programs for beginners. If they do keep playing, they can eventually purchase their instrument.

Lessons - Nobody is going to learn a trumpet without getting lessons. Typically, a band instructor will provide the basic lessons to get a beginner started and get them to a point of reasonable ability. If the beginner has a natural aptitude, after two or three years, they might be well-advised to get some lessons from a trumpet instructor. Band directors are good, but unless they actually play trumpet or brass as their primary instrument, there are a lot of intricate little items that they do not know much about and cannot pass on to their brass students. The same would go for woodwind instruments as well. How do I know this? I had to re-learn how to properly place my lips to blow my trumpet when I went to college. It was a difficult and frustrating process. The only reason I succeeded was due to extreme determination and love of playing.

Practice - The best way to learn to play the trumpet (or any instrument) is to set up a regimented practice schedule outside of lessons with your instructor. This does not mean you must play every single day. Sometimes rest is good. I believe that playing for 15 minutes to 1/2 hour three times per week outside of taking lessons is a reasonable schedule for a beginner. Those that practice less will either barely succeed, or more likely, will fail to get good enough to want to continue playing.

If you get through the initial lessons and start playing with a band, that is when the reward of learning begins to come back to you. There is no better feeling than when the light comes on in your head and you realize you are playing a recognizable song with your peers instead of just making noise with your horn. For me, getting to perform in front of a real audience was a huge rush. Apparently, it still is, because I am still doing it after 32 years.

Good luck and I hope you learn to love it as much as I have.

Learn more about this author, Dave Kemp.
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