Just today a band instructor taking over our band for a while and after practicing concet songs we discussed about highest and lowest note. He really prooved to the whole band that even a tuba and trombone can hit even higher then most trumpeteers usually do and that trumpet can hit what low notes that trombonist normally should. The instructor took a trumpet and played a note, damn high, checked with the tuner and it was 1 note more then the flutes highest note. (7/8 ledger lines on the treble clef) When trumpetist assumed that High B flat was already humanly impossible. Played a low note and hit 1 ledger line below the bass clef. (Lower then common notes for bone). He played the trombone and manage to hit like the top line of the treble clef and he admitted it was not the highest. Very mindset-changing that guy was, about having no highest/lowest note on brass instruments

*When trumpetist assumed that High B flat was already humanly impossible.*

That`s the first time I`ve heard that as an assumption...although I`ve read the old "arban" books where he talks about "proper range" or some such thing.

You may have heard of Mark Van Cleve(sp?). He is a trumpet player who allegedly can play a quintuple high C. He had a recording of it on his site.

I frequent www.trumpetherald.com, where quad C is discussed. All this to merely emphasize my surprise to hear of someone thinking that a high Bb is humanly impossible!

Thanks,

Tim

The physics of a brass instrument make it possible to play infinitely high (theoretically). The highest note ever recorded with enough overtones to be a real note on trumpet was, I believe, a G above double high C. There is, however, a lowest note. This lowest note is the first partial, and while the horn can make lower noises, they are not because of the instrument resonating at that frequency. The lowest note on a three valve trumpet would be a pedal Gb. Anything lower than that is just the person making noises into the instrument.

For trombone i`ve been able to play the higher F on the treble cleff and seeing as i`m only young i am sure that people could play much higher

I play trombone, and the highest note I`ve ever played is the F on the top line treble clef. The lowest note I`ve ever played is pedal E. I`ve never heard of a trumpet going that low or high. All the dolphins in the ocean probably heard that, as well as every bat on Earth. That`s kinda scary....

I am an experienced trombone and I know that on most common trombones exp. Bach they are limited to the High C which is one octave lower than the quiniple C that the Trumpet players were talking about. On the other hand some trombones have the possibility to reach the Quiniple E or even F(For Trombones we have a lower C that makes this our quiniple) those E`s and F`s are in the same octave of the trumpet quiniple C. So basically any trombone can go almost as high as any trumpet. Tubas on the other hand go lower than any other instrument and truly have no bottom! The human ear can not hear that low and the notes sound the same that`s why we have bearings when we play them. There`s no point of making ourselves go lower than what is humanly possible to hear. If you had the world`s loosest lips you could possibly hit 10 octaves starting very low.

Most people think that the contra bass clarinet is the lowest instrument in the band. This is true in most cases except for Harvard. They have what is known as a sub contra bass tuba. It takes three people to play it. Two to hold it and one to blow and move the valves. This thing theoretically can go so low that no one could ever hear it. I would love to get my hands on it to play sometime. But there are only two known to exist. And if you think you have one, you`re wrong. These things would cost more than all the instruments in a band put together.

Cory, I am a trombone music education major, and I have to disagree with your post. How can the brand of any brass instrument limit your range?

Basically some instruments that are inferrior...a.k.a. starting instruments are made with thinner metal inferrior metal and with bells that are angled differently. Also inferrior trombonemakers don`t tend to care about minute dings in the slide when making them. These minute dings will slow your air and drop your tone down abit...nothing your tuning slide cannot fix but on a professional trombone that would not be the case...so in layman`s terms...some trombones are better than others.

The F which is 2 octaves above middle C is the highest I ever go. I can play higher, but I have never encountered anything higher in any literature for tenor trombone. It would be impractical to play as high as you say because in that range the partials are already so close together.

That F that I`m talking about is actually an octave and a perfect 4th above middle C.

Id have to agree with this statement

"""The F which is 2 octaves above middle C is the highest I ever go. I can play higher, but I have never encountered anything higher in any literature for tenor trombone. It would be impractical to play as high as you say because in that range the partials are already so close together.

After you get much past c above middle c you can play scales with out moving the slide and it truly becomes difficult to stay intune above the next higer f.
but if you really need to go beyond that try sleeping with the neighbors wife. that alwayse helps me.

I am a sophmore trumpeter from Godwin Heights High School and i currently can hit the Triple G at times of the week. What proficiencies should i be doing to extract better tone and relaxation quality.

Ahh... a fellow vietnamese brass player. Not many of those around.

the highest i have heard is two octaves above Bb thats sits on bass clef staff but i might have heard a D or an F above that