The “Kelly 7c” – A Good Mouthpiece For Playing With Braces
Best Trumpet Mouthpiece For Braces
The Kelly 7c is a good mouthpiece for braces because it is much softer than regular brass mouthpieces (click here to check pricing at Amazon).
So, why wold we want something softer? some of you might be asking…
….well, normally we don’t want that, but there is nothing normal about playing the trumpet while having braces. Come to think of it, there’s actually nothing normal about trumpet playing in general 🙂
Anyway, think about it, You have a very hard obejct inside your lips (the braces) and then you have a heavy and sharp object outside your lips (the mouthpiece)…
…and your poor soft lip tissue just have to stay there in between, trying to do its job of vibrating, to the best of its ability.
A Good Trumpet Mouthpiece For Braces Is One With a Softer Surface
A good trumpet mouthpiece for braces is one that has a bit of “give” to its surface. Meaning it is softer, more alive and not dead like metal.
By playing on a plastic mouthpiece you are not smashing your poor lip tissue between two hard objects, like you are if you played on a normal brass mouthpiece. This alone could be what separates a band practice session ,with high pain and discomfort, from a fun and constructive one.
I highly recommend the Kelly mouthpieces for this. Sure you will found several different brands, but I think Kelly is the best one for this.
You can click here to find the Kelly C7 on Amazon.
And the 7c is a good rim diameter as well, suitable for most trumpet players.
So let’s look at some other tips besids finding a good mouthpiece for playing trumpet with braces….
Some Other Helpful Tips For Playing Trumpet With Braces
Playing With Braces Tip#1 – Short but often-
You should make your practice sessions very short, and instead have several of them during the day. Doing it like this will help you avoid hurting your lips as they get freequent rests and thus are able to recover.
Also, if you divide your practice sessions in to several small sessions, you will never play using tired embouchure muscles. This is good because playing when tired will almost guarantee using too much mouthpiece pressure…
…which leads me to the next point
Playing With Braces Tip #2 -Reduce mouthpiece pressure-
Practice a lot of soft notes. Soft and long. This will help you develop better control over your chops and in addition to this, you will learn how to use your embouchure in a more efficient manner…
…meaning having much sound coming out of the bell with as little energy input as possible. This is done by practicing softly and really concentrating on your sound quality.
For more help on learning how to play efficiently as well as reducing mouthpiece pressure, please go read these two articles…
Playing With Braces Tip #3 -If it hurts, STOP!-
You should never keep going if you feel sharp physical pain somewhere in your lips when you are playing. If you do, stop!
Rest for a couple of hourse and then try again. If you still feel pain, stop for the day and try again the following day. This is important because it is possible to damage yourself if you try to push through the pain.
What to do when feeling pain:
- Stop and rest
- Try again a few hours later, playing with as little mouthpiece pressure as possible
Playing With Braces Tip #4 -Consider using covers-
A lot of trumpeters have had great success using covers to help protect their lips. The Morgan Bumper covers is formed from soft, pliable medical grade polyvinylchloride, that was chosen for its flexibility and adaptability at body temperature…
…these will protect your lips from being squeezed between the braces and your trumpet mouthpiece.
Playing With Braces Tip #5 -Use a more puckered lip setting-
What do I mean “puckered”?
Well, it is a slight forward movement and inward movement of your chops. Kind of like when kissing someone, but not that much. And you should still have firm embouchure corners so it’s not fully like a kiss 🙂
Now, I’m not saying you should change your embouchure completely here. Changing once embouchure can take a long time, but I am saying that no matter what chop setting you are playing with today…
… you can always try to pucker your lips just a bit more when playing.
This will create more of a cushion under your mouthpiece and that will help protect your lips. As an additional bonus, did you know that players who play with more of a pucker has, in general, better endurance? …
…yup, it’s true!
Playing With Braces Tip #6 -Use a good air support-
Using a good air support will help in so many ways. It will help you play the trumpet without too much mouthpiece pressure, it will help your lips vibrate better and it will for sure pay huge dividends if you have to play when having braces.
The Best Trumpet Mouthpiece For Braces Conclusion
Ok so to sum it up, I think the best mouthpiece for playing trumpet with braces is the Kelly 7c plastic mouthpiece, and you can click here to read other real user reviews on Amazon. There are some trumpet players with braces giving feedback over there as well.
In addition, the Kelly 7C is great of outdoor playing, when it’s cold outside, even for trumpeters without braces. So don’t throw it away the day you finally get to stop using your braces, because the Kelly 7c might come in handy again…
…on some cold gig day.
Alright, I hope you found it informative. As always, keep practicing and remember to have fun while doing it.
P.S. If you want even more tips on playing with braces, you can also check out the article can you play trumpet with braces, and how to do it.
