Your First Trumpet Lip Slurs: Two Notes, Same Valves

Written C4 and G4 use the same open fingering — no valves pressed — on a B♭ trumpet. A first lip slur connects those two pitches without a gap in the sound or a new tongue attack on the second note. Your fingers stay in the same valve state while the sound changes. That small task gives you three separate things to notice: the target pitch, the connection, and the timing.

Start here only if you can already play both notes comfortably with your teacher. This lesson helps you read and hear the transition, compare it with a tongued version, and practice a short model with planned rests. Bring the printable Two Notes, Same Valves to your lesson so your teacher can demonstrate the connection before you try it.

1. Check two secure notes before joining them

C4 means written middle C, on the short ledger line below the treble staff. G4 is the G on the second staff line from the bottom. The octave numbers matter: this lesson stays between those two notes. A higher C elsewhere on the page would change the task.

Ask your teacher to hear each note separately. Can you recognize which one sounded? Can you start either note comfortably without searching through several pitches? If one target is still uncertain, work on that note with your teacher first. When unsure, have your teacher name and repeat each target: an open fingering alone does not identify the note you heard.

Separate targets: written C4 on its ledger line and G4 on the second staff line. Each whole note and each whole-measure rest lasts four beats.

The whole notes above are a reading model, not a required endurance test. Your teacher can shorten the separate-note check or demonstrate it while you listen. Read the four beats away from the instrument if sustaining that long distracts from a comfortable sound. The important prerequisite is having two familiar targets available.

Before playing, point to the two noteheads: C4 on its ledger line, then G4 on the second staff line. Their positions name the pitches.

2. One valve state can produce more than one note

Open means no valve is pressed. It does not mean one fixed pitch. Yamaha’s trumpet fingering chart shows open fingerings for written C4 and G4. Use that standard open option throughout these examples; there is no reason to introduce an alternate fingering here.

All three valves remain released for both targets. The circles show valve state, not finger placement or internal tubing.

Your vibrating lips interact with the air inside the trumpet. That air column responds especially readily at certain frequencies, called resonances. With the valves unchanged, the player can move between these available pitch levels; C4 and G4 are our two targets. This is why the fingers can stay still while the note changes. The UNSW brass-acoustics introduction explains how the lips and air column work together.

Valves do have a different job: they change the instrument’s operating tube length. Yamaha’s explanation of trumpet sound production describes that mechanism. For this lesson, separate two ideas: changing the valve state can change the available pitches, and an unchanged state can still support more than one pitch.

You do not need to calculate resonances to practice the pair. The useful observation is concrete: your teacher can play C4, then G4, while all valves remain open. Watch the valves and listen to the notes as two independent checks. Still fingers alone cannot tell you whether the correct pitch arrived.

A valve-change slur and a lip slur can both connect different pitches. The special feature here is the fixed fingering: the player changes between open-valve targets. If you press a valve while trying this pair, you have changed the exercise even if the result seems connected. Return to the open-state model with your teacher rather than searching for a new combination.

Name the distance without adding notes

C–D–E–F–G spans five letter names, counting both endpoints. C4 up to G4 is a perfect fifth, seven half steps. Puget Sound’s interval reference gives that half-step distance; Intervals: the 5th helps you count the letters and recognize the staff shape.

C4–G4 spans a perfect fifth: five letter names and seven half steps. Only the two endpoints are played.

Counting five letters is a naming task. It does not tell you to make five sounds, press five valves, or take five beats. Here there are two notes and four sounding beats. Say the target names while tapping the quarter-note pulse, leaving room for the full silent bar afterward.

3. Read a pitch-change slur, not a tie

A tie joins adjacent notes of the same pitch into one longer duration. A slur groups notes to be connected. In our two-note pair, the pitches differ, so the curve is a slur. Puget Sound’s dots-and-ties lesson makes this distinction.

Bar 1 holds C4 for four beats. Bar 2 changes from C4 to G4 on beat 3 while connecting the sound.

Ties vs Slurs includes a useful extra trap: a slur can begin and end on the same pitch if another pitch lies between them. Look at the whole group. The C4–G4–C4 return cell later in this lesson contains three notes under one slur; matching outer Cs do not turn it into a tie.

That sheet uses keyboard language to illustrate attacks. For trumpet, keep the notation distinction and ask your teacher to demonstrate its instrumental meaning. A slurred pitch change still has a precise arrival time. “Connected” does not erase the second note’s rhythm or permit you to arrive whenever the transition happens.

Try the reading without playing: point to beat 3 in both bars above. In the tied bar you are still hearing C. In the slurred bar you should now hear G. This is a quick way to check whether you understood the mark before adding physical coordination.

For the second bar of the comparison above, say “C, hold, G, hold” over four even taps. The first bar instead holds C through all four beats. Practice the following rest bar when you reach the tongued-and-slurred comparison below.

4. Compare tongued and slurred versions with your teacher

Ask for the same C4–G4 rhythm twice: first with both notes tongued, then under one slur. Keep the pitches, tempo, and valve state the same. For this elementary slur, your teacher starts the group and connects to G without a fresh tongue attack there. Listen for G to arrive on beat 3 without a gap in the sound and without a fresh tongue attack. The pitch changes, but the sounding group continues. Two correct notes separated by silence do not yet meet this task.

Compare sounding bars 1 and 3: the pitches and rhythm match; bar 3 connects them under one slur. Bars 2 and 4 are silent.

Yamaha artist Jeff Conner’s teaching advice includes contrasting tongued and slurred passages and working in small segments with a clear goal. Our comparison uses that teaching idea with an original two-note cell. Let your teacher decide the physical cue that helps you connect it. In this labeled comparison, the first sounding bar asks for two tongue attacks. Unmarked trumpet music elsewhere does not automatically call for detached notes.

Check pitch, connection, and valve state separately; one correct feature does not establish the others.

A synthesized reference can supply sounding pitches and rhythm. It cannot show you how a trumpet player coordinates a lip slur, and smooth electronic playback is not proof of trumpet technique. The handout’s in-house piano model plays the sounding pitches and rhythm at 60 quarter-note beats per minute. Use it to remember the targets and count the rests; your teacher demonstrates the trumpet connection.

You can also listen while your teacher hides the valve hand. Identify whether the second pitch was G and whether the sound connected without a gap or new tongue attack, then look at the hand separately. This keeps the listening question distinct from a visual clue. Agree on the answer together rather than scoring an uncertain sound alone.

If the versions seem alike, ask your teacher to repeat the tongued bar, then the slurred bar, at the same tempo. Listen specifically to G’s arrival on beat 3.

When a piano or tuner uses different names

A modern B♭ trumpet sounds a major second below its written part. Written C4 sounds B♭3; written G4 sounds F4. The transposition reference hosted by San José State University lists B♭ trumpet among instruments sounding a major second lower.

The modern B♭ trumpet sounds a major second below its written part. These are two names for the same sounding pair.

Confirm the tuner’s display mode before interpreting its letters. If it shows concert pitch, B♭ for your written C is expected. Do not change your target just to make an unfamiliar display read C. Once the naming convention is clear, return to the sound and the slur; this lesson does not require a transposition drill.

5. Connect one comfortable C4–G4 pair

Use the upward cell below after your teacher approves the separate notes and demonstrates the transition. Read C for two beats, then G for two beats, then count four silent beats. The upper target arrives on beat 3. Keep all valves open, and use your teacher’s established way of starting the first note. On beat 3, change pitch while continuing the sounding group; do not insert silence before G.

C4 begins on beat 1 and G4 on beat 3 under one slur. Both last two beats; the next bar is four beats of rest.

You can choose a slower tempo while keeping two beats per half note. If you stop to discuss the attempt, begin again with a fresh count-in.

After one attempt, describe what happened before trying again. “I heard C, then another pitch before G” is useful information. So is “G arrived after beat 3.” Ask your teacher to choose the next step: another demonstration, a separate-note reminder, or another short attempt. More repetitions are not automatically a better answer.

Try the reverse as a separate task, rather than assuming downward will feel identical. Begin on the already secure G4 and connect to C4. The finger state remains open. Listen for a recognizable lower target and the same two-beat allocation, with silence beginning at the barline.

Reverse the direction: G4 on beat 1, C4 on beat 3, then four beats of rest. Keep the same rhythm and open valves.

If either direction becomes uncomfortable or the secure notes stop responding as expected, stop the attempt and ask your teacher to reassess it. Keep the assignment within these two familiar pitches. A first lip-slur lesson is not a test of how high you can go or how long you can continue.

Separate a target problem from a timing problem

Suppose the upper note is recognizable as G, but it arrives after your third tap. You have information about timing, even if the connection sounded smooth. Suppose it arrives exactly on the third tap but your teacher identifies a different pitch. You have a target question. Write the observation before asking for a correction; neither result proves that you need a particular physical adjustment.

A third possibility is two correct, well-timed notes with a clear new tongue attack between them. That can fit the tongued comparison while missing the slurred task. Ask your teacher to play those versions again. Keeping the categories separate helps you hear what changed when you make the next attempt, rather than calling every difference a wrong note.

A fourth result is the correct G arriving on time after a brief silence. That meets the pitch and arrival checks but misses continuity. Mark the join as unresolved even if you did not hear a fresh tongue attack; a quiet restart is still a restart.

6. Keep the rests in the music

The Two Notes, Same Valves handout puts the open-valve targets, upward and downward cells, and teacher checks on one page. Its comparison checks pitch target, connected sound without a gap or a new tongue attack, and unchanged valves. Your teacher marks each check Yes or Not yet. Answer its small reading question too: a curve joining different pitches here is a slur, not a tie.

The four-bar model: C4–G4, rest, G4–C4, rest. Each sounding bar has its own slur; count all sixteen quarter-note beats.

Use The Rest Family if the hanging whole-measure rest is unfamiliar. Here, every bar is 4/4, so that rest occupies four quarter-note beats. Keep counting through silence rather than jumping straight to the next printed note. Puget Sound’s duration lesson explains these values in 4/4.

The two-beat regions each represent one held note. G begins on beat 3; Bar 2 is silent. The separate lane distinguishes pitch changes from tongue attacks.

These rest bars are score content, not a universal physical recovery prescription; your teacher may add more time.

The full rest bar is a useful place to notice your result. If you need more time to discuss it, stop the exercise and talk. Then give a fresh count-in before the next attempt. A lesson can pause; a performance of the written model should keep its silent bars intact.

Before the four-bar model, count in for one complete bar at the teacher’s chosen pace. Point to bar 1 as its first beat arrives. After the upward connection, continue counting through bar 2, then point to the G that begins bar 3. This silent rehearsal catches a common reading error: treating the empty-looking rest bar as space to skip.

After bar 4, the example has ended. Choose with your teacher whether to discuss it or begin again with another count-in. There is no printed repeat directing you to loop continuously. If you stop to talk during a rest, simply acknowledge the stop and start a new attempt; the discussion is part of the lesson, not part of the score’s measured duration.

Change one reading detail at a time

Only after the basic model is comfortable, ask about this delayed start. Rest on beat 1, begin C4 on beat 2, and reach G4 on beat 3. The C is now a quarter note. The durations add up to four beats: one beat of rest, one beat of C4, and two beats of G4. Count “1, 2, 3, 4,” beginning C on 2 and G on 3. This is a timing variation within the same pitch pair, not a request to play higher.

C4 begins on beat 2; G4 begins on beat 3. The initial quarter rest belongs before the slurred group.

A teacher-approved return cell adds one more change: C4–G4–C4 under one slur, with quarter–half–quarter values. G begins on beat 2 and C returns on beat 4. The matching outer C’s do not cancel the middle G. Name all three note events before attempting the group.

Although the first and last notes are both C4, the intervening G4 makes this a three-note slurred group, not one held C.

Choose one of these cells with your teacher and name its exact task before you start. Keep the other cells available as reading examples rather than treating the whole page as a continuous workout.

Read the cell, hear your teacher’s model, then try it and count its rest bar.

Keep the half-note model as your reference when you compare variations. In the delayed-start cell, the first pitch has less time; in the return cell, there are two transitions instead of one. Those are different reading demands. You can understand both on paper and still choose to play only the original model today. Let the sound and your teacher’s observation determine the playing assignment.

7. Bring one question to the next lesson

Finish with a reading check: in the example below, which sounding bar asks for the lip slur? Explain your choice before playing. Both use the same downward pitches and note values, so pitch names alone will not answer it. Find the curve and its endpoints, then check the rest bars.

Bar 3 is the slurred sounding bar. Bar 1 is the tongued comparison; both change pitch on beat 3.

Write one observation with a location: “In the upward cell, G arrived after beat 3,” or “I kept the valves open but heard a separate attack.” These are sample descriptions, not diagnoses. Ask your teacher to listen and choose the next adjustment. Keep a useful question even when the attempt was successful: “Can you hear the same connection in both directions?”

Bring an observation about the target, the connection, or the arrival time, with its location in the score.

The next step is a clearer version of this small connection. A Tissimo teacher can compare the tongued and slurred pair with you in a live lesson, check the two targets, and help you choose an appropriate next exercise. Keep the printed rests and bring the question you wrote.

Before your next lesson, record the cell and direction you tried, the pitch that arrived, and whether it arrived on time without a gap or a new tongue attack. Bring one unresolved observation.

Free worksheets for this lesson

• Two Notes, Same Valves — open-valve C4/G4, short slurred cells with full rest bars, and teacher checks.
• Ties vs Slurs — compare the curves and identify their different jobs; apply the notation distinction to your trumpet part.
• Intervals: the 5th — count C through G and recognize the fifth’s staff shape.
• The Rest Family — identify the full-measure rest and keep silence in the count.

Sources

• Fix It: Trumpet Teaching Tips — Jeff Conner, Yamaha
• Trumpet fingering chart — Yamaha
• How does the trumpet generate sound? — Yamaha
• Brass instrument acoustics: an introduction — UNSW
• Dots and Ties — University of Puget Sound
• How to Identify Perfect, Major, and Minor Intervals — University of Puget Sound
• Durational Symbols — University of Puget Sound
• Clefs and Transposition — Hunsberger and Ernst, hosted by San José State University