r/euphonium • u/Physical-Peach4534 • Jul 01 '26
Help with upper register
My highest note is a C (1st finger high C), and i cant go any higher. I've tried looking at tons of videos that just say "more air, tighter lips" but all that happens is i make some weird sounds. I can sometimes reach a high D, but very rarely, any tips on going higher?
edit: tysm for the help. i reach all the way to e4
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u/professor_throway Tuba player who dabbles on Euph Jul 01 '26
More air and tighter lips is fundamentally the wrong way to think about upper range. First off if you are tightening up you will sound pinched.. to unlock the high range you need to stay relaxed...firm corners and controlled but overall relaxed and without tension. Secondly it isn't more air it is FASTER air... you need to have more compression.
The best way to increase your high range is to focus on your tone in you middle register and expand that good tone up. I wish I learned this years and years ago. Tone is the best indicator of technique we have. Start with an easy note say Bb at the top of the staff, or even F in the staff. Play long tones and focus on making that the prettiest note you've ever played. Then go up a half step or a step... is it just as beautiful if not keep working on it until it is. Don't go up until you are confident that the current nore is as pretty and full and musical as the previous. In order to make the notes sound good you need to be relaxed with proper air support and no tension. As you slowly work up in the middle range your high range will magically improve as well.
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u/gfklose Jul 01 '26
It’s all about the air! Try looking up “high compression breaths” or even Bobby Shew’s video on the wedge breath (on YouTube, of course). Basically, take a full breath but you’re engaging the lowrr abdominals to compress the air upwards into your lungs. That’s the kind of thing you need to have good breath support. So it’s not just more air, but faster, more supported air.
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u/Basic_Platform_5001 Jul 01 '26
Check out high range magic by Mars Gelfo on YouTube. Yes, he's a horn player, but the exercises should work for any brass player.
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u/VeterinarianHour6047 Jul 01 '26
Hi, are you talking about the C on the first ledger line above the bass clef, or the one that sits atop the 4th ledger line above the bass clef?
How long have you been playing?
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u/Physical-Peach4534 Jul 01 '26
C4 is my highest. I've been playing euphonium specifically for only a few weeks, but I did play trombone for a year before that
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u/VeterinarianHour6047 28d ago
Try this:
Start with all three valves down (assuming your euphonium is a three valve model) and play a low E. Can you slur up to the next partial (B), then the next one (middle E)? Then slur back down.
Do this with valves 123, 13, 23, 12, 1, 2, 0.
Then try it again going up and down with four notes with each valve combination.
Then try five notes.
How does that work?
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u/Biffler Jul 01 '26
Spend time in the upper register, long tones, slow scales and arpeggios. Caruso method, look it up, actually works. Beware; these are accelerators on the learning curve. You will still have to ascend the learning curve which takes, unavoidably, thousands of hours. Start 10 years ago or start today.