Mouthpieces: The Mouthpiece Chooses the Player (as the Wand Chooses the Wizard)

Today I went shopping for a new mouthpiece for playing trumpet. I’d been playing on a Bach 1C for quite a while now, and was having trouble with the range requirements for lead jazz trumpet (I could only get a high C reliably) and I figured that it was probably time to try something different. I asked around for advice (thanks for the help y’all) and the general consensus was to go and try a bunch out.

So I went to a store and the people there gave me a bunch of new mouthpieces to try out, recommending that I get a “screamer”. I tried 4 or 5 Bach’s ranging from a 2C to a 7C. The 5C was the best fit for me, and the people then recommended a bunch of other brands to try other than Bach.

There were many variants of the same kind of rim and cup shape. The Schilke’s were difficult for me to play, and although I could hit a bunch of high notes, I didn’t like the sound. One of the mouthpieces I tried I could feel my lips pressing on the inside of the cup, which I thought was rather weird.

Eventually, they gave me a Dennis Wick 4C, which was the perfect match for me. I got an F# out (yay!) and could hit E’s and D’s fairly reliably, so I bought it.

It was kind of reminiscent of that one scene in the first Harry Potter book where Olivander tells Harry that the wand chooses the wizard. With all the selections available, the one mouthpiece stood out from all the rest, and when I used it, magic (figuratively speaking) happened (in my opinion).

This experience has called into question my preconceived notions about mouthpieces. Although I’ve tried out mouthpieces before, albeit generally for saxophone, I had gone into the experience already knowing which one I wanted, and I manipulated the results to fit my preconceived notions. For trying out the trumpet mouthpieces, I went into the experience knowing next to nothing, making it much more genuine and allowing me to find the best mouthpiece for me.

Maybe this has overarching meanings for other domains as well. Perhaps it is best to go into new situations with an open mind.