How to Finger Faster on Trumpet

Sometimes our fingers can feel sluggish or “in knots” when needing to finger faster on the trumpet.

Aside from talking about equipment and good valve oils, there are some key factors that will definitely speed up your fingerings and make playing faster music a little more effortless.

Tips to finger faster

Watch your right hand position!
- Finger tips on top of the valves
- Pinky out of the ring – that ring is only meant to be used when holding the trumpet in one hand.
- Where's your thumb?
Slam down the valves!
- If you only press down half way or not all the way you will not get a clear tone, and it will make your fingerings sluggish.
- There are plenty of finger strengthening devices available to especially get the third finger stronger. (Tip – You can get ones that guitar players use. Find these in any music shop or on Amazon.)
Want to play fast?
- It's actually harder to play something slower, so this will be a good test.
- Start at a really slow speed, and only increase the metronome after you have mastered your current tempo.
- Pulse the music (lightly accent with your breath on the downbeats) to feel the big beats.
BONUS TIP: You really need to feel the smaller beats (subdivisions) so that your timing is accurate.
- Your metronome is your best friend when it comes to this, along with your own feeling of the big and small beats. (I go into this concept more with my membership site students and private students.)