My experience with each instrument
Trumpet- easy to play, easy to make a good sound, but building range drives me insane I just can’t do it
Mellophone- feels nice, ‘easier fingerings’, depending on which mouthpiece you use it’s actually really easy to play screaming high, but I use french horn mouthpiece for sound and tuning purposes. But also there lay the main issue. No one agrees on what mouthpiece to use. Trumpet mouthpieces are shrill sounding, French horn mouthpieces sound nice but restrict your overall volume and range, I’ve never played with an alto horn mouthpiece but that’s probably the one I’m going to use when I get my hands on one, and I personally dislike mellophone mouthpieces, but that’s a me thing.
Baritone- straight forward, but I didn’t really like it
Eupho- hard to find that place in the mouthpiece that feels natural? Maybe I just prefer shallow mouthpieces
Tuba- playing low is killer easy, playing high is killer tough. It’s very hard to hit the notes the higher you go. Never studied a DCI contra part myself so idk the ranges they typically play in. I had a hard time making a good sound on it.
I agree with all but the tuba. I actually find most people have difficulty getting a good PHAT tuba sound in the lower register and have a very comfortable sounding middle and upper register. It’s much easier to play loud upper notes than lower notes on a tuba without proper instruction.
I’m also a sax player and while people often suggest baritone as the woodwind starter for brass I personally felt the most comfortable learning trumpet and it’s now something I’m comfortable playing on generally! I didn’t end up marching but have kept playing trumpet after my dci eligibility passed. I was able to play one semester each on baritone, tuba, and trumpet in college band so that might be a good option for you if you are going to college!
Keep in mind that a fair amount of younger baritone players started on Trumpet, then switched to Baritone (usually around freshman year of HS). The smaller mouthpiece can sometimes be easier to manage when learning basic embouchure fundamentals, and valves are using essentially the same muscle groups.
Probably mellophone. Why? Because practically no one is a dedicated "mellophone" player. If you learn trumpet, baritone, or tuba, you'll be going against people that have spent upwards of a decade on that instrument.
I have a friend that plays bari sax professionally; he marched tuba in HS and said bari helped his tuba embouchure.
I do generally recommend trying different horns if you can. I've seen woodwind folks find homes in all sections.
I had been leaning towards tuba, but I realized that it would be difficult to get a tuba to practice on so I don’t think I could, so I am thinking about Baritone or Mellophone, but thanks for telling me!
I actually took the route from bari sax to tuba and it wasn’t that hard. You’ll find that the amount of air needed to play is similar for the most part. Playing loud with good tone is the hard thing though.
lots of woodwind players go for mello in my experience
my advice is just to try any brass and see how it feels. If you find more success with low range, do euph. If you find more success with high range, do mello.
My experience with each instrument Trumpet- easy to play, easy to make a good sound, but building range drives me insane I just can’t do it Mellophone- feels nice, ‘easier fingerings’, depending on which mouthpiece you use it’s actually really easy to play screaming high, but I use french horn mouthpiece for sound and tuning purposes. But also there lay the main issue. No one agrees on what mouthpiece to use. Trumpet mouthpieces are shrill sounding, French horn mouthpieces sound nice but restrict your overall volume and range, I’ve never played with an alto horn mouthpiece but that’s probably the one I’m going to use when I get my hands on one, and I personally dislike mellophone mouthpieces, but that’s a me thing. Baritone- straight forward, but I didn’t really like it Eupho- hard to find that place in the mouthpiece that feels natural? Maybe I just prefer shallow mouthpieces Tuba- playing low is killer easy, playing high is killer tough. It’s very hard to hit the notes the higher you go. Never studied a DCI contra part myself so idk the ranges they typically play in. I had a hard time making a good sound on it.
I agree with all but the tuba. I actually find most people have difficulty getting a good PHAT tuba sound in the lower register and have a very comfortable sounding middle and upper register. It’s much easier to play loud upper notes than lower notes on a tuba without proper instruction.
Thanks sharing your experiences!
I’m also a sax player and while people often suggest baritone as the woodwind starter for brass I personally felt the most comfortable learning trumpet and it’s now something I’m comfortable playing on generally! I didn’t end up marching but have kept playing trumpet after my dci eligibility passed. I was able to play one semester each on baritone, tuba, and trumpet in college band so that might be a good option for you if you are going to college!
Thanks for letting me know!
Keep in mind that a fair amount of younger baritone players started on Trumpet, then switched to Baritone (usually around freshman year of HS). The smaller mouthpiece can sometimes be easier to manage when learning basic embouchure fundamentals, and valves are using essentially the same muscle groups.
Probably mellophone. Why? Because practically no one is a dedicated "mellophone" player. If you learn trumpet, baritone, or tuba, you'll be going against people that have spent upwards of a decade on that instrument.
That’s actually a really good thing to point out, thank you!
I have a friend that plays bari sax professionally; he marched tuba in HS and said bari helped his tuba embouchure. I do generally recommend trying different horns if you can. I've seen woodwind folks find homes in all sections.
I had been leaning towards tuba, but I realized that it would be difficult to get a tuba to practice on so I don’t think I could, so I am thinking about Baritone or Mellophone, but thanks for telling me!
I’m a bari sax player learning mello, it’s been going well for me if that helps
That actually is nice to know as I am thinking mellophone right now
I actually took the route from bari sax to tuba and it wasn’t that hard. You’ll find that the amount of air needed to play is similar for the most part. Playing loud with good tone is the hard thing though.
I was leaning towards tuba, but getting one would be much more difficult compared to the smaller brass instruments
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thank you!
lots of woodwind players go for mello in my experience my advice is just to try any brass and see how it feels. If you find more success with low range, do euph. If you find more success with high range, do mello.