Hi, I've posted on here before about this for other reasons, but here goes. I changed my trumpet teacher last January (2006) [up until then i had had a horn player as a teacher and it was suggested that it would be more beneficial to change]. I told my new teacher I wanted to music college, and he said that I wouldn't get much further technique-wise if my embouchure stayed the way it was (I was basically playing on the side of my mouth), so we made moves to change it - the new embouchure felt much better and easier, and it looked as if I was adjusting quite easily at first.

October of 2006 it was time to make uni/college applications, and at that time I was by no way near to being a good enough standard to audition for music college, so I applied for uni for the sake of it, and now a year and half later or so and I'm still no where near music college auditionee standard, so I'm going to study music at York from this October - so now I'm thinking maybe a postgrad is the way to go.

I don't know, going to music college and playing trumpet professionally was (and still is) my dream, but it just seems as though it's just not going to happen, the prospect of this makes me really upset. I have so much tension still on high notes (high notes for me being a G, yes it's depressing), and I don't even see how I'll be of any decent standard by the time postgrad time comes, let alone be as good as people applying for the MA who've been at music college for three years!

I really don't want to give up, because playing the trumpet professionally in any capacity has been my dream for a v long time, and I just hate the fact that this embouchure change isn't going so well - does anyone have any experience of people changing and embouchure, then never getting their range back ever?

Sorry for the long post, I'm just feeling really downhearted about the whole thing, I don't have a clue what else I'd want to do, and it just feels like the one thing I ever wanted to do is being taken away from me.

Thanks to anyone who replies

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Have you come across the Balanced Embouchure? It may sound too good to be true but a lot of people recommend it and I am finding it fantastic. There is also a support forum which you could have a look at to give you more idea.

Good luck, and don't despair!

1) Not everyone playing professionally went to music college.

2) A minority of conservatoire trained trumpeters get full time orchestral jobs.

3) Music graduates do better than most arts graduates in getting employment (according to my professor).