Writing For The Trumpet Section Like John Williams

In this episode we explore how to write for a trumpet section including the ranges and voicings of chords within the section. I demonstrate how John Williams uses open consonances such as perfect 4ths and 5ths in his melodies and Trumpet Section voicings. Included are examples from film scores such as Jurassic Park, Star Wars and Superman. Also, we look at the similarities between Aaron Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man and the Williams Star Wars theme in range and style.
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[@usamahBlackLove]

How about writing for the Horn in the manner of John Williams? That episode if you did it would be EPIC!!!!!

[@theempire00]

Yesss 😍😍😍😍😍

[@katiekilgore6918]

I'm a trumpet player, and I absolutely love John Williams' melodies for the trumpet! They're so powerful and beautiful. This was a great video. :)

[@tstthomason]

"...goes up to a C6" Trumpet Player: "Bullcrap, watch me"

[@ihH6053]

Not suprised

[@timotejbernat462]

I had the exact same thought lol

[@solaribass2491]

As a trumpet player, I can confirm.

[@TheRTM]

I don’t understand, are you saying that the trumpet can be played beyond or higher than a C6, or that it can’t get that high? (II’m not a trumpet player I play piano)

[@timotejbernat462]

The Road To Mars You can definitely play higher than that given enough chops, that's just the generally accepted comfortable range . Trumpet players are notorious for showing off, that's the joke here. Trumpet players like to try to one up one another by seeing who can play highest

[@gabrielvictorrusso5931]

Besides fun you makes this accesible for people like me who take music seriously but could not go to the music university. So now at night I study by myself. Your videos are like gold to me

[@cameronplaystrumpet6777]

As a trumpet player, this is honestly the one John Williams video I didn’t need to watch, but I still very much appreciated it

[@Compassiron1]

Dude, i’m watching this a year or so later. So grateful to live in a time with this media and tech. We can make realistic orchestral sounds at home, we can share it on a video and most of all we have people like you who impart great knowledge, theory and tips. I’m getting a college education for free on youtube from people like you. This rules. Thanks very much. I hope this makes you some money (or at least you receive karmic payback).

[@michaelbielas9505]

John Williams played trumpet somewhere early on so he was aware of the trumpet's harmonic series used for fanfares and such. Great video, BTW.

[@Euphman]

Helpful vid, Rick! One trumpet technique I really like from Williams is using trumpets in parallel harmony during runs as an effect. One I'm thinking of in particular is from Jurassic Park in the "Journey to the Island" cue. He just walks it up the scale, but with trumpets at a medium volume the effect is terrific.

[@garyleming3820]

This is a good intro to trumpet writing, but it has unleashed a whole flood of memories of bad writing by keyboard players. Trumpet writing must be really crazy for keyboard players especially. One has to be conscious of breathing, articulation, range, balance, and a host of other issues. A lot of arranging instructors recommend that you learn a brass instrument, a stringed instrument, a woodwind, etc to at least an intermediate level so you get a feel for what is going on. The worst arranging I have ever played is cruise ship arranging done by keyboard players who obviously never studied, much less thought about what it feels like to have a trumpet on your face for hours on end. Stuff like 20 bars without a place to breathe, 80 bars no rest, phrases that start in the low register that go on and on then suddenly jump into the upper register, really awkward articulations that don't work, and I can't even tell you why they don't work, they just don't. The other extreme is really boring, easy stuff because on the last chart he got an earful from someone like me. If you really want to do it right, make friends with a lead trumpet player or trombone player that at least has an arranging class under his belt and get him to mark articulations, breath marks, etc. and let you know if the lines are too long and if the phrasing works. Whatever you do, don't ask a sax player! They don't have range and endurance issues to the extent the brass do and you can write more complex stuff for a sax section. Also, don't write endless figures doubling what the rhythm section does, stuff like the intro to "Stand By Me" "doo doo dat dat, doo doo dat dat" or endless long tones trying to emulate string pads. Adds nothing, is boring, wastes chops needlessly and keeps me from my chess game on my cell phone. I won't play them anyway. I've heard that the great players in Hollywood use their pencils liberally to edit to make parts playable. "But it sounded good on Finale!" doesn't cut it. Good luck!

[@cman-bw5tn]

I wish this was higher in the comments. This is spot on, I wish Rick had at least touched on this. While he kind of touched on some examples of good trumpet harmonies, he didn't touch on the physical mechanics of the instrument. Really, every instrument is an athletic, human activity. Trumpet especially. The problem is the sample libraries don't have this limitation, so it's easy for people to forget. It helps if you step back and say "is this an electronic piece that will never be performed by people" or "is this meant to be played live". The second problem is people treat "the composer" like some God among men, like everyone is Beethoven. That era is long over buddy. Everyone isn't Wynton, Philip Smith, Bud Herseth, or Maynard either. Gotta know who you are writing for

[@freezatron]

you've inspired me to play in new ways Rick, I thought I understood music theory before I started watching your channel haha :D you've expanded my circumference of ignorance hugely ;) :D I've even started playing piano now, finally, after 30+ years on guitar, thank you :)

[@steelfistIII]

I thought i some what understood theory also, LOL, until i started watching his channel, and realized i knew nothing, hahahaha....

[@esktremorz4179]

Hi rick- Can you make a video of how to Orchestrate and write for the Saxophone Family? I know not many composers utilize the full potential of the family, and I'd really love to hear your insight on writing for the Classical saxophone section.

[@richardwhite6054]

Really looking forward to your getting through all the instruments. You are a major help for so many of us - I'll get your book. Thanks

[@Trolologram]

As a trumpet player, I can personally confirm all of this. Open 4ths and 5ths on brass are absolutely beautiful and many composers get into the habit of choosing just any old key they feel and the brass always sound less good in D and E major and things that are farther away from Bb. Usable, But just never the same effect

[@ZERMELOmusic]

Looking forward to this series Rick!

[@ChrisCastellanos1]

Great video! Next (and more importantly) should be writing for the HORN!

[@udbhavseth799]

Hey Rick! Really love these John Williams vids. I've nearly watched your entire film scoring playlist! Do you think you can also make a video on the basics of working with DAWs and VSTs, especially with reference to writing orchestral scores on them? That'd be a great help. Thanks!

[@CalJennings]

I love this! Trumpet (cornet) was my main instrument and John Williams and John Barry are my favorite music composers. I guess I should mention Richard Rogers, too.

[@frankspears4597]

Excellent Rick

[@AynenMakino]

Very useful video! I hope you'll also cover all the other instruments in time. I'd like to also see things included like how long the average wind instrument can play before needing to breathe, how softly higher notes can be played, what the needed loudness is to make a tone in the first place, and other such human elements easily overlooked when using samples.

[@katiekilgore6918]

AynenMakino In my experience playing music as a trumpeter, I would say you could rarely go wrong with having a breath bark every four to six bars. If the piece is at a faster tempo, you might be able to get away with longer intervals without a breath. The opposite is true for slower pieces. If there's a lot of long, connected playing without an opportunity for a breath, then you might want to pass the melody back and forth between members of the section, that way each person can get a chance to catch a breath. In terms of dynamics in the upper register, a good enough player can play a high C at piano or softer. Your average player will probably struggle with that, though. I don't think I've ever seen dynamics softer than PP, but I know they exist. I would advise you to not write softer than PP or maybe PPP. The same goes for the loud end of the spectrum. I think the loudest dynamic I've ever seen has either been FFF or FFFF. For both extremely soft and extremely loud dynamics, you should be aware that the tone might be hard to control. For soft playing on the trumpet, it can be hard to keep a strong consistent tone while not playing too loud. For extremely loud playing, it can be hard to keep the tone from becoming too spread out and uncontrolled. On the trumpet, playing with great tone is always the goal, no matter what register and dynamic the person is playing in. It all depends of the level of player you're dealing with.

[@AynenMakino]

Katie Kilgore that's really key information when composing for any instrument! Thanks for taking the time to respond at length!

[@katiekilgore6918]

AynenMakino You're more than welcome. :)

[@alexfeliciano2151]

when you think of a section needing to take a breath you don't need to worry because most high school/professional bands stagger breath and some musicians can circular-breath. For the range, it really depends on the player and the tendencies of the instruments. for example, a Bb above the staff for a trumpet tends to be flat and with me, I tend to get even flatter the softer I get. but a B above the staff is very sharp. I would suggest finding a list of the tendencies of the instruments. Also, remember that the basic rule is the softer and higher you get the sharper you get **I was talking in Bb pitch**

[@AdamFBuchanan]

I just learned so much. Your a God of giving Rick. thank you. As a note though the trumpet virtual instrument was a little loud and got a little piecing to my brain by the end of the episode.

[@Tmidiman]

Thanks Rick! I know I've asked you about writing horn sections. Really appreciate the lesson.

[@pigbagable]

Nice one thanks Rick. At 0.43 you state that the range of the trumpet is from F#3 to C6 on the piano. This is not quite correct - you must have meant F# to C on the trumpet which is E up to Bb on the piano. Although of course most good trumpet players can play above this. Great video though. I would just add that if writing for trumpet, think about the range in relation to the mood you are trying to create. A fanfare type of melody will sound better if it is fairly high. If you write it at the bottom of the trumpet range it will sound very dark and wagnerian. Depends what you are after. That's my opinion anyway ;)

[@RickBeato]

+pigbagable I was referring to the notes on the trumpet. The notes actually stop at F# and C6 concert on that sound for some reason. I've never use that library before yesterday's video so I haven't had anytime to experiment with it. Below concert Bb on that sound the Notes are not Wagnerian they just sounded kind of splatty. I thought the upper range however sounded pretty powerful and realistic. Being a former big band director I'm used to notes going well beyond C6 in some big band arrangements.

[@solaribass2491]

I love the tone of the lower range of the trumpet. By using pedal tones you can play much lower than the E. I can keep good tone on pedal tones until the Bb.

[@chief2632]

You should do trombone orchestration next

[@brentkyle1535]

I highly recommend it too!

[@minasmigkosgymnastics8742]

Still haven't done it

[@camsolo2024]

Excited to learn more On section writing. As always thanks Rick

[@markusleb]

Hi Rick, I always thought that the use of the perfect fifth in these mentioned fanfares was in addition motivated by them creating the association to natural trumpets (which interestingly enough in German are sometimes also called "Fanfare", like the musical figure), hence evoking emotions like "historic" and "war". What do you think?

[@carlosdurancomposer]

Hi Rick, love your videos. I just want to add something to this particular one You should take into account that the samples doesn't always work as live instruments. When you play notes in the low register for the trumpet, the quality of the sound and intonation gets harder to control... Also, that brassy sound is way easier in the high register (it could be played low aswell but the quality of sound is not gonna be that of the samples) With the samples they even double these notes with an A trumpet or even Horns to make it blend and 'balance' the samples. Just keep that in mind when writing for solo or section.

[@RickBeato]

Carlos Alberto Duran Zarate Actually below Bb even on the samples starts to get farted out sounding. Bud from Bb3 up to Bb5 it's going to be pretty consistent. That's the reason I chose the Copland and John Williams examples.

[@razor6020]

Thx ive been wondering for a long time now how trumpet is composed

[@RyJohnsonMusic]

The trumpet range is written in Bb, not concert pitch. The lowest note available on a Bb trumpet is a concert E without using pedal tones. Just in case anyone wanted to write that low which isn't advised because you lose a lot of the trumpet's power and brightness in the low register

[@jtn191]

Ryan ^literally the first 3 minutes of this video

[@ericdaniel323]

Carmen Prelude is a universal orchestral audition excerpt that reaches a low concert Eb. That's the only time I've seen anything that low on paper. The first note the second trumpet plays in the overture to Pirates of Penzance is a low concert E.

[@solaribass2491]

The darker, more beautiful tone is in the trumpet's lower register. It doesn't have the same power as the upper register, but it is easier on the chops and sounds absolutely beautiful.

[@mybiggrin]

Thanks Rick! Great HD quality in your vids now too!

[@solaribass2491]

Also pedal tones are an option too. I can hit quite a few octaves down from the low F#

[@itznoxy7193]

Great video! Very helpful. I would love to see a horn one next :)

[@splashesin8]

Now I understand what it was that I liked so much about Randy Newman's Ragtime.

[@gonzoengineering4894]

So hyped for this series

[@RonaldFigura]

As a keyboard player in rock/ R&B cover and tribute bands guess who gets given the job of the horn section? Some pointers on how to achieve fairly convincing recreations would be helpful, especially with one hand.

[@marcoricci5868]

can you make a video to show what is the best vst for you for strings horns and all the entire orchestra vst?

[@redtroika8264]

Star Trek's Doomsday machine has a great trumpet soundtrack written by one of the greats in soundtracks, Sol Kaplan.

[@RobertDannyDavis]

Not that it is a new concept, but I noticed JW loves his parallel Triad movement with the trumpet section.

[@LanceHardaker]

another great and informative video, keep'em coming!

[@nakedmambo]

Excellent. This means sax section writing will be covered? I enquired about this some time ago and it's worth the wait. btw does anyone else here watch these videos feeling that Rick is someone you know, until you remember he's actually someone you've never even met?

[@seiph80]

nakedmambo yep!

[@OliKember]

Hey Rick. This was so great, thank you. I can’t find any videos for the other brass sections. Are you planning on those still? Cheers!

[@nickyelovich3872]

Many trumpet players can hit D6 and above, perhaps up to G6 if the player is exceptionally good. Am I wrong? I suppose F# 3 to C6 is considered the "comfortable" or "common" range?

[@solaribass2491]

It's the range that most trumpet players can play without struggling too much.

[@ollehaggberg]

Hey Rick! Fantastic stuff 🙏🏻🤴🏼 May I suggest making a video about the arrangment and orchestration on ”Both Sides Now”. I’m partiularly fond of the arrangment of At Last ☄️

[@v.j.geraldjames2825]

Very nice teaching

[@peters6366]

Looking forward to writing for French horn: rotary and natural! :-)

[@WolfMoonuk]

Another amazing video ! :) thank you Rick 🤓🤗🤘🏻

[@tdubveedub]

Please present more section writing. I am learning a lot (drinking from a fire hose).

[@restoreamericanvalues3380]

Great job Rick!

[@brianfeuhtinger3267]

One chord pattern that I love using (And listening to) didn't have a term for it so i just call it a 'University chord'., Maybe, You know the terminology., Let's say i'm Playing a Bb Major and, My left Hand would play D--Bb--D and My Right hand would play F--Bb--F., It has a beautiful, Regal, Stately kind of sound to it., I got this from Williams' ''Welcome to Jurassic Park'' piece, Is there a name for this Chord pattern ??

[@12r2]

0:41 Not for Maynard Ferguson!

[@RickBeato]

Haha, true!

[@christinacrawford3376]

12r2 was going to say, any arrogant trumpet player will proudly state how many more notes above high C they can go, and lets face it, we're all arrogant even years after losing our chops. But I'd agree that if you want "nice" sounds to stay in the "official" range. (Of course, even the Haydn concerto eeks out an Eb above high C) To clarify though, you played concert F# and C. If writing for Bb horn wouldn't it be the concert E and Bb?

[@12r2]

In Michael Haydn's (Joseph Haydn's younger brother) Trumpet Concerto in D-major, the highest note is actually a concert A above the staff (so a B for a Bb trumpet).

[@katiekilgore6918]

12r2 And that's why players like Wynton Marsalis and Mauris Andre are the only people who can play it. It's a beautiful concerto, though.

[@TheSleeveDj]

Rick , thank you very much

[@trevorjensen2706]

One thing I will say about the keys is, John Williams uses D-Major for trumpets as well.

[@Fizzy0imbA]

im confused,in the end you r telling he writes in Bb so that makes actual sound of trumpets in C or he wants Bb sound?

[@MusikalischerSpass]

Thanks Rick. 😊

[@pepperwilliams4428]

Let's not forget where JW got some of those excellent themes from........Erich Wolfgang Korngold for instance!

[@sagarkapoor9892]

Rick can you please do an analysis of Anakins theme(John Williams), it would be great!! Thanks!

[@mikrokorg4403]

Hey Rick, can you do a video about writing for the flute?

[@jsaavedr1]

Maybe for the skin flute.

[@stewrock5919]

Your videos are awesome!

[@ArreyGinal]

Thank you Rick

[@lovrogolac5243]

Rick, I don't mean to provoke advertising in any way, but which trumpet plugins are you using? They sound amazing! Thank you for all your content, they mean the world to me :)

[@RickBeato]

A company that has great sounds and terrible customer support.

[@KenNickels]

Ha! I know that company.

[@lovrogolac5243]

Rick Beato now would that company's name by any chance besomething related to where a compas points towards on two occasions? *wink wink*

[@RickBeato]

+Lovro Golac Actually no. But their customer support is pretty bad too :)

[@RadenAgung]

Agreed LOL

[@dddtl]

I never realized just how similar the Star Wars theme is to Fanfare for the Common Man

[@euriggwilym1029]

This is great - are your going to go through different sections of the orchestra?

[@mattildahubbardo]

Thanks alot

[@Kapacoud]

You should do Horns(French horns) section!

[@brandonessick775]

Nice.

[@paulprice6330]

Hi Rick cool lesson, What keyboard are you using?

[@RickBeato]

An old Roland RD-150 from 1999. It has great action and is very heavy :)

[@paulprice6330]

Rick Beato I think it's awesome that you demonstrated the trumpets range on the keyboard. Maybe the Sax would be next?

[@paulprice6330]

Impromptu Interesting overview, I am more fascinated with string instruments. Their imperfect temperaments that can't stay in tuned, makes them special. However wind instruments: the recorders and flutes to me are quite primal notably played on Classical peices to Native American music. Life is what you make of it my friend.

[@paulprice6330]

Impromptu Interesting story about the vibrato, which leads me to think that music as a musician is all about style. It's the individual's approach in playing the instrument and making it it's own signature expression. Taking it further... Its the individual's extension of his emotions or plainly it just sounds cool. Although there's a standard that we follow when we're tuning an instrument much like in theory in western music, it's generally accepted however it's not etched in stone. There are thousands of combinations to tune but we always look back to the standard way of tuning. Even Harmonicas have their own key in tune. Funny you mentioned that they'll make machines, chorosing that simulates the effect. They already did. lol!

[@liamelion]

6:15 You wrote C major instead of F major

[@RickBeato]

Sorry!

[@GMack333]

It was a test.

[@edencane]

awesome!

[@InventorZahran]

It's so unusual to hear Fanfare for the Common Man without the percussion instruments...

[@jazzerson7087]

I'm feeling all royal and 16th century all of a sudden LOL. I'm picturing Hever Castle and Henry VIII getting married or something. Good trumpet sound for a 90s keyboard!

[@RickBeato]

James Anderson it's the 90s keyboard with 2017 software. There's this thing called Midi that just came out in 1983 :). Thanks James!

[@jazzerson7087]

The 90s keyboard with 2017 software and a 1537 sound. Cool! 5:04 seems to say "We have gathered here today, for the wedding of His Majesty King Henry and Catherine of Aragon". I can see a bored, fat Henry eyeing up the enormous wedding feast. ;-)

[@Mrphilharmonic]

Nice tpt. sounds Rick. What software are you using?

[@Holobrine]

6:16 Correction: that is F Major

[@davemckay4359]

Entrr the king!

[@michaelwerner1539]

Great video Rick! I was thinking about one reason why your videos might not be getting views and I think you should have a pull to see your fan bases age range. I think that might be a part of it. But I don't know it's just a guess Keep up the great work!

[@maxalaintwo3578]

Everytime you play chords on your keyboard I can't help but think drum corps

[@EricGoetzMusic]

4:53 C major triad in 1st inversion, not 2nd

[@purplehaze7495]

Wish you could speak about Plaigarism. Where according to you is the fine line between inspiration and Plaigarism?

[@RickBeato]

I agree with all of it except every part has been written before :) The similarities between Copland, Holst, Korngold etc are because of things that lay well on the instruments.

[@purplehaze7495]

Thank you , for the input. So will it be possible that we have heard it all? Melody line from Star wars sticks so well in our minds. It's definitely not the notes or the order in which they are played I suppose. So rhythmn is what makes it memorable? What could be the defining factors involved that makes it so unique?

[@mohammadheydari2229]

Can I Write Pieces With Computer ?

[@alexanderthegreat731]

The fact that he never resolved any of the progressions kills me

[@splashesin8]

alexanderthegreat731 Hee

[@trevorjensen2706]

The trumpet range is shattered by Michael Giaccino (The Incredibles), screaming that Double High C (C7), and of course, and Patrick Doyle, who loves to write music for first trumpet ABOVE the C6. 1st Trumpet players can definitely hit E6 very comfortably in a professional orchestra, but, Beato, to you point, notes higher than D6 are rarely used, but it can be done, and 1st trumpets enjoy the hell out of, so long as there are moderate resting time between those higher ranges (lol).

[@samflanagan350]

Headphones on or you won't hear it: At 1:50 you can tell the guy living upstairs is not a fan of Aaron Copland/ELP Fanfare For the Common Man.

[@capability-snob]

Don't forget that trumpet players need to breathe! Lengthy legato sections sound a lot more realistic if you remember to leave space for that.

[@xOnimpulsex]

Sounding off: jimmy herring

[@NcMuggets]

A trumpets range can reach a lot higher than a concert Bb...

[@RandomGuyyy]

If your embouchure isn't the best you'll struggle to reach the highest note, top C (top Bb concert pitch) in years of playing I could never consistently hit high E. There's high school concert band range writing where you keep everything in the most comfortable range for every instrument and use lots of divisi notes where weaker players can play the lower line etc.

[@ericdaniel323]

Brass instruments don't really have a theoretical limit on range. In practice, orchestral music is usually (but not always) limited to about a high concert C or D. Big band charts routinely have lead parts that go considerably higher, but those players are specialists.

[@rochestas]

5:35 Some of this chords are pretty sus…

[@funnyguise]

what if you don’t want to sound like John Williams?!?

[@BluesClues2s]

Trumpet transposition was the least important thing to focus on here. Not that you shouldn't mention it, but you spent a lot of time comparatively on it---most modern scoring software can automatically transpose based on the instrument you're writing for

[@RickBeato]

+Blue's Clues for Fools modern plug-ins can also define the range of an instrument. That doesn't mean that you shouldn't know with the ranges are. If you're going to have things played by a real instruments you should know something about them like whether or not they're transposing instrument. Thanks for your comment!

[@BluesClues2s]

Rick Beato Thanks for the reply, my issue was more with the transposing discussion than with the discussion of range, as someone inexperienced with trumpet could easily write something too low for their players. The heart of my comment comes from wanting more meat about trumpet musicality, not necessarily saying the information you provided about logistical side of writing for trumpet wasn't valuable.

[@TimothyReeves]

Blue's Clues for Fools people relying on software without having the knowledge themselves inevitably leads to problems. Then we get to make fun of it on the Music Engravers Shitposting group on Facebook. :)

[@pboneburt612]

oops...

[@richarddunn367]

Very little sustenance

[@cameronplaystrumpet6777]

Hahaha C6? Nah

[@praestant8]

Look at the hideous keyboard skills! Jeezus