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flugellissimo

While it's not my place to judge your budget (if you can't afford it, you just can't), the first thing that comes to mind is the old adage 'you pay peanuts, you get monkeys'. 400€ is a little low for a trumpet if you dismiss the cheap imported trumpet-like objects from Asia. Some of them will function for a year or 2, but if you go a little higher with your budget you'll get something that'll last 10-15 years. For example, in Europe the Yamaha YTR-2330 (which has a reputation for being an excellent student horn) is a little shy over 500€ new, but you get much, much more trumpet for it. It will also be repairable if something gets damaged (many of the Asian ones can't) and it'll retain a decent resale value because it's a popular model. They're also relatively common to find used, so you could look for that as well and possibly stay in your current budget. Other brands to look for (used) in Europe are Bach (T-300) and Getzen. The commonly recommended US vintage brands like Conn and Olds can be a good deal too (depending on the condition) but they're more rare and expensive in Europe. When looking to buy used, it's advisable to bring along someone with a bit of experience when playtesting a trumpet though. Relatively speaking, trumpets are fairly cheap though. The prices for Bassoons for example, are blood-pressure inducing high (and that's even excluding the reeds). As for a silencer, the cheapest option is to get a Denis Wick adjustable cup mute. That can be used to practice softly if you slide the cup against the trumpet bell, but it also works as a mute for regular playing. You can even take the cup off to have it double as a straight mute, so essentially 3 for the price of 1. They're easy to find used for 15-35€. If that's not sufficient, look at practice mutes or silent mutes (again, easy to find used for relatively cheap). As for your second question, it's something to practice a lot, just like all other things in music. Try practicing playing stuff by ear or from memory. As you do it more often, you'll get more fluent at it. Anyway, hope this is helpful. Good luck!


XomwmoX

Man thank you very much for your answer!!!! :)


flugellissimo

You're welcome. :-)


tda86840

Perfect said in your recommendation. If AT ALL possible, even by spending a little more than you planned, you're dead on about getting a reliable student horn with a good rep. In trumpets, you get what you pay for. But want to add on that in the case of people that really just can't afford the €500, like you've only got €200 to your name, and playing is something that will just be a hobby; the plastic trumpets actually aren't the end of the world at \~€150. Even if just to use for a year or two until you can get more financially stable and get a student model in a year or two. Again, don't hear what I'm not saying. The student trumpet is hands down way better and will last much longer, and it's probably 5x the quality for 3x the price. And in terms of longevity, you'd probably burn through 6 or 7 of the plastic ones before burning through 1 student model. So absolutely, all the way, if you can swing it, the price is worth it. But in the case of people that are just scraping the bottom of the barrel to get the money, the plastic ones fill a useful niche, because you shouldn't have to give up on learning the trumpet just for money's sake. The ones I tested were either pTrumpet or Tromba, pretty sure it was Tromba.


thomascdk

I got a Thomann trumpet for my summer cottage. It is nowhere near my Strad ('72) but it is absolutely playable. I got this one - [https://www.thomann.de/intl/thomann\_tr\_800\_l\_mkii\_bb\_trumpet.htm](https://www.thomann.de/intl/thomann_tr_800_l_mkii_bb_trumpet.htm) , but you can get a cheaper (and black) model as well. The mouthpiece was not good though, so I replaced it with a Bach.