8 interactive lessons in 3 units: air speed, low and high sounds, valves, the notes from C to high C, reading the staff, breath and rhythm, melodies by ear and your first trumpet song. Tap the valves and hold an air button. No sign-up — your progress is saved on this device only.
Without pressing any valves, make three different sounds just by changing how fast you blow.
BeginnerExplore●●●●●~5 minGrades 1–2
Learning goal: Plays three open notes (C, G and high C) without valves by changing the air speed, and notices that faster air makes a higher sound.
Time: ~5 min · Topic: Breath, Listening
Prior knowledge: No previous knowledge needed.
How to use it: The virtual trumpet has three valves on the left and three air buttons on the right. No valves are used in this lesson. On a real trumpet the pitch changes with lip tension and air speed; here this is shown with the three air buttons. Start with a ‘slow–medium–fast’ breathing warm-up as a class. The virtual trumpet sounds the notes as written (like a C trumpet); on a B-flat trumpet the same fingerings sound a whole step lower.
Compare how high or low the open notes are, and put the sounds in order from low to high.
BeginnerPitch●●●●●~5 minGrades 1–2
Learning goal: Compares two or three sounds by pitch and plays them in order from low to high and from high to low.
Time: ~5 min · Topic: Listening, Breath
Prior knowledge: Can play the three open notes (slow, medium and fast air). · Do first: Three open notes: slow, medium and fast air
How to use it: Pitch (high–low) is not the same as volume (loud–quiet), which children often mix up; point this out. The cards come in a mixed order, and the student tries each sound by playing it. A note played in the wrong order is marked with an explanation.
Play F with the first valve and E with the first and second valves, then walk down the G–F–E stairs.
BeginnerFingers●●●●●~6 minGrades 1–2–3
Learning goal: Plays F with valve 1 and E with valves 1 and 2 together, using medium air, and plays the G–F–E pattern with the right fingers.
Time: ~6 min · Topic: Notes, Breath
Prior knowledge: Can play G with medium air. · Do first: Three open notes: slow, medium and fast air
How to use it: The valves are numbered 1, 2, 3 from left to right (index, middle and ring finger on a real trumpet). Hold the valve down first, then blow: the order matters. On a computer keyboard, J, K and L are the valves and A, S and D are the air buttons.
Learning goal: Knows the valves and air for C, D, E, F and G, and plays the five-note row correctly in both directions.
Time: ~7 min · Topic: Notes, Melody
Prior knowledge: Can play F (1) and E (1+2). · Do first: The first valves: F and E
How to use it: C is played with slow air; D, E, F and G with medium air. D uses valves 1 and 3 together. Point out that the air speed changes when you go from C to D. In ‘No hints’ mode the valve marks are hidden; a hint appears after two mistakes.
Recognise a note from the staff instead of its name, and play it on the trumpet.
IntermediateReading notes●●●●●~7 minGrades 2–3–4
Learning goal: Recognises the notes from C to G on a treble-clef staff and plays them on the trumpet with the right valves and air.
Time: ~7 min · Topic: Notes
Prior knowledge: Can play the five notes from C to G. · Do first: Five notes from C to G
How to use it: C is on a ledger line below the staff, D just below the bottom line, E on the first line, F in the first space and G on the second line. Trumpet music is written in the treble clef. When ‘Note names’ is off, the name under the staff is hidden; in class, try with names first and then without.
Control your breath: hold long sounds, stop short ones, and play rhythms with quarter and half notes.
IntermediateRhythm and breath●●●●●~8 minGrades 2–3–4
Learning goal: Controls their breath to play long and short sounds on purpose, and plays rhythms made of quarter and half notes in tempo.
Time: ~8 min · Topic: Rhythm, Breath
Prior knowledge: Can play C, E and G. · Do first: Five notes from C to G
How to use it: For a long sound the air button is held down; for a short sound it is let go straight away. On a real trumpet each new note is started with the tongue, saying ‘too’; letting go of the button and pressing it again for a repeated note stands for this. Say ‘too–too–too–tooo’ together as a class first.
Listen to short melodies, find them by ear and play them back; finish the memory chain.
IntermediateEar training●●●●●~8 minGrades 2–3–4
Learning goal: Recognises short 3–5 note melodies by ear and plays them back on the trumpet in the same order; remembers a sound chain that keeps getting longer.
Time: ~8 min · Topic: Listening, Melody
Prior knowledge: Can play the five notes from C to G. · Do first: Five notes from C to G
How to use it: In the first two echoes the notes are shown; after that there is only sound. Give students the hint ‘the first note is C’, then ask them to think about whether each note is higher or lower than the one before. After a mistake, the explanation tells the direction (higher or lower).
Learn A, B and high C with fast air, then play the song ‘Morning Call’, first note by note and then in tempo.
AdvancedSong●●●●●~10 minGrades 3–4
Learning goal: Plays A (1+2), B (2) and high C with fast air, and performs an original song from C to high C with the right notes and in tempo.
Time: ~10 min · Topic: Notes, Melody, Rhythm
Prior knowledge: Can play C to G and read quarter and half notes. · Do first: Playing the note on the staff, Long and short sounds, rhythm with breath, Listen and play: melody echo
How to use it: A, B and high C are played with fast air. On a real trumpet, high notes need faster, narrower air rather than more air; don’t push students too hard. ‘Morning Call’ is an original 12-note song. The last step is scored in tempo.
The virtual trumpet has 3 valves and 3 air buttons (slow, medium, fast); the note played follows the fingerings and natural notes of a real trumpet. Notes sound as written (like a C trumpet); on a B-flat trumpet the same fingerings sound a whole step lower. The sound is synthesised in the browser; it is not a recording of a real trumpet and does not replace lip and breathing technique. Each lesson’s learning goal, timing and classroom notes are under “Notes for teachers” on the lesson page.
How a trumpet works: valves, notes and first exercises
The parts of a trumpet
A trumpet has a mouthpiece, curved metal tubing, three valves and the bell where the sound comes out. The sound starts when the lips buzz in the mouthpiece. The trumpet is a “lip-reed” wind instrument: with the same fingering, different notes come out as the lip tension and the speed of the air change.
The valve system
The valves send the air through extra tubing, making the tube longer and the note lower:
Valve 1: lowers the note by a whole tone (2 semitones).
Valve 2: lowers it by a semitone.
Valve 3: lowers it by a tone and a half (3 semitones).
Several notes can be played without pressing any valve: these are the natural notes of the tube. The virtual trumpet in Melokta has three air speeds: slow air gives C4, medium air G4 and fast air C5. The valves make new notes below each of these; for example, with medium air valves 1+3 give D4 and valves 1+2 give E4.
The most common trumpet in schools is the B♭ trumpet: a written C sounds a whole tone lower (B♭). Melokta plays notes as written (like a C trumpet), so the note on the screen is the note you hear.
First exercises
Three open notes without valves: blow slowly, medium and fast, and listen to the pitch rise.
C–D–E: C (open, slow air), D (1+3, medium), E (1+2, medium).
Add F (valve 1) and G (open, medium) for five notes from C to G.
Start every note with “too” and keep the notes the same length.
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