Pedal Tones
I’m going to separate this by instrument because the instrument being played provides a lot of context regarding pedal tones. To start with a general overview:
Pedal tones are notes on a brass instrument that are the fundamental (read as “lowest”) pitch of said instrument. It’s the lowest note you can play with that specific valve combination/slide position. We would say a trumpet has 7 pedal tones since it has 7 unique valve combinations (8 fingerings in total, but one of them is a copy of another); a straight tenor trombone also has 7 because of it’s 7 slide positions whereas a trigger tenor trombone has 10, or 11 if you have really long arms.
Generally speaking, in order to play pedal tones, you have to embrace an upstream style of playing. Most players tend to play downstream because they have an overbite, so this is something that won’t come naturally to many. Some brass musicians play upstream, but they’re in the minority. I’ve heard of some brass players talking about playing downstream when playing pedals, and I’ve even heard of some people encourage downstream players to NOT switch to an “upstream embouchure” when playing pedals, but from my experience, this just isn’t practical. Maybe there’s a few people out there who can make this work, but I’ve never met anyone like that, and I have serious doubts about taking someone seriously if they echo this sentiment. I firmly believe that most players will have to switch to an upstream method of playing in order to play pedal tones well. To state that even more clearly:
Most brass musicians are downstream players; they will have to switch to an upstream style of playing if they want to be able to play pedal tones. If they switch between the pedal and regular registers, they will have to switch back and forth between upstream and downstream playing. For whatever reason, playing upstream facilitates a much slower vibration; this can be demonstrated with free buzzing. If you buzz with a normal downstream buzz and then go lower and lower, at some point, you won’t be able to go any lower until you push your lower lip in front (and/or upwards) so it takes preeminence over your top lip.
If you want to see me playing pedal tones, here is a TikTok video of me doing them on trumpet.
For Each Brass Instrument
Trumpet - I don’t believe pedals help with anything on trumpet; they certainly haven’t helped me with anything. I play them because they’re fun to play, but that’s it. Even when it comes to playing low notes loud, I don’t think pedals help with that. I’ve heard all of the typical stuff: “pedals will help with high notes, tone, endurance, etc.,” and I just think that anyone who says that is wrong. The one thing that I do think they help with is warming down if that’s something you’re into.
Trombone (tenor and bass) - I have similar thoughts for trombone as I do for trumpet, so I’ll just point out the differences. You will actually have to play pedal tones in your music from time-to-time, so knowing how to play them just for the sake of playing them is important. Also, I think the way you play loud, low, non-pedal tone notes is similar enough to pedals where it makes sense to practice them to help your low note playing in general.
Euphonium/Tuba - My thoughts here are exactly the same as for trombone.
French Horn - This is the brass instrument I have the least experience on, so my thoughts on this may change in the future. Similarly to low brass, I believe you’ll have to play these from time-to-time, but from what I understand, your mouthpiece placement (for most players) has to change if you want to access the pedal register in a successful manner. I believe you have to put your mouthpiece on top of your bottom lip to help facilitate a low frequency buzz, so it’s a very different way of playing in comparison to the rest of the tessitura (range) of the Horn. That’s what I do when I play Horn, but again, this is my least experienced brass instrument, so I may change my mind on this in the future.
Closing Thoughts
I believe that the importance of pedal tones is overstated by many brass musicians. For most brass instruments, simply being able to play pedal tones is a good enough reason to practice them. Telling people that it’ll help their range or their tone is a lie that doesn’t need to be said because there are times where you’ll have to play them in music. For trumpet, unless you want to be able to play them, then I recommend that you don’t waste your time practicing them. As someone who’s quite good at them on trumpet, they haven’t done anything for my playing except allow me to play lower for cadenzas and take a few things down an octave in a trumpet ensemble setting.
