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I play the cornet and have a decent range (F#3-Eb6) and I am trying to develop pedal tones. However, I've encountered some difficulty (actually a lot of difficulty) in doing this.

What is the correct way to play pedal tones on a brass instrument?

P.S. Although I play cornet, I've written this to be applicable to all brass instruments.

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Any reason why the current answers are insufficient? –  segiddins Oct 11 '12 at 1:54
Because no one has voted on the answers yet, I'm not sure which is best. –  American Luke Oct 11 '12 at 13:15
Have you actually tried out our advice? –  segiddins Oct 11 '12 at 21:21

2 Answers 2

Do Nothing!!

Claude Gordon (is quoted in the article below) states that you should not be focusing on lipping any of the notes, ever, when playing pedal tones, and that you should simply focus on loose lips and steady air flow.

The article in which these techniques can be elaborated on is


I seems from what I have learned so far that all pedal tone techniques can be applied to all brass instruments.

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Being a brass player myself, I found the best way to develop my pedal tones was just to relax and get air flowing through the instrument.

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