How to use a plunger mute

Music Lesson: Using the Plunge Mute

Introduction

That was me playing Slinky using a rubber plunge mute. I hope you enjoyed all the effects, the growls, and the wahs that I created using it.

Demonstration with a Plastic Bowl

Unfortunately, my dogs ran off with my plunge mute, so I had to go to the kitchen and get a plastic bowl to demonstrate how I achieve those effects. You could get a plastic bowl too and try making sounds like this.

Articulation with the Plunge Mute

What we use the plunge mute for is to enhance our articulation, like this:

• I'm not actually using my tongue there; I'm using the mute as a tongue.
• Wa, wa, wa.

Practice

You have a go at doing it after me. Let's just do it on a middle.

First Effect: This is the first effect we need to learn how to do:

• Wah, wah, wah.

To achieve this, you need to:

• Hold the trumpet firmly with your right hand.
• Hold the mute firmly in your left hand.

Creating Different Sounds

Another effect we can do is to keep the mute completely closed. When we do this, we get a sound like this:

• If you do have a rubber plunger, you could go down to your local hardware store and buy an ordinary sink plunger. Make sure there's a hole in the end of it; otherwise, when the mute is completely closed over the bell, we won't be able to get any sound through.
• If the mute is completely closed, we won't be able to get any air out of the bell.

How to Use the Mute

• Get the mute and place it over the end of the bell, then blow.
• We have to blow quite hard when the mute is completely closed over the end like this.

Important Note:
If I blow that hard and the mute isn't over the end of the bell, it's very loud. We need to support that note.