What beginner mouthpiece sizes did our Denis Wick Buzz commnunity use  as young musicians?  While there is a lot of variety scattered throughout, standards like the 7C for trumpet and 12C for trombone were the most popular. If you're curious, see the  complete list here.

The beginner mouthpiece is actually a very important mouthpiece which has a lot of influence on whether the student will continue learning their instrument or quit. Once they figure out how to make a sound, the response of the mouthpiece, the tuning of it, and a variety of other factors will either help or hinder the students ability to work on improving their sound.  In  fact, we find the beginner mouthpiece so important, it is what we start with as the foundation of our product training ebook for teachers. Before you check out our advice below, we've included some beginner mouthpiece expeiences and opinions from the Buzz community.

As I read through the answers I thought it would be interesting to learn in a future poll if our respondents felt that they could still use their beginnner mouthpiece as an advanced player. Perhaps a quality mouthpiece should stand the test of time and and not only serve as a function for the first year of playing. Thanks for all the thought provoking comments everyone! Hope this advice gets your wheels turning too!

Instrument, beginner mouthpiece size, and  selected reflections on the mouthpiece

Trombone, 12CS
Good place to get the buzzing going due to the smaller bore size. However trying to progress tone quality is somewhat difficult and limited personally due to the cup size as well.

Tuba, 1XL
I believe it might be a bit too deep and wide for a beginner because they don't have the proper air capacity to play on that mouthpiece yet. But it definitely helped my build up the proper technique for the tuba playing on the instrument.

Trumpet 3C
It worked well for me, but I think a Bach 5C might be a better starting place for some as it’s a good middle ground where they can either go larger to the 3C or even 1C or smaller to the 7C or 10.5C if necessary.

Trumpet, 7C
I disagree because it sets up beginners to want to change to another mouthpiece, rather than grow and develop on an already-good mouthpiece. 

Trumpet 7C
The 7c mouthpiece is the optimal beginner mouthpiece because if you do actually want to work hard on getting better, then you have more room to move around and try new mouthpieces.

Trombone, 12C
12c is a very not good mouthpiece for any beginner. It’s just a very uncomfortable size and it’s hard to transition to a better size.

Euphonium, 51D 
I think the 51D is a great mouth piece to start on and get a feel for the buzzing 

Trumpet, 5C
Pretty basic for a beginner just getting a feel for the instrument, but you should definately try to find your ideal size soon into your musical career.

Trumpet, 7C
I would say to start this is a good option but after a while it’s smart to switch to a 3c for what feels like to me an overall better mouthpiece size.

Tuba, 24AW
The 24aw seems like the mouthpiece that every tuba player started on, it’s ok, but I believe you get better warmer tone off a helliburg style .

Trombone, 12C
I feel that a mouthpiece should be paired with a student. One size does NOT fit all (beginner) players. 

Trombone, 6.5AL
Yes it is pretty easy to start on and is pretty easy to switch back to. I still use it for playing small bore occasionally.

Horn, Holton Farkas
It is a good option for a beginner because it is a good starter to set your embouchure  

Trombone, 12C
Sure, I think a 6.5al probably would've been better, but I'm past overthinking it. 12c is small on the face, and that little extra room of the 6.5 really makes it more comfortable. But ultimately,  what's going to get a kid playing is having a decent horn in working order, while I don't prefer the 12c, I don't consider it the end of the world if that's what a student has.

Euphonium, 5G
It is a good option for beginning players or middle school or even high school but defiantly not for more advanced players or players in college.

Trumpet, 11B4
It’s a little shallow, but I think the cup diameter is good for young students.

Watch this quick video of our Beginner Mouthpeice Ebook for educators, and learn about our thoughts on why the beginner mouthpiece is so important.