Trombone Playing Guide

Make sure that your not pinching off the sound with your lips. When you buzz on their mouthpiece make sure that you are getting a good flow of air through the mouthpiece. You can check this by putting your hand in front of the mouthpiece as you buzz.

Part of the problem often comes from bad habits that were formed when people begin the study of the trombone. It is very typical for beginning trombone players to produce a sound on the trombone by keeping the lips pressed together and forcing an opening in the lips when they blow. Such an embouchure technique requires less air.

The aperture, which is the hole created between the upper and lower lip in an embouchure, should be open even when your not blowing. In other words, the blowing of an air stream should not form this aperture; rather there is a preformed opening in a good embouchure. This is similar to a whistling embouchure, only with a lot less pucker; and the lips are turned slightly more inward toward the teeth. The point here is to encourage you to buzz the mouthpiece with the fullest sound possible. A full sounding buzz will become a big sound on the trombone.

Checking your airflow while playing is the second best way to improve the sound of your trombone. The most critical part of this is the position of the your tongue while blowing. Many high school students play with a tongue position that is too high in their mouth. Typically, people will be playing with a "Tee " syllable. This is too high of a position for the tongue and produces a more nasal sound. Try saying "Tee" and then with that tongue position blow air onto their hand. Then try saying "Toe" and repeat the blowing process with that tongue position onto your hand. You will not believe the difference in the amount of airflow! Obviously, the airflow is much greater with the lower tongue position. Next, play a middle register B flat with the "Toe" syllable. There should be an instant improvement in your sound. Many people will resort to the higher tongue position to aid in the production of the higher register notes. The higher tongue position forces the air to move faster. This faster air should come from better air support from proper breathing instead of choking off the air in their mouth with the partial blockage of the tongue.

Make sure that you are breathing correctly. Many people
primarily breathe by raising the chest or rib cage. While this is part of the correct
breathing process, the diaphragm should play a much bigger role in supported
breathing than simple chest breathing. The breath should start with the extension
of the stomach, which engages the involuntary muscle known as our diaphragm.
Pulling this muscle down with the extension of our stomach draws air into the
lungs. Try to take some deep breaths with one hand on your
stomach and the other hand on your chest. The hand on your stomach should
move first. This will help you better understand the correct process. If you can't
breath properly without the trombone in your hand, you will have no chance of
breathing correctly while you are busy playing. Also, the simple suggestion of
remembering to breathe deeply can make a big difference in your trombone
section's sound. Most people don't play with enough air support because they
don't take a big enough breath to begin a phrase.

Make sure your not using too much mouthpiece pressure. As the mouthpiece presses harder onto the lips, the lips will tense and pucker or thicken to avoid damage to the muscle group. This is a natural reflex response. As this muscle group tenses, the embouchure becomes stiffer and less likely to vibrate; hence, the sound thins and diminishes. When you warm up one your trombone, remember to lighten up on the mouthpiece pressure. Relaxing the left hand grip of the instrument can help minimize this problem.

Hold the slide properly. Grasp the slide brace firmly, but not too tightly, between the thumb and fingers of your right hand. Make sure to use wrist motion and arm motion when moving the slide - this will help make the movement quick and smooth.

Moving the slide while playing should be a quick, precise action. Always move the slide in rhythm. Do not "slide through" the positions - STOP the slide at each note you wish to play. Trace a straight line when moving the slide - don't allow the bell to move with the slide.

Coordinate the tongue perfectly with the slide movement. In other words, when you articulate a note, your slide must be in exactly the right position at exactly the same time.

If you haven't already started taking private lessons. Take this time now to slap yourself in the face. Having someone critique and hone your playing is absolutely essential to developing your trombone playing . Make you get a teacher who reflects what you want to do. I.E. you don't go expecting to learn jazz from a teacher who majors in classical playing. Find a teacher that's right for you

* Ravel - Bolero
* Brahms - Symphony 1
* Mozart - Requiem (Tuba Mirum)
* R. Strauss - Till Eulenspiegel
* Berlioz - Hungarian March (Damnation of Faust)l
* Rossini - William Tell Overture
* Wagner - Ride of Die Walkure
* Wagner - Tannhauser Overture
* Brahms - Symphony 4
* Rimsky-Korsakov - Scheherazade
* R. Schumann - Symphony 3 ("Rhenish")
* Hindemith - Symphonic Metamophosis
* Mahler - Symphony 3
* Rimsky-Korsakov - Russian Easter Overture
* R. Strauss - Also Sprach Zarathustra
* Stravinsky - The Firebird
* Wagner - Prelude to Act III of Lohengrin
* Berlioz - Symphonie Fantastique
* Rossini - La Gazza Ladra Overture
* St. Saens - Symphony 3 ("Organ")
* Bartok - Concerto for Orchestra
* Berg - Three Pieces
* Borodin - Polovetsian Dances
* Brahms - Symphony 2
* Hindemith - Mathis der Maler
* Stravinsky - Petroushka
* Bartok - MIraculous Mandarin
* Brahms - Tragic Overture
* Schubert - Symphony 9 ("Great C Major")
* Strauss - Ein Heldenleben
* Stravinsky - Pulcinella
* Verdi - La Forza del destino
* Beethoven - Symphony 5
* Beethoven - Symphony 9
* Berlioz - Roman Carnival Overture
* Mahler - Symphony 5
* Tchaikovsky - Symphony 4, 5, 6