The Trombone Page

Care of the Instrument

Always open with case on the floor .
Assemble in the manner shown by your teacher to avoid damage.
The slide of the trombone is very fragile, take care not to damage it.
The most common causes of dents in the slide are from the bell hitting it during assembly.
Put the mouthpiece in with a slight twist. Untwist to remove.
DO NOT pound on the top of the mouthpiece, it will get stuck.
Do not try to remove a stuck mouthpiece, you teacher has a special tool for this purpose.
Clean only in the manner described by your teacher.
Keep the slide oiled in manner prescribed by your teacher.
Do not disassemble the slide unless instructed to do so by your teacher.
Keep your practice area clear of obstacles, you don't want to bang your slide.
Do not keep anything in your case on top of your trombone, it may damage it.
Do not force your case closed, it should close easily if the instrument is inserted properly.
To keep it working properly, it must be played each day.
Keep the tuning slide lubricated only with tuning slide grease, do not use petroleum jelly.
Use only a polishing cloth that is made for your particular model of trombone.
Do not use any kind of metal polish.
Do not try to repair your instrument without contacting your teacher or the music store

embouchure:

Lips should be moist, relaxed and together as if you just said the word "mem". There should be no forced tightening , thinning, or flattening (sometimes called a smile embouchure). The corners of the mouth should be firmly set in a downward direction. Sound is produced by buzzing the lips with a quick full stream of warm air. Puffing of the cheeks or lips is not allowed under any circumstances! After practice the lips should be able to buzz with a fairly relaxed feel in the center. Mouthpiece placement should show the mouthpiece covering an approximate 60/40 ratio of upper and lower lip.

Teaching those pesky old slide positions!

Teaching the trombone intimidates a lot of teachers because of their unfamiliarity with how the slide works. The following is a list of procedures that you may want to consider when dealing with beginning trombone players.

Check the positions regularly with a tuner if you are unsure of the exact placement. Every trombone is a little different in this regard. (Some instruments actually have shorter bells than others). Of course the embouchure needs to be good and the tone centered for this to be fully effective. (sounds like a catch-22 doesn't it? )

Start by teaching 3 positions, 1st, 4th and 6th. This gives them a good feel for the length of the slide and gives them 3 widely spaced "set" points. Don't worry if a young student cannot reach 6th (very young students cannot), they will grow into it.

After teaching these 3 positions you will want to teach them to find these sets without looking at the slide. Do exercises every lesson in which the students find these positions with their eyes closed. The most common problem with students at this age is that they want to watch the slide. Sometimes you will only notice this when you find out that they can't read music.

The next position to teach is 3rd. This will give them good visual anchors to use when moving the slide a minor second (using the bell as a reference at first). Please remember that you will want to move them away from this dependence on visual anchors as soon as possible.

You will need to constantly watch for the tendency to look at the slide.

The next position to teach is 2nd. A drill should be devised to practice moving 1st-2nd-3rd-4th. This should then progress to an exercise in which the teacher calls out positions in random order using every possible combination. (The most out of tune playing occurs when moving from one position to an adjacent position, as in moving from 2nd to 3rd, or 5th to 6th.) At this point you can approach 5th and later (jr high or high school) you can introduce 7th.

If you would like info on how I justify this method of teaching slide positions follow this link:

The quick and easy slide position reference (this will get you close)

1st position - slide all the way up
4th position - slide brace is just past the edge of the bell (check w/tuner for exact position)
6th position - for a young player as far out as possible without distorting embouchure (which probably won't be far enough).
3rd position - slide brace stops just before the edge of the bell (check w/tuner)
2nd position - approx. mid way between 1st and 3rd (check w/tuner)
5th position - approx. mid way between 4th and 6th
7th position - most young students can't hit this but try bending wrist outward from 6th.

It is important to note that these positions will change constantly as the students grows. The "feel" of moving the slide a certain distance may stay the same but as the arm gets longer so will the distance of the move. If you want your trombones to play in tune you must always be checking the positions and making corrections.

Internet Resources for the Trombone

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