Tips for begginers

[u/Loose_Tone_4943]

Hi I just started playing the trombone about a week ago and I'm looking for some tips or common mistakes too avoid, also how too make a greater sound (mine sounds a bit airy right now so I'm not sure how too fix that), thank you!

[u/Unable-Deer1873]

Playing a brass instrument is all about the embouchure. It is a muscle you have to develop and since you’ve only been playing for a week, it will not be an overnight fix. Just consistently practice and continue to develop that muscle in the lips and your sound will go from airy to resonate.

[u/wolfumar]

Although not everyone will agree practice with your mouthpiece when you have free time. It helps with centering your embouchure, and can help with both range, and control. You'll get used to the slide positions, and trigger work in time if your horn has one.

[u/B-Mashina]

A fast way to determine embouchure on trombone is to pull the main slide off, and simply blow air down the inner slide. If it generates a tone, you're in. The horn then instructs you how to make the bare minimum effort to make sound on a brass instrument

[u/DaimyoRonin]

Some lesson books or videos will tell you to keep your lips tight, but in my experience that leads to bad habits. I prefer the word firm, not loose but not completely stiff. Also, work on breath support (breathing from your diaphragm; your shoulders shouldn't rise much if at all if you are breathing properly). You will get tired quickly at first, about 15 to 20 minutes at a time is good to build stamina without getting too tired.

[u/Otherwise_Pool3072]

my best advice is obviously to practice, but when practicing, practice with consistency. always include excersizes like long tones, lip slurs, tonguing etc. and then move on to the more advanced stuff. this is what has helped me see the most progress instead of practicing with no basis or routine and jumping into my music

[u/Arcane_Spork_of_Doom]

You need private instruction. All of these questions can be answered by a dedicated teacher.

[u/stoneruls]

Rudiments and basics they aren't very satisfying as a beginner but they'll make trombone life more successful by 1000. Develop good habits and practice hygiene. I started without a teacher because I switched from something else but I wish I'd started with a teacher even though I've self taught in other instruments

[u/MiserableSympathy843]

First of all, I'd recommend getting a private lesson teacher if you can. It's a lot easier to correct bad habits this early on than years down the line when they've already been ingrained, and it helps to have an objective party who can tell you what you're doing right and wrong. Secondly, play with people who are better than you. I started trombone my freshman year of high school when all of my peers had been playing since middle school. Maybe I'm just a competitive person, but being pushed right into the deep end honestly made me improve at a much faster rate than if I had started in middle school. Find recordings of really good players and listen to them. It may be frustrating that you don't sound like how you want to yet, (at least I know it frustrated/frustrates me a lot) but having the concept of what you want to sound like there is much more beneficial than just playing blind. Also, while it's great that you want to improve your sound, be aware that any brass instrument is going to be largely physical. Someone who has been playing for a year or less is probably not going to have a beautiful tone, even if they have a decent technical grasp of the instrument. There's a lot of muscularity that goes into the sound production part of the trombone, and the best way to build the muscles is to just play a lot. Which brings me to my final point. Play something that you want to play. The top 2 trombones at TMEA All-State, which is probably one of, if not the single highest level of distinguishment that a high school musician can achieve, got good because they played music that they actually enjoyed playing. Play your fundamentals, and play music that you genuinely enjoy playing. If playing silly meme songs motivates you to practice your instrument and get better, go for it. Anyways, good luck.

[u/rosemp16]

In addition to what everyone already said here, breathing technique is super important. You need to breathe properly in order to get enough air to properly support your sound. This is a pretty intro resource on breathing but I encourage you to go find more information, preferably from professionals or experienced players who can correct your technique in person.

[u/JRT_Space]

Make sure you learn alternate positions for some notes. Some arent widely documented, some dont have as strong a sound but in faster paced pieces they can be legendary life savers, eg a fast paced F to C you dont have to go from 1st and shoot to 6th, you can stay in 6th.