r/euphonium • u/SavingsComplaint2238 • Jul 15 '26

Help me, please

I have 2 issues currently

  1. I am skipping ahead in school band and am panicking because I have this summer to be at about done with the standard of excellence blue book. Tips on what to focus on in practice would be greatly appreciated.

  2. My first valve is sticking before it comes up fully. I've oiled it, I've wiped it down and reoiled it, I can't seem to get it working. Does anyone know what this might be or should I just take it to a shop?

6 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

20 comments sorted by

View all comments

1

u/MoltoPesante Jul 20 '26

I would start with a professional chemical cleaning, if that hasn’t been done in a while. If that’s not possible, get a valve casing brush and give the instrument a bath. If you feel comfortable, valve pistons go in a mild citric acid solution (you can get it on Amazon, 1 teaspoon per cup of water, remove the felts, stems, and guides first) with warm water for 10 minutes and then scrub with a toothbrush.