How to make your first sound on trombone

A trombone makes sound the same way every brass instrument does: your lips buzz into the mouthpiece, and the trombone makes that buzz louder and turns it into a note. This guide goes one step at a time, from opening the case to your first note and working out which note you played. Trombone music is written in bass clef at concert pitch, so the notes here look exactly like the ones in your band book.

Step 1: Put the trombone together

A trombone comes in three pieces: the slide, the bell section, and the mouthpiece. The slide is the delicate one. Even a small dent can make it stick, so always hold it by its braces, never by the tubes.

• Check the slide lock. The lock keeps the slide from sliding off. Make sure it's on before you lift the slide out of the case.
• Stand the slide up. Hold it by the braces with the rubber bumper resting on the floor.
• Add the bell section. Hold it by the brace, never the bell rim, and fit its receiver onto the slide tube without the mouthpiece receiver (A in the picture).
• Set the angle, then tighten. Turn the bell until it makes a little less than a right angle with the slide. Tighten the lock nut with your fingers. Snug is enough; never use tools.
• Mouthpiece last. Put it in the other tube with a gentle twist. Don't tap it in, or it can get stuck.

Before you play, unlock the slide and move it out and back a few times. It should glide without any force. If it sticks, ask your teacher about slide cream or oil.

Step 2: Hold the trombone

Your left hand holds the trombone. Your right hand only moves the slide, so it should stay light and loose.

• Left hand does the work. Thumb under the bell tube, index finger along the mouthpiece receiver, other fingers around the slide's fixed tube. Hold the trombone so your right hand could let go and nothing would move.
• Right hand stays light. Fingertips on the hand slide brace, like holding a pencil. Don't make a fist.
• Sit or stand tall. Bring the trombone to your mouth, not your head down to the trombone. The bell points straight ahead and the slide stays about level.
• Lock the slide every time you set the trombone down, and lay it flat or on a stand, never leaning against a chair.

Step 3: Place the mouthpiece

Your embouchure (say "AHM-bah-shur") is the way you shape your lips and face to play. Practice this step with the mouthpiece alone, off the trombone.

• Say "mmm." Your top and bottom lips touch gently. That's where they start.
• Firm corners, relaxed middle. Keep the corners where they are for "mmm." Don't smile; smiling stretches your lips thin.
• Teeth a little apart, so the air has room, and a flat chin pointed down.
• Center the mouthpiece side to side. Many trombonists have a little more of it on the top lip than the bottom.
• Rest it, don't press. Use only enough pressure to keep the air from leaking out around the rim.

Step 4: Buzz on the mouthpiece

Breathe in through your mouth, slow and deep, like a relaxed yawn. Your belly and sides should get bigger and your shoulders should stay down. Then blow warm air through your lips into the mouthpiece. Your lips should flutter and make a buzz.

• Start with your tongue. Put the tip behind your top teeth and whisper "tah." Don't pop the air out with your lips, like "puh."
• Low and loose. A trombone buzz is lower and looser than a trumpet's: more like a motorboat than a bee.
• Only air? Your lips are too far apart. Close them gently. Nothing at all? They're squeezed shut. Relax them and blow more air.
• Buzz for 3 or 4 seconds, rest, and try again. Then try a slow siren: start low, slide up, and come back down.

Step 5: Play your first note

Put the mouthpiece back in with a gentle twist. Unlock the slide, but keep it all the way in. That's 1st position, and for your first notes you don't need to move the slide at all.

Take a full breath, set your embouchure, and start the note with "tah." Then keep the air going. Your first note will probably be one of these two, both in 1st position:

B♭ is lower and needs a looser, slower buzz. F needs a little faster air. Play whichever one comes out first, and try to hold it for 4 slow counts.

Which note did you play?

Each slide position plays a whole family of notes, called partials. The slide stays still; your lips and air pick the note. In 1st position, the family you'll find first looks like this:

• Hum, then play. Tap a note above, hum it, then play it. Hearing the note in your head first is the quickest way to land on it.
• Too low? Firm the corners a little and use faster air. Too high? Relax your lips and use slower, warmer air.
• Check with a tuner. Trombone is a concert-pitch instrument, so the letter the tuner shows is the note you're playing. If it reads a little flat, make sure the slide is all the way in.
• Let the microphone check. In Play the Note in Brass Trainer, you see a note, play it, and the microphone checks whether you landed on it or on another note in the family.

If you only hear air

Air with no note means the air is getting through without making your lips buzz.

• Lips too far apart. Say "mmm" again so they touch, then start the air with "tah."
• Loose corners. Air leaks out the sides, or your cheeks puff. Firm the corners and keep your cheeks against your teeth.
• Not enough air. A thin trickle of air can't start the buzz. Take a full breath and blow a steady stream.
• Air hissing around the rim. Center the mouthpiece so the rim seals all the way around.
• Go back a step. Buzz your lips alone, then the mouthpiece alone. Once the mouthpiece buzzes, the trombone will too.

If the note won't last

Lots of first notes start well, then fade, wobble, or stop after a second. That's almost always the air.

• Take a full breath, not a quick sip. Trombone uses more air than most band instruments.
• Keep blowing after the note starts. The tongue only starts the note. Think "tahhhh," not "tah."
• Same air speed the whole way. If the sound fades, your air is slowing down. Imagine blowing a steady stream all the way across the room.
• Stay relaxed. A tight throat or raised shoulders choke the air. Keep your throat open, like saying "oh."
• Build up slowly. Hold for 4 counts and rest for 4. When that's easy, try 6, then 8.
• Rest your lips. Tired lips can't keep buzzing. Rest as long as you play.

Common first-day problems

Your first week

Keep it short. Practice about 10 minutes a day, and rest as much as you play.

Once you can play a few notes, use these to check your work:

For your next step, see how to get a better sound on trombone.