Q&A for How to Play the Trombone

A sharp goes higher in pitch. To play sharper, pull in slightly on the slide from the position the note you wish to play is in. Over time your emboucher will allow you to manipulate the pitch of a note without moving the slide.

Try making a catchy song for the notes and positions. Also, you could practice the base notes for every position in your free time. Get a fingering chart to assist you.

Make sure you're tying it tightly and if that doesn't work, take it to your teacher or to a nearby instrument shop.

No, but you may want to try the p-bone, it is much lighter and offers a smaller size for children.

As a very general rule, yes. I always lined up fourth position generally with the bell also as my landmark, second and third positions were more of a fluid/listening choice for me. Second position always seems to be in tune closer to first position, and third position is always pretty close to fourth position (the bell) on most of my horns though.

Tenor trombone is a regular trombone. Non-regular trombones include the alto, bass, soprano and contrabass, as well as valve trombones and "superbones," or trombones with both valves and a working slide.

The positions are the same as a regular trombone, except the F attachment acts in replacement of going to 6th position. So, you could play low C T1 (trigger first position). This means it can replace B natural or 7th position can be played T2 (trigger second position). This also allows you to hit what would be false tones on a trombone without a trigger, such as low Eb below the staff all the way down to the B before you hit pedal Bb.

In music theory, the term C major specifies the notes C, E, and G, in no particular order. A trombonist usually plays one note at a time. However, Bill Watrous can be heard singing various intervals against the notes he plays on his trombone. Students should learn how to play a C major scale and a C major arpeggio before they start trying to imitate Bill Watrous. To play a C major scale on a Bb tenor trombone, start with the low C in sixth position. This C is the second note of the Bb scale that was learned in the question answered before. The slide positions for the C major scale are 6, 4, 2, 1, 4, 2, 4, 3. The slide positions for a C major arpeggio are: 6, 2, 4, 3.

There is no specific mouthpiece you can use the traditional mouthpiece which is what comes with most trombones or you can use a 6 1/2 AL mouthpiece which gives a higher quality sound.

Yes. Smaller mouthpieces, such as the 6 1/2 AL, typically have a bit of a brighter, sharper tone. I use a 6 1/2 for jazz because it pops more. However, bigger mouthpieces, such as the 5G, create a deeper, more resonant tone, used more for orchestral playing.

When the noise travels down, it creates a deeper sound and when you raise your chin it up, it makes a higher sound (look back at 6&7 steps again).

6 1/2 AL. All of my students use it to begin; it is the industry standard for beginners.

Most of the time the positions are completely different if you're playing natural (i.e. Bb is in first position and B is in seventh). If you feel like you're not playing the right note, you can download a tuner and have it play the note.

It depends on the type of lock that you have. If you have the generic lock you can get a very small rubber mallet and wrap it in some sort of cloth, and carefully tap the little thing that wraps around the fixed part on the slide. If you have a higher class instrument like the one I currently use, it might be a different type of lock. It will look like a circle that twists around to lock. With this, I wrapped the lock itself with cloth, and ever so gently got an any-size-fits-all wrench and twisted it off with that. The cloth in this situation is to prevent scratching. If that doesn't work take it into your local music shop.

Your arm doesn't need to be any specific length, but you may have to use your fingertips to play 7th if you have shorter arms. If you still can't reach it, you can adjust your hand so that, instead of holding the slide in place with the handle, you can use the part of the slide closer to you just off the handle.

Right (slide) hand: grab lower bar on the slide with two fingers and a thumb, other two fingers rest beneath. Left hand: whatever's comfortable. Be sure to have the bar on the bell part and the upper bar on the slide part.

There are 31 notes, including sharps, flats and natural. All played using the 7 positions.

The highest note on tenor trombone varies from player to player, but usually the top range of a trombone is around F5-G5.

Well, C Flat is enharmonic to the note B natural, which means that it is in 7th position. Enharmonic basically means synonyms but for note names. For example F# = Gb, Bb = A#, etc.

The first sharp is always F a the first flat is always B. The sharps go in this order: FCGDAEB and the flats go in this order: BEADGCF. An easy way to remember it is for sharps use the mnemonic Father Charles Goes Down And Ends Battle and for flats use the mnemonic Battle Ends And Down Goes Charles' Father.

Trombones don't have keys; they have slide positions. The number of slide positions is 7.

The slide positions are 1, 6, 4, 3, 1, 4, 2, 1; and the notes are Bb, C, D, Eb, F, G, A and Bb. Keep in mind that the last B flat is high.

You may want to search "How to read bass clef". A good way to remember the note names is to remember them from the bottom up, the spaces between the staff lines are A,C,E, then G or "All Cows Eat Grass" to make it easier to remember. The lines on the staff from the bottom up are G,B,D,F, and A or "Good Boys Don't Fight Animals". There are many helpful videos, worksheets, and games online on this topic and you should try different methods of learning to see what works for you.

Think about which type of music you want to play. If possible, rent both the instruments from a nearby music store so you can see for yourself which one you prefer.

Try looking in the mirror when you play, and correcting yourself. If you subconsciously do it, then ask a friend to point it out. It just takes practice. Try not to get into the habit of puffing out your cheeks early on.

Gender doesn't play a role in your ability to play the trombone. There isn't really a reason for most trombone players being male, except that it is seen as a stereotypically "male" instrument.

No third position is slightly before the bell and 4th is correct but depends on the person, no set positions, just areas.

People with respiratory issues can (usually) play it, but it might be a bit harder for them.

It likely means that you need to project your sound further. Try keeping an opened jaw and use faster breathing.