Q&A for How to Have Better Tone on a Trombone

Air speed -- faster air will help you get high notes out. Aside from that, you have to practice, and doing lip slurs is the easiest way to increase range. If you start low and practice slurring up, you won't be able to change your embouchure, and you'll learn how to play higher with the same embouchure.

It is not recommended, as you get an extremely poor tone quality. The best tone is made at the front of the lips, with a full embouchure.

Make sure you are buzzing with a steady stream of air at all times. If you don't do this, notes tend to crack. Make sure your spit valve is empty before you play. A little bit of spit can mess up the note in big ways. Remember to always keep an open throat and have good posture (edge of your chair, sitting up straight and relaxed). The tips in here are for intermediate players and won't help you if you aren't doing the basics.

The "O" part is just telling you to open the inside of your mouth. You should still be buzzing your lips.

They normally give you the size they think best for you at the music store, but if you get home and the mouthpiece is too small or too big, you can just take it back and exchange it for a different size.

Just work on long tones on middle and low ranges. Also, check to make sure you are not applying too much mouthpiece pressure. Pressing too hard on the lower lip will cause your tone to sound pinched. If that doesn't work, check and make sure there is a constant flow of air.

Ultimately the best advice is to practice, practice, PRACTICE. Practice is going to be your best preparation for a solo. It's also a good idea to practice sitting up straight so that your air will flow easily during your actual performance without you having to think about it.

If your sound comes out fuzzy, it is possible that you have too much water in your instrument. Release the water key.

When that happens, you know you ran out of stamina. Sputtering your lips only gives you a little bit of stamina back. To improve stamina, you just need to play more often.

Work on tucking in your cheeks by strengthening them. This is achieved by playing often. Watch people play who can tuck and try to mimic them.

An "o" vowel shape is the general vowel shape for playing concert and orchestral music because it forces you to have an open throat shape, resulting in clean tone. But, a clean tone isn't always wanted in jazz so they use "a" (for low/mid range) and "y" (for upper range) to get a funkier, more expressive tone.

Make sure you have good embochure and bringing your lip higher up on the mouth piece instead of letting your jaw drop.

To learn to buzz, try making the sound of a horse, or that of a mosquito. Then do the same with an mouthpiece against your mouth. Then, learn the notes you are most naturally able to play and eventually you will learn to buzz with more precision and learn higher notes.

Yes! It is unorthodox and you will have to get used to moving the slide with your left hand instead but since you are new to trombone that shouldn't be as much of an issue.

That will happen! It sucks but it just takes some time to work it back up again. Play long tones in the high range to strengthen the sound up there and work on getting a good tone.

It might be that you aren't using your air efficiently. Make sure not to press the trombone to your face in high notes, and play long tones in that range frequently to strengthen your sound. Push air from your stomach, make sure to drink water during your practice time, and take 5-10 minute breaks every 40 minutes or so. A day off from playing once every two weeks or so can also be extremely beneficial. You're not overworking at all - keep the great work up!