A tenor trombone is always tuned in Bb, but unlike the trumpet, it is a non transposing instrument. (I suppose that is because trombone players like to call a bone for a bone instead of a Bb for a C…) There are two main types of tenor trombones, the small bore trombone and the large bore trombone. Both can be fitted with an F attachment. The bore refers to the actual size of the tubing, measured at the point where you insert the mouthpiece. This results in the need of two series of mouthpieces, built to fit either small or large bore horns.

The small bore trombone is typically used by jazz players, and has a bright sound. Due to the larger tubing, the large bore trombone is more mellow, and is the first choice among classical trombone players. I use to describe the difference in sound by comparing the sound of a jazz or pop singer with an opera singer´s, although the difference is not that big on small and large bore trombones.

Small bore trombone
Small bore trombones, often called jazz trombones, usually have a bore spanning between .480″ to around .510″ (or 12,2-13mm), and the bell size is usually between 6,5″-8″ (165-203mm). The typical mouthpieces used with small bore horns have the size of read more »

or more accurate:
A TROMBONE LESSON ABOUT INTONATION

“The Trombone is the only instrument that in theory can play in perfect tune, but in practice never does.”

Sokrates, March 17, 421 B.C.

Luckily, since his days, trombones has evolved and are now made of metal instead of clumsy and heavy marble. And many trombone players have learned to actually play in tune as well! But Sokrates was on to something. Since we have a slide instead of valves, we can actually adjust the pitch and make it perfect without compensating with the lips. On a valve brass instrument, you have to do the work with the embouchure, or maybe a trigger on some notes.

So, what about that 20 positions trombone???
While most text books and teachers argue that the standard trombone has 7 positions, I would say that any trombone in practice has more than 20 positions, so the trombone on the picture is actually your trombone! read more »

There are a series of articles here on Digitaltrombone about flexibility for brass players, and they all have their distinct advantages. Many trombone flexibility exercises tend to have a rather uninspiring rhythm and focus mainly on changing notes.

With these trombone exercises, I have added some rhythmical flavor, making them a bit more fun to play, but most of all, adding a new challenge to the concept of flexibility.

You should focus on playing these patterns as effortless as possible. Whenever you are changing note or changing from quarter notes to eight notes, think light and easy, rather than trying to nail it with force. More ballet, less sumo. read more »

How to improve your trombone playing with 5 minutes of theory (and a lot more practice…)
or
The only way to get to the next level of brass playing
or
Get that music-school-trombone-sound out of my life!!!
or
The truth about one of the worst and most common bad habits among brass players

Are you convinced that you continue reading this? Good, then let us get down to business! This post is about attack and tonguing for trombone players and ALL other brass players. This post is about how to discover one of the most common bad habits among brass players – and more important – how to get rid of it. read more »

How come the saxes always get to play all the fun parts in big bands? Cool, beautiful and hip melody lines, accompanied by an occasional “bap” or “do-bauw” from the brass section. Ok, it is not the whole truth, but there are some fun sax parts that are (reasonably) playable on trombone as well. Do I need to say how good it will sound when played on trombone?

Thad Jones is known for his brilliant music for big band, and Groove Merchant is one of my favorites. Especially the sax chorus is amazing. Full-fat super-hip lines with intense voicings, this is Thad at his best! And even better, it is actually quite suited for trombone. Admitted, it is a bit technically challenging, but the range is spot on – when playing it an octave below the lead soprano. I wrote out the harmony as well, it´s a fun piece to solo on. read more »

It does´t matter if you are a jazz or classical player, you still want to make music. And you should still make music in your practice room. A really good way to get some music into your daily routine at an early stage, is to play some free improvisation. Again, it does not matter what genre you play, as a matter of fact, if you are a non-improviser I would say that this tip is even more important!

Here is what I want you to do:
Find a simple warm up exercise and play it for a few minutes, just to get some air through the horn. Then you play a totally free improvisation for five minutes. Just play, and see where it takes you! Don´t worry about stiff lips, bad sound ore any other detail that probably would distract you if you where playing your standard 4 pages of flexibility exercises.

“But I have never learned how to improvise!” No problem. Here is the key: read more »

Yet another flexibility exercise – seems to be that time of the year! These patterns show you some ways to get out of the first-down-to-seventh-position-playing-the-same-pattern-mode, making it more fun to play. This also makes your flexibility practicing come closer to the actual use of it in real music.

Many trombone (and other brass players) tend to do their flexibility home work, but as soon as they start moving the slide around, they put an attack on every note and cut up their airflow. Don´t go there! On of the benefits of flexibility exercises, is that it improves your legato playing – that is, if you actually use your flexibility skills. Both legato and flexibility should focus on constant air flow! read more »

Did you miss part 1 in this series? Read more here: Flexibility on trombone and mouthpiece – Part 1.

In this second part with exercises for both trombone and mouthpiece, the focus is on octaves and a mix of staccato and legato playing. The idea is to work on mouthpiece and trombone simultaneously to make sure that you use a similar embouchure. Beware of the pitch on the mouthpiece, especially when playing staccato phrases.

When a task is repeated over time, the muscle memory will be better and better at remembering how to do it, eventually allowing it to be performed without very much effort. This is important when playing on the mouthpiece since there is no tubing to “force” the lips to vibrate with the correct speed. You should combine this with using your ears to be able to hear the next pitch, before you play it.

By practicing the switch from mouthpiece to trombone, you will improve instrument control and your ability to hit the right pitch on the trombone.

The trick with playing on mouthpiece alone, is also to use the muscles at the side of the mouth where the lips meet, without creating tensions elsewhere in your body, disturbing the free air flow.

Good luck!

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You will find this exercise and many others in the book Flexibility for Trombone – 38 pages in print friendly pdf format.

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No secret for trombone and other brass players that practicing flexibility is one of the keys to good technique and chops! Playing the same exercise on both mouthpiece and instrument is great both for building up strength and gaining more control over the instrument.

Slightly re-inventing the wheel, I have made a bunch of trombone exercises that focus on playing both on the trombone and the mouthpiece. They are supposed to be played first on trombone and then on mouthpiece, but as a variation you could start with the mouthpiece. There will be some fiddling around with the mouthpiece on and off, but please bare with me on this one. read more »

Ask a trumpet player if he would rather play the lead part of Thad Jones´ ballad To You twice in a row, or have a sex change surgery! This tune is a great example on demanding static playing – lots of long, soft notes and few breaks to relax the lips.

When practicing a brass instrument, I make the distinction between static and dynamic exercises. Static exercices are based on long notes and slow legato lines with the lips constantly vibrating. This slowly build up lactic acid in the muscles controlling the lips, and make them stiff and numb. Dynamic exercices at the other hand, are built up around shorter notes, variation, staccato phrases and more space between the notes. read more »