Trombone Tip: Think LOUD – Play Soft

Do you want to be able to play softly with a full, confident sound—without worrying if the note will start cleanly? Then thinking loud – playing soft is for you. Let’s dive in.

Open Up to Play Loud

To play loud, you need to open up your throat and chest to make room for the air. Just squeezing out more air won’t cut it. Sure, it will make you play louder, but your sound will suffer—and we all know how painful a suffering trombone can sound!

Instead, prepare your body as if you’re about to play loud with a full tone, then hold onto that sensation while playing softly. This gives the air plenty of space to flow freely, resulting in a more responsive attack and a rich, overtone-filled sound even when playing pianissimo.

The perfect trombone exercise for this

This month’s free exercise is perfect for practicing the Think LOUD – Play Soft approach. Try it! (I will, as soon as I have finished this article!) The exercise is originally from the book Trombone Flexibility but can also be found in the member’s section when it’s no longer this month’s freebie.

The idea is simple but effective: start as softly as possible and build up the sound gradually to a powerful, controlled fortissimo. Then you reverse the action by starting in fortissimo and make a fast decrescendo to pianissimo. In practice, I tend to make more of an instant dynamic change rather than playing crescendo or diminuendo.

The key to success is keeping the airflow steady and avoiding tension, especially in the throat. If your sound wavers or cracks, dial back the intensity and refocus on smooth air support. You’re aiming for a seamless crescendo that feels as natural as turning up a faucet rather than forcing a high-pressure jet of water.

Remember, don’t play so loudly that you lose the core of your trombone sound! The goal is a controlled, resonant crescendo that maintains a beautiful tone from the softest pianissimo to the fullest fortissimo. But to achieve this, you should be careful not to go beyond your limits. If you feel comfortable controlling your sound going from mp to mf, this is your starting point, and then try to increase the dynamic range to span from piano to forte.

Don’t underestimate the benefits of thinking loud before playing soft. Preparing your body for a strong note and then “fooling” it by playing softly will give you increased control over your instrument. This builds your confidence, and soon you are spiraling towards trombone greatness—and that is a marvelous place to be.

A Trombone Player’s Engine

Think of it like car engines: A small 4-cylinder can be turbocharged and tuned to deliver all the power you need, but it sounds terrible. A big, relaxed V8 can produce the same power effortlessly—and sound amazing. Luckily, since trombones run on air, not fossil fuels, we don’t have to worry about the downsides of big displacement or emissions.

Go find your inner V8 and make your trombone sing at low volume. Just promise me not to overblow your horn! Nobody likes a 4-cylinder trombone…

Slide on,

Anders Larson
Open throat advocate & founder of digitaltrombone.com

PS. But what about piano pianissimo, you might wonder? Don’t bother—we do play the trombone, after all. 😎