I`ve played cornet now for 14 years and recently decided I`d like to try my hand at the bass trombone, so I bought one. I`ve noticed however that since I started playing the bass trombone (3days ago) I`m feeling less flexible when playing cornet. My father (a cornet player of almost 50 years) tells me that its perfectly normal and its due to the fact that I`m working muscles that haven`t been worked before. He assures me that it won`t have any long term negative affect on my cornet playing. I just wondered what you all thought about it. Also, my left hand and wrist are hurting pretty bad from holding the trombone. I`ve tried holding it slightly different ways but I can`t seem to find a comfortable position that also lets the triggers be accesible. Any advice you could offer a new trombone player would also be appreciated : )

Well, first off, what brand trombone is it? I`ve had the same problem with Chinese off-brands, like Maestro, where the trigger is in some god-awful place that after 1 minute of holding it, my whole arm wants to revolt.

It could be the same thing with your face, though. Where-as once you get used to it, the problem will go away. After all, like you said, you are using muscles you aren`t used to.

It`s a Holton TR181 bass trombone. And I just now realized my name is almost identical to another person here so I will change it with the next post I make.

its just something to get used too, it will take a few days. but afterwards it will like nothing.

Ahhhhhh it`s a bass bone. So yeah, your face will just need a bit of time to get used to those muscles. I personally play an old Holton TR-180, which is not the same, but is similar. It could be that your hands, wrists, and arms just need to get used to this new activity, after all, bass trombone is not a light weight instrument. There are attachments that help with this as well.

This is cheaper one found on the Woodwind-Brasswind online catalog:
http://www.wwbw.com/Clebsch-Strap-Trombone-Support-System-i113141.music

And this is a more pricey one, (more than likely better) made by Edwards:
http://www.edwards-instruments.com/trombone/bullet.shtml

Thanks a lot for the help guys. Hopefully I`ll get used to it soon.

playing bass trombone after cornet can have a negative affect on your cornet embouchure because you are going to such a large mouthpiece compared to cornet. i`d recommend making a decision. if you choose cornet but still want to play another instrument try french horn, it has the same sive mouthpiece.

When I started thinking about playing bass trombone i was almost certain it would hurt my cornet playing. But I`ve been playing both cornet and bass trombone everyday for about 5 days now (cornet first, then rest, then bass trombone) and I havent found that its hurting my playing. It was odd at first but now that I`m getting used to it it`s not so bad. But I`m still not absolutely convinced so I`m paying particular attention to how my lips feel while playing cornet and if I start to see trouble I`ll sadly have to put the bass trombone down I`m really enjoying playing bass trombone but I could never give up the cornet.

thats how i approach bass trombone. I always start on my tenor then move to bass. I feel it centers my embochure and helps me settle when i set the bass.


btw TR-181... the older you buy the better. for some reason the old ones always played well for me.. never liked the new ones.

hi i played cornet 4 a few tears then got told my mouth was to big (lol) so i changed to trombone and i find it hard to play cornet cos its a much smaller mouthpiece but if your having no problems keep goin or if not you may need to chose

I just got a trombone today and I have no idea how to play it! Help!

"Trombone player 88", This might seem patronising but you did ask. "Blow a rasperry" or make a buzzing sound into the mouthpiece. Once you can do this, tighten your lips and stomach and blow harder to get a higher note(resist the temptation to press your lips hard against the mouthpiece)There are seven positions for the slide and I think