Hello. I just rented a trombone 3 days ago. I was wondering if anyone could awesomely provide some things I should know, tips, etc. I am sort of having trouble hitting high notes (can`t really do anything above Bb above the open note). Much appreciated.

John

have you played any wind instrument before? if not, then keep with the notes on the staff first, because acustom to them, and be able to play them well, build up your chops (you mouth muscles) so you can start hitting above the break. don`t start out by whaling higher notes, screws up your mouth for a day of so, makes your mouth painful.
Always warm up properely, especially when your first starting out, don`t puff your cheeks, buy a trombone book, that will tell you the notes and such, what type of trombone do you have?
get a turtor so that they can help you out in person and tell you what your doing wrong that we can not.

have you played any wind instrument before? if not, then keep with the notes on the staff first, because acustom to them, and be able to play them well, build up your chops (you mouth muscles) so you can start hitting above the break. don`t start out by whaling higher notes, screws up your mouth for a day of so, makes your mouth painful.
Always warm up properely, especially when your first starting out, don`t puff your cheeks, buy a trombone book, that will tell you the notes and such, what type of trombone do you have?
get a turtor so that they can help you out in person and tell you what your doing wrong that we can not.

No I haven`t. I`ve been puffing my cheeks a little bit, but I`m trying not to. I have a Jupiter 132L.

hi i`m brandon the best way to hit the higher notes are to tighten the edges of your lips do not spit alat and drain your water key after playing do not take the slide off oil 3 times every two weeks do not ding or touch slide brandon 12 yr old player

yah...johnney O, that really good advice, i wonder where you got that from? lol

ohhh...oops, i just noticed that you were asking that question, sorry,
but what size mouthpiece do you use?
stop puffing your cheeks,
clean your horn once a month in a bathtub, yes, bathtub with water, run a trombone snake through it to get the particles like food, sugary stuff, and all that out, but put it in warm water, not too hot, not too cold. If you put it in hot water the laquer will come off, or the stuff that protects the finish and all that, you need that. Also with the part of the slide you move (outer slide) don`t leave that in the water for very long otherwise the water key (spit valve) pad will come off and your horn will be almost useless. clean out the mouthpiece reguarly (once a week will be plently). Change the slide grease once a week. You can buy slide Slide-O-Mix, thats really good stuff, but it doesn`t last very long, you can also get superslick, its a greese though, but with barely any on the slide it works really well. keep up the work and don`t puff your cheeks, try to get someone else to play with so they can spot mistakes

Good luck

Why should you not puff your cheeks? And do you need to keep them totally flat? Sorry, I` pretty much clueless.

When you puff your cheeks, you loose control and flexability in your mouth.

Bad.

They don`t have to be "perfectly" flat, but try not to puff them out. Don`t worry, you`ll get used to it.

The other reason why you shouldn`t puff your cheeks is because when you puff your cheeks, the muscles in the corners of your mouth (the ones that control the vibrations of your lips, and thus producing sound) loosen up, making it harder to play.

keep up the work