Hello all, long term musician (12 years), beginner trombone player (1 week).

Just started learning the trombone (i am self teaching at the moment), but the notes I play are very gritty, buzzy and weak. (A low Bb isnt so bad, not excellent, but the problem is playing open F). Would I be right in persisting with the musician`s failsafe philosophy of practice makes perfect or perhaps some one can relate to this issue and reveal any secrets? I`m asking as i kept up the "getting used to it" philosophy on the guitar and it paid off. Thanks.

You don`t want to "just get used to it", cause if you get used to an incorrect embochure, it will never be right. Here are a couple things you can do.

1. Buzz with just the mouthpiece. Play the note on a piano, or guitar, whatever you have around, and then match that tone on your mouthpiece. That will get you used to having the correct figure on your mouth to play a certain tone.

2. Once you have the note in tune on just te piece, put it in the horn and do it all again. Move the slide up and down, in and out of intonation, as well as your lips, going flat and sharp, and land on the note. That will get your chops used to a certain embochure to play the notes without the buzzing sound, and in tune.

3. As for the weak sound, we brass players have 3 rules to fixing about everything.
1. air
2. Air
3. AIR!

Fill up that horn, and then when you have a good solid ff, use the same amount of air and play pp. Now you have a full sound at all dynamic levels.

Nice erik AIR AIR and AIR .

A tip try buzing with out a mouthpiece it is like your spitting in the air or somthing. It will help. Also push your mouth piece up so that the mouthpiece is clear up under your nose not quite touching it then slowly (really slowly )move it down just a smidge then play it a while and then move it down again till you find the spot that is most coimfortable for you or that sounds the best.

Good luck

getting used to listening to trombone helps. You have to know how you want it to sound so you can create that sound. So try singing the note you want then buzz then play. relax too...

Hehehe good point. It`s hard, and kinda worthless, to practice something while not knowing what your goal is. You should listen as much as you can, to several different people/sections if you can. Take that sound, or sounds, and work towards that. But, like I said, in order to get there, you must use more air.

If I had a dollar for every time I told my students something like "use more air" or "fill it up!", I would be rich. VERY rich.

Practice DOES NOT make perfect

If you practice incorrectly. then you will incorrectly perform.

Practice makes permanents (tick off your Music directors with logic)

wow, what a great response- nice to know there are so many helpful people out there. I tried out eriks suggestions yesterday (his post was the only one there when i last came on here), and its getting better. (Got some beautiful ffs out of it, and some good pps as well ) As for the other tips, i`m gonna try some of them out tonight to see which ones work well for me. Would be a good idea to listen to some more trombone solos- as the only vast listening experience i have with them is in the ensembles i`ve played in. And i like sacbut`s philosophy, and for the most part agree with it, in the sense of practicing mistakes/ bad habits into your performance. They can sometimes take longer to iron out than doing it properly in the first place! Thanks again guys, I look forward to having a lot of fun with this!

One thing i tell all of the trombone players who have "poor tone" ( weak, choked, whimpy) is to OPEN YOUR DAMN THROAT. You have no idea how important this technique is on a brass instrument. I agree with the practicing correctly and buzzing replies, but you must remember, no matter what note you are playing, your throat should be open so wide you could fit oprah down there, and your embochure should stay relatively the same with every note you play. Air is the most important, if you have a problem, try running and exercising more.
If you want a tip from a pretty good player, try the embochure strengthening technique, take a pen, doesnt matter what kind, place the very end (not the side where the ink comes out idiot) and hold it straight out in front of your mouth using JUST YOUR LIPS. be sure not to bite on it, close your teeth, and put it in just far enough to touch your teeth. THis is a great way to quickly strengthen your mouth muscles, and you can do it while watching tv! ...Or getting head :D

I USED TO HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM.I WAS TAUGHT HOW TO PLAY THE T-BONE BY AN INSTRUCTOR. TO MAKE AN EMBOUCHURE HE TOLD ME TO SAY THE LETTER `M`. IT REALLY HELPED ME. WHEN I BLOW I USUALLY THINK THE WORD `TWO` (IT WORKS FOR ME IT MITE B DIFFERENT FOR U). WHEN U WANT TO SLUR THINK OF THE WORD `DAH`. WHEN U WANT TO PLAY A HIGH NOTE U HAVE TO TIGHTEN UR EMBOUCHURE ACCORDINGLY. WHEN YOU BLOW, DONT PUFF UR CHEEKS. MAKE SURE U GET A LOT OF AIR. ALSO WHEN YOU PLAY DON`T TIGHTEN UP UR STOMACH MUSCLES..... IT PREVENTS U FROM PRODUCING A SMOOTH SOUND.