by David Park

Created on: January 09, 2009

Trombone? That's the weird one with the slide, right? Yes, the awe-inspiring instrument that is so often mistaken for a tuba, trumpet, or even a french horn if you're not learned in the art of brass instruments. The trombone is often associated as the "most difficult brass instrument to play, behind the french horn, of course." Sure, it doesn't have keys or valves (unless you play a valve trombone, but that's just cheating), but it is the most satisfying instrument to play that I know. As a tenor instrument, it can also play bass notes better than some tuba players and some trumpet notes while sounding more regal than a french horn ever could. All while being as loud or as soft as the player feels like.

When you learn the instrument, it is a very good idea to start by practicing using the mouthpiece. The standard trombone mouthpiece size is 12C, the same size as a generic Baritone or Euphonium. As you purse your lips together and buzz into the mouthpiece you can adjust your embouchure by tightening or loosening your buzzing lips. Tighter buzzing leads to higher pitches, and looser lips mean lower notes. Learn to play some tunes, such as Jeopardy, on the mouthpiece, and you'll be surprised at how much you can play on the trombone.

When you buzz into the mouthpiece when it's attached to the instrument, you'll be surprised to hear that the strange duck-sounding noises that were coming from just the mouthpiece before have been amplified and turned darker, into an actual note on the trombone. Now you can start really going at it. The trombone slide has seven positions, each of which you will eventually need to be familiar with. For example, first position is when the slide is all the way in, and third position is when the hand holding the slide is at the same place as the bell of the trombone. Don't worry if you can't reach seventh position! It's only needed for two notes, and neither of them is used often. As you become more experienced, you realize that not all the positions sound quite right for you, and you can adjust accordingly by pulling the position in or out a little. That's the beauty of a trombone, nothing is set in stone. If it sounds right, then it's right!

Back to the lip-buzzing. When you play, you'll notice as you tighten your lips that the note doesn't change very much, but then it'll 'jump' up, and then jump again. There isn't a sliding of notes as you stay in one position, it seems to crack and move up or down in levels. These levels, which I like

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