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Woodbury Music Department: Trombone

Music and Band Site

Famous Musicians

Famous Pieces

Famous People who Played

Paul Newman

Nelly Furtado

NASCAR's Tony Stewart

Bill Engvall (Larry the
Cable Guy).

Tips, Tricks and Techniques

How to get a good sound on trombone:

•    Check out the mouthpiece buzzing information on the trumpet page.

•    Develop an ideal trombone sound in your mind. Listen to as many great trombonists as you can, whether they're jazz or classical players. Even if you don't have access to recordings, you can surf the Web and likely be able to hear samples of great classical players like Christian Lindberg, Alain Trudel, Joe Alessi, and more, or great jazz artists like Urbie Green, Tommy Dorsey, (the list could be in the hundreds!).

•    Play long tones. Try playing something as simple as a B flat scale, holding each note as long as you can while emulating the sound of your favorite player. Try to think of filling your practice room with sound (not loud, just full). You can also try playing your favorite songs at incredibly slow tempos. Some people even practice long tones while watching sports on TV (with the sound off, of course.)

•    Use proper air support. Low range requires large volumes of air delivered at relatively low pressure. High range requires a small volume of air delivered at high pressure. Be sure to use the diaphragm to support the air flow. This is particularly important in the high range.

Trombone Jokes!

Q:How do you make a trombone sound better? 

A.Run it over with a lawnmower.   


Q:What's the first position a trombonist learns? 

A:Head tilted, arm above it, finger scratching scalp.   


Q:What's the difference between a trombone section and a saxophone section? 

A:The Trombone's weren't meant to sound like 2 cats in a fight, but they do.   


Q:How many trombone players does it take to pave a driveway?

 A:One if you spread him really thin.   


Q:How do you make a trombone player drive faster? 

A:Take the pizza sign off the top of his car.   

Q:Why did the trombone player cross the expressway during rush hour? 

A:Good question.


Q:What do the letters pp mean to a trombone player? 

A:1. An opportunity for an improvised solo 2. A polite reminder that he has been playing too loud for the past 5 minutes.


Q:  How do you get a trombone player to play slower? 

A:Put a page of music in front of him.   


Q:How do you get him to stop completely? 

A:Put notes on the page.