Chapter 2:  Your First Sound

  • To begin, open your trombone case.  Make sure the case is right side up when you open it!  Normally, the brand of the trombone will be marked on the top.
  • For this first skill you will only need the mouthpiece.

The Holy Mouthpiece!
Use it well!

  • Once you have your mouthpiece in hand, watch the video below.  You'll learn how to sit with good posture and make your first sound on the mouthpiece.
Practice the exercise in the video until you can get a nice strong buzz.  If you are having difficulty, try covering half of the end of the mouthpiece with your finger.  This will make it slightly easier to get a buzz. 

Picture
If you are getting no sound at all, it is likely because:
1)  Your lips are not in the "B" formation.  Watch the video and check your lip formation in a mirror.
2)  You aren't blowing a strong enough stream of air to make your lips vibrate.  Breath deep and exhale a strong stream of air!
Now that you have a good buzz, we are going to learn how to move the sound of our buzz up and down.

Moving Up and Down

To make the pitch (sound), go up:

  • Make your lips slightly tighter
  • Blow colder air, as if you were blowing out candles on a birthday cake.

To make the pitch (sound), go down:

  • Make your lips slightly looser
  • Blow warmer air, as if you were trying to warm your hands up when it's very cold outside.

To earn your first Gem of Mastery:

See if you can make the sound go up and down like in the sound clip below.  If you can go further up and down, that's great!  If you can't do it yet, keep trying!   If you still can't get the sound to move, try taking a break and coming back to it.

When you have mastered the skill, click below: