Teach Me Trombone
Trombone Assembly, Daily Maintenance, and Slide Care
As a new trombone player you need to know how to assemble and take care of your trombone. Here are two fantastic videos showing you exactly how to do this. The video on the left is daily maintenance and assembly and the video on the right will show you how to clean the inside of your trombone.
Bath Time!
Parts of the Trombone
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1. The Bell Unit
2. The Outer Slide
3. The Inner Slide
4. The Mouthpiece
5. Main Tuning Slide
This is what the trombone looks like after you put it together. The inner slide goes inside the outer slide tubes. The mouthpiece is inserted into the outer slide unit.
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Assembling the Trombone in Six Easy Steps:
1. Make sure that your case is set on a flat surface like the floor, or a table. Never open it up on your lap.
2. Pick up the bell unit with the bell facing down.
3. Next pick up the slide unit and slide the tennon into the receiver.
4. Rotate the slide until it is one inch away from the edge of the bell.
5. Turn the slide lock nut clockwise until it is finger tight.
6. Put the mouthpiece into the slide unit and turn half an inch
Tip: Never pound the mouthpiece in because it can get stuck. If your mouthpiece does get stuck ask your teacher to help you remove it with a special mouthpiece puller.
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How to give your trombone a bath.
Steps to bathing your trombone:
1. Place a towel on the bottom of your bath tub, and fill the tub with warm soapy water.
2. Disassemble your trombone and submerge all the parts in the soapy water.
3. Let your trombone soak for about twenty minutes in the water.
4 Use your trombone pipe snake and scrub out the inner slide tubes.
5. Do the same thing with your outer slide unit, your tuning slide and your bell unit.
6. Re-submerge each piece and rinse out the grime that you just scrubbed loose.
7. Thread a small piece of cheese cloth through the eyelet of your trombone cleaning swab rod and swab out the slides to remove any final debris that may be hiding inside.
8. Dry off your trombone with a paper towel.
9. Grease your tuning slide and reassemble on your bell unit.
10. Oil your inner slide, distribute the oil.
11. Reassemble your inner slide with the outer slide.
12. Spray the inner slide tubes with distilled water.
Holding the Trombone
Your right hand is going to hold the slide unit that you will use to change pitch. Hold it with two fingers and your thumb. the other two fingers should be underneath. Avoid grasping it with your knuckles because it will make the movement less smooth.
Your left hand will hold the trombone up. The index finger rests up on the mouthpiece. The two fingers and your pinky grasp the first brace,(think inside the box) and your thumb should rest over the brace of the bell.
Tuning your Trombone
When you tune your instrument in ensemble playing, you will want to match the pitches of the other instruments. Often band directors will tune to concert B flat. Before tuning to Bb, It's a good idea to play 4th line F three or four times. This note should be 4 to 6 cents sharp on your tuner.
Play some lip slurs from 2nd line B flat to 4th line F several times to insure proper tuning of the F. Do the same from 4th line F up to B flat. If your trombone has the F attachment, tune the 4th line F. Try to match the pitch of the trigger with the open first position F.
In addition to your initial tuning of your instrument, various pitches on the trombone will be naturally out of tune because of the size and shape of your instrument. You can make adjustments with your slide to compensate for this. Below is a chart of pitch tendencies for the trombone and you can print it out by clicking on the pdf button on the side. With practice, you will gain control over your intonation by following the recommendations on the chart.
Click on the PDF button for a
copy of this chart.
The Seven Slide Positions:
Instead of valves, like a trumpet, the trombone uses the slide at a fixed position for each set of pitches based on the overtone system. There are seven slide positions. Below are the pitches achieveable at each slide position. The interval (distance) between each slide position is a half step. (One key on the piano) Use your ear to help you find the correct position!
First Position
The slide is closed
Second Position
The slide is moved out 2.5"
Third Position
The slide is moved out 6.5"
Fourth Position
The slide is moved out 8.5"
Fifth Position
The slide is moved out 13.5 "
Db
Sixth Position
The slide is moved out 19"
Seventh Position
The slide is moved out 24"
Correct Posture and why it's important
It is important to have correct posture when you play your trombone. You should sit up with a straight back,
and forward in your chair. If your feet reach the floor than you should put them there. When you sit with correct posture you will be able to utilize the muscles in your diaphram needed to help you breath properly for your instrument. Slouching will lead to poor tone quality and should be avoided.
Correct Playing Posture:
Incorrect Playing Posture:
As a trumpet player, you are used to pushing down the valves of the trumpet in various combinations to play the different notes. You know that you can get several pitches with each valve combination that you use, based on the overtone series. For example, when you push down the first valve, you will be able to play these notes:
With the trombone the idea is the same but you use slide positions instead of valve combinations. For example, with the first slide position you can play these pitches. You will notice that the pitches are down one octave in sound compared to the trumpet.
Here is another example:
If you push down trumpet valve combination 1-2, than you get the A overtone series:
If you move your trombone slide to second position you also get the A overtone series, down one octave in sound.
There are seven valve combinations on the trumpet, and there are seven slide positions on the trombone.
Trumpet: Trombone:
C Series = Open (no valves pushed down) No Slide Position for the C Series on Trombone
B Series = Second Valve pushed down No slide Position for the B Series on Trombone
B flat Series = 1st Valve pushed down First Slide Position will give you the B flat Series
A Series = 1st and 2nd Valves pushed down together Second Slide Position will give you the A Series
A flat Series = 2nd and 3rd Valves pushed down together Third Slide Position will give you the A flat series G Series = 1st and 3rd Valves pushed down together Fourth Slide Position will give you the G series
G Flat Series = 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Valves pushed down together Fifth Slide Position will give you the G flat series
F Series (No Valve Combination) Sixth Slide Position will give you the F Series E Series (No Valve combination) Seventh Slide Position will give you the E series
If you would like more information on the overtone series, visit this website: http://www.bandworld.org/html/OvertoneIntro.html
From Valves to Slide
F Attachment Trombones
Most itermediate or professional trombones include an extra attachment of tubing which lowers the fundamental pitch from B-flat to F. The F attachment is engaged by using a trigger which operates a valve. This valve provides another set of slide positions available to the musician. Here are pictures of the F attachement trombone
The F Attachment trombone needs extra tubing. The arrow is pointing at the F trigger
Here is an up close look at the trigger that you need to push down to change the fundemental of the trombone from B-flat to F
How to Oil the F Attachment
Rotary Valve
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Oiling the Rotary Valve: The rotary valve needs to be oiled daily to keep it functioning properly. Remove the hand slide and hold the bell section of your trombone pointing up. Place a few drops of rotor oil into the hand slide receiver (Figure 1). After you put the oil in there, depress the thumb lever a few times to distribute the oil. Next, remove the valve cap and place a large drop of rotor spindle oil where the bearing pokes through the the valve cap. (This is the part that is raised in the center, Figure 2A) Screw the valve cap back on. Next, apply a few drops of the spindle oil to the rotar stem which is located between the stop arm and the top of the casing. (Figure 2B) Finally, if the rotary valve is designed using a mechanical metal linkage arm, apply a drop of lever oil to each linkage. (Figure 3) Work the socket back and forth to distribute the oil. If your rotary valve appears to have a problem, for example, excess noise, then you should take it to a repair technician. Do not remove the valve on your own because they are very fragile and can easily be damaged.
Oiling Rotary ValvesVideo
This video uses a
French horn to demonstrate oiling the rotary valves, but it can be applied to the trombone rotary valve.
The benefits of having an F attachment trombone :
It can help with playing faster rhythmic passages in your music where slide positions on the F trombone are far apart.
It Is helpful with playing slurs and legato style.
Disadvantages:
The tone and pitch may suffer a little in the upper register. You may need add an extra 1/4 onto the new slide position because of the extra tubing
With the F attachment, you will need to learn some new slide positions, but there is an easy way to do this.
Here is a slide position chart for both the Bb and F-trigger that
you can print out. Click on the PDF button
