SLIDING INTO SUCCESS WITH BEGINNING TROMBONE INSTRUCTION BY MATTHEW S. LINER

Learning to become efficient and effective when helping students learn to play the most noble of all instruments is both challenging and rewarding. This article is a presentation of ideas and concepts that have been assembled by collecting tips and tricks from a variety of master teachers as well as lots of trial and error. That being said, instructors are often opinionated and may disagree with elements presented within. If you feel that your procedures are more effective, great. I hope that you will share your methods with us/me in the near future. I’m always on the lookout for the next useful nugget of information or procedural technique to add to my instructional arsenal.

Let’s begin with identifying who will be invited/chosen to play trombone in the beginning band. It’ll be the students that couldn’t get a sound on the flute head joint, used a double lip embouchure when trying clarinet, and could only buzz a low C when trying the trumpet mouthpiece while at the instrument petting zoo meeting. In a way I’m kidding but at the same time, I’m not. I’ve placed students on trombone because they had little success on the other mouthpieces but it is most rewarding when a student chooses trombone because they have the greatest success with the trombone mouthpiece. If, after the first couple of petting zoo meeting nights, I see that the balance of the ensemble would benefit from more trombone players (when doesn’t that happen?), I will make a really big deal out of a kid that selects trombone at the petting zoo meeting so that the students that are waiting for their meeting might be a little more interested in trying the trombone.

The instrument petting zoo meetings provide a great opportunity to communicate the how, where, what, and when for parents to secure a good quality instrument for their child; a trombone that will allow them to be as successful as their work ethic. Nothing is as heartbreaking as having a student that gives their best effort but experience diminished success due to the limitations created by a poor-quality instrument.

The slide function is the most important element when evaluating the playing condition of a student’s instrument. A poor functioning slide will most certainly lead to a student developing bad habits with their posture, hand position, or both. When the inner slide is removed from the outer slide, the two should line up perfectly. If there are dents present on either slide, the instrument will need to be repaired prior to beginning instruction. The motion of the slide should be effortless. It is acceptable to request that the students not use the oil that is supplied with the rental trombone and use the premixed SlideO-Mix (black cap) and a water spray bottle instead.

The mouthpiece for the trombone is very important. At our school, all of our trombone players are started on a 6½ AL mouthpiece. If a student is using an older mouthpiece, we inspect the quality of the mouthpiece to make sure that the plating around the rim is intact. Mouthpieces with chipped plating should be replaced. It is also important to inspect the end of the shank to make sure that it is free of dents which could cause tone/intonation problems. If dents are present in the shank, they can be easily smoothed out with a truing tool.

It is important to instruct the students on proper posture before you go any further. Having students stand while learning and performing embouchure formation and buzzing exercises will help prevent seated posture errors.

We always begin tone production instruction by focusing on embouchure formation, focusing the air column, followed by buzzing without the mouthpiece. Buzzing with the mouthpiece adds a level of resistance that makes buzzing easier to achieve but I find that starting without the mouthpiece helps the student to use more and faster air which will result in a better air support later when they begin to play on the fully assembled instrument.

To begin the formation of a proper embouchure we have the students say “Ahhh Emmm.” The Ahhh keeps the teeth apart and the Emmm brings their lips together. It is important that the students keep their lips flat against their teeth when in the Emmm position. This seems to help prevent them from puckering or rolling their lips out. Always performing the “Ahhh Emmm” prior to telling them that their lips should be flat against their teeth also helps prevent them from pulling the corners of their mouth away from the center of the embouchure. One of the most difficult embouchure habits to correct is a student that stretches their lips flat to their teeth by smiling, moving the corners of their mouth toward their ears.

Once the student’s “Ahhh Emmm” embouchure formation is correct we begin to develop a focused column of air (still not buzzing). I have students form their embouchure (Ahhh Emmm) around a coffee stirrer straw that they are holding with their dominant hand. Once they form the embouchure around the straw I have them let go with their hand and hold the straw in place with their lips. This is when we talk about the angle of the straw. The straw should be pointed

Pedagogy

Starting Beginning Trumpets, Renee Todd, cont.

down at an angle, not parallel to the floor. This happens naturally with most students but some will have to work to get their top lip slightly more forward of, or over, their bottom lip. Once the straw is at the correct angle the students are instructed to remove the straw and blow air through the aperture for varying durations of time. Students can hold their palm one foot away from their mouth at their downward angle to feel the stream of air. As the air stream becomes more focused and they begin to blow with increased velocity they can move their palm further away. A focused air stream blown with adequate velocity can be felt with the palm at arm’s length. To get the lips buzzing, students only need to set their top lip down on top of the air stream. If students maintain firm corners and buzz with their lips flat to their teeth, it is doubtful that they will puff their cheeks when they play. If students are puffing their cheeks you can ask them to think “Ewww” when they play which will help firm their corners, bring their cheeks in, and flatten their chin.

Once students are buzzing correctly, we play different games (buzzing exercises) that will get the students to hold their buzz for different durations and begin to alter their aperture to buzz different pitches (siren and roller coaster exercises).

When it is time to start using the mouthpiece in buzzing exercises, you’ll need to teach the students the correct way to position the case for opening and closing the lid. The first step is to make sure that students have enough space around themselves for their case and assembling their instrument without interfering with their peers that are near them. I have students sit in every-other chair with their trombone case on the floor on the right side of their chair with the bell of the case facing forward and the handle facing up towards the ceiling. When we’re ready to begin using the mouthpiece or instrument I have the students reach down with their right hand and bring their instrument case around in front of them and place it flat on the floor with the label of the instrument manufacturer facing up toward the ceiling and the handle of their instrument case facing their toes. We unlatch the latches of their case and carefully lift the lid of their case so that their case opens fully. If we are just using the mouthpiece for buzzing exercises, we will remove our mouthpiece from the case and then immediately close the case and latch one latch before moving the case back to the right side of the chair with the bell facing forward. Because we use our mouthpiece with our nondominant hand there is a risk of dropping the mouthpiece. We want to make sure that the mouthpiece doesn’t fall and hit the body of the trombone in an open case that is positioned at our feet. A mouthpiece dropped on the outer slide will create a dent and prevent the slide from working properly.

When we add the mouthpiece to our buzzing exercises, we hold our mouthpiece on the shank using our nondominant hand. Using the nondominant hand on the shank of the mouthpiece prevents the student from using too much pressure of the mouthpiece on the embouchure.

Once students are achieving a consistent good quality buzz on the mouthpiece it is important to introduce articulation. Students must understand that the tongue releases the air to the aperture where the buzz is created. We teach the students to think “Tu” when releasing the air. The tip of the tongue begins on the roof of the mouth directly behind the top teeth and the air moves it to its resting position in the bottom of the mouth. Equally as important as the understanding of the tongue releasing the air is the understanding that the tongue interrupts the air stream to create consecutive notes on one long stream of air. Students that stop and start their air to begin and end consecutive buzzes will develop a habit of huffing to start and stop notes. It is vital that students can master the coordination of using their tongue to start consecutive notes on a single long stream of air quickly in order to avoid the development of incorrect articulation habits. Be sure to assess student achievement and look for movement of the jaw or lips. Movement in the lips could mean that the student is tonging between their teeth which will affect the tone quality at the beginning of notes. Moving the jaw when articulating will also affect the tone quality but will also alter the intonation at the initiation of the tone.

When it is time to assemble the trombone, students are instructed to prepare the case on the floor in front of them as provided previously. Assembling the instrument begins freeing/unsnapping any areas of the case that may be securely holding either the slide or the bell in the case. Students are asked to remove the slide portion of the instrument from the case with both hands. They are told to position the slide vertically so that the open ends of the slide tubing facing the ceiling and the curved end of the slide (slide bumper) is on the floor between their feet. Students are then told to rotate the slide on the slide bumper (pivot point) until the taller open end of the slide tubing is further away from them. They should hold the slide with their left hand. The next step is to reach into the case with right hand, and with an underhand motion, place their right hand under the thicker diameter potion of the bell tubing between the two main bell braces. They then lift the bell portion of the instrument out of the case and place the open slide receiver tubing over the taller potion of the slide at a ninety-degree angle and tighten the threaded tightening bolt. Once the two main body sections of the trombone are securely assembled the student can rotate the instrument on the slide bumper pivot point ninety degrees counterclockwise so that the bell of the instrument is furthest away from them and the slide tubes are equidistant from them.

Hand position is vital for proper performance on any instrument and trombone is no different. The weight of the trombone is supported by the left hand when the instrument is in playing position. Trombonists that fail to develop the correct left-hand position initially will always have difficulty holding the instrument correctly and will likely have endurance issues with supporting the instrument with their left hand and arm. To develop the correct left-hand position students should begin by making an “L” shape with their index finger and thumb. The next step is to invert the hand position so that the index finger points down to the floor. If these two steps are completed with the hand to the left of the trombone the student can then move the left hand toward the instrument so that the lower bell brace makes contact in the corner of the index finger and thumb of the inverted “L”. Next, the student should pivot their “L” counterclockwise around the bell brace so that the index finger points to the right. This will place the index finger in a parallel orientation to the slide brace where it can make contact with the mouthpiece receptor of the slide. If the student’s finger is long enough to reach all the way to the mouthpiece receptor then they should place it on the slide brace. The middle, ring, and pinky finger of the left hand should be placed in the rectangle space between the two slide braces. The pressure of these three fingers closing against the palm of the hand along with the left-hand thumb curving around the bell brace is what makes it possible for the left hand and arm to support the weight of the instrument. position, they are ready to being making sounds on the fully assembled trombone. Once the students have assembled the slide and bell, the last step is to insert the mouthpiece into the mouthpiece receptor of the slide. The shank of the mouthpiece should be inserted straight into the mouthpiece receptor and then rotated ninety degrees so that the mouthpiece is firmly attached. Students will want to ‘pop’ the mouthpiece into the receptor with the palm of their hand. This should be discouraged so that the mouthpiece doesn’t get stuck in the receptor.

Have the students use their right hand to make contact with the lower slide brace. The right thumb, index, and middle fingers should lightly pinch the lower slide brace.

When the trombone is lifted into playing position there should be a straight line from the left elbow all the way to the tip of the left index finger. Any bend in the wrist will weaken the student’s support of the instrument and result in endurance issues. This straight line from the left elbow to the tip of the left index finger should result in the slide and bell sections creating a “V” shape. If the shape created is an “L” the student has their left elbow raised too high resulting in the bell tubing of the instrument being too close or touching the left side of the student’s head.

Students will find achieving a buzz on the fully assembled instrument easier than try to buzz on just the mouthpiece because of the added resistance created by the instrument.

Creating a relaxed full tone is dependent on air. Students should be reminded to breathe to a comfortably full position when inhaling prior to playing, and exhaling to a comfortably empty amount at the end of their tone/phrase. Shoulders should be in a relaxed position at all times. Tension when breathing or playing is the enemy of good quality tone production.

Once the students are comfortable assembling and disassembling their instrument and are demonstrating correct hand position and posture when holding the trombone in playing

The pitch of the first notes aren’t important. Instructors should be more concerned with the relaxed open quality of the tone. Most students will naturally play either a second partial Bflat or a third partial F.

Pedagogy

Some beginning method books have multiple “for trombone only” pages as a part of the introductory section of their trombone method books. The lines on some of these pages provide whole note and half note lines that are written for students that achieve the low Bflat easiest while other pages are for students that find playing the third partial F more natural. The low Bflat pages will have lines that use Bflat, C, and D. The F pages will have lines that use F, E flat, and D. The common note between these pages of exercises is third line D. This is why D is first note that we try to play as a unison pitch. Once everyone plays a D correctly (along with a drone) we will move forward with unison lines for all instruments out of the method book. Most method books will then introduce notes in the following order; Concert D, C, B flat, E flat, F, higher G, lower A.

Although your students may want to move faster, it is vital that the pace that you progress through these procedures be driven by the students’ demonstration of mastery. Students that develop poor playing habits or uncharacteristic tone quality will be disadvantaged in the future. There is never a better time to be thorough in the development of the correct techniques than when students are just getting started. Fix incorrect technique/procedures early so that students are set up for success from the beginning.