r/Trombone

I’m a senior in high school and have played on the same trombone since fourth grade. It’s a great horn and I love the sound, but naturally it’s gotten a bit scraped up. The places where my fingers go have lost their shine pretty much completely and are brownish as opposed to the yellow of the rest of the bone. I don’t mind it much but I don’t know if that changes what I’m allowed to do to the trombone for cleaning.

The embarrassing part is that I think I’ve only ever fully cleaned my trombone once. I run one of those wire snakes with the bristles through it a few times a year but there’s probably been some years when I haven’t even done that. About two years ago I gave it a bath in room temperature water and a little dish soap, and ran the snake through each part twice (it didn’t look as bad as I thought 6 years of buildup would) then laid it out to dry. Looking back I’m not sure if I was thorough enough, and I don’t think I cleaned the inside of the outer slide because I was worried about it scratching the inner slide or something? It doesn’t make any sense now that I type it out.

When I look down the slide I can actually see the buildup on the sides… it’s not a ton but I’m sure it’s not good for the horn regardless. I never play right after eating (got yelled at for doing it once in 6th grade and it scared me enough that I’ve always rinsed my mouth with water before playing and never eat within an hour before) and also don’t drink anything but water.

All this is to say, I think I need to put some real heavy effort into cleaning my trombone, but I’m not sure if soap and the snake is the proper way to do it for this level of buildup? And in the future how often should I do a deep cleaning and/or a light cleaning (if that’s a thing)? I think my trombone is a YSL-354. Thank you :)!

Normally Elliot's killing it, but this is just kind of off-putting and strange. Hardly melodic to my ears.

Our son has played trombone for two years, and we have always just borrowed a trombone from his elementary school. His music teacher advised that he MIGHT have a trombone for him to use, but also suggested we consider either renting or purchasing a used one.

We checked with the local music store, and they recommended the Yamaha YSL-354, which retails for $1921, but which can be purchased for 40% off if we buy used.

I've checked on FB Marketplace and Offerup, and what I've been able to find locally thus far are:

(1) Holton TR602 ($165)

(2) King 606 ($450) - this was a brand and model that came up during my search for good beginner trombones.

(3) YSL-200AD ($300)

(4) YSL-354 ($525, but about an hour or so away from where we live)

Wanted to know what people thought about the above-choices, or if there are other student-level trombones we should consider (and which will not break the bank). If it helps, we live in Orange County, California.

Thank you!

Hi, I got my wisdom teeth out 6 days ago, and I want to know when I can start playing again. My dentist said 5 days, but I don’t think that’s right. None of my wisdom teeth were impacted, but the bottom 2 were harder to get out. I also have stitches. I’ve heard all the way from 1–2 weeks to 1–2 months. I’ve started jaw exercises today, and I’m just wondering when I’ll be out of the clear for dry socket. Thank you!!

I’ve always had a very slow single tongue, I do a lot of metronome exercises to try and speed it up but it really doesn’t do that much. I need to get my William Tell excerpt up to 108BPM = half note and I currently can’t single tongue fast enough. Is it normal/acceptable to do this excerpt double tongued or should I keep trying to make the single tongue work? Thanks in advance!

Hey there, I've been playing trombone for about 3–4 years, and all this time I've had endurance issues. I'm not talking about lip endurance I mean my body endurance. Usually it's not that bad, but if I don't practice for a few days (for example, due to illness), I have to put in a huge effort just to play, stand, and hold the trombone.

It's also really hard to play in the heat. When it's hot, my lips get tired faster, I get tired faster, and I even feel dizzy and stuff like that.

I often look at other trombone players in my college, and they don't seem to have these problems. Maybe it's because I'm just a girl and not as physically developed as the guys. I don't even have any health issues or anything like that.

My teacher said it's important to do some sports when you play brass instruments, but what kind of sports would help the most? Will they even help at all?

Also, I can't play very loud, and everyone else plays much louder than me but maybe that's just a skill issue.

hey all, my uncle recently passed and my aunt gave his old trombones to me. She and my grandma claim he played them in the Baltimore Colts Marching Band. The two instruments themselves are in really great condition, with very little scratches or knicks. The only identifying markings I could find are the engravings both saying "King 3B Concert."

I am wondering if anyone here knows the make and value of these trombones, as I have little knowledge on band instruments (I play piano and bass).

Thank you

trombone #1 body

trombone #1 engraving

trombone #2 body

trombone #2 engraving

So far, I've found 5 "compact" Bb/C trombones with shorter slides and I'm wondering if anyone can share their experience with these or knows of any other models since it's relatively uncommon.

1. Yamaha YSL-350C
2. John Packer JP138
3. Bach TB650
4. Schiller Studio Bb/C
5. Thomann TF-300

i’m in my schools jazz band and occasionally play classical pieces for certain the best horn to That is a good budget option that will last me a long time.?

I’m 35 and used to play pretty seriously from 5th-12th grade and then sporadically post college and am now trying to get into shape again to join a community orchestra. I have the usual things like Arbans etc but I am finding that much like with physical fitness I struggle when I don’t have a plan set for me and accountability (I use the Trainwell app for workouts which works well for me). I’m looking to pay someone who may be willing to lesson plan for me and maybe provide *occasional* coaching via recorded video and/or over zoom. I am relatively confident in my own ear so the synchronous coaching is less important than someone who can commit to checking up on me over chat/text.

Is this something that folks already offer or would be willing to try out? I’ve looked into some sites like preply and they are more focused on the live lessons from what I can tell.

Does such a thing exist? OR - anyone got recs on a separate bag for iPad stand and trombone stand?
Backpack strap ideal as well but would be happy with just a shoulder strap