Have you ever heard of the trombone? The trombone is my favorite instrument because of how unique it is to play from other brass instruments. You’ve probably heard the trombone as the Sad Trombone sound effect or the adult voice in the Peanuts films. In this article, you’ll learn about the trombone and why I like it so much.
What I’ll talk about first is how to play the trombone. Most people think to play the trombone you need to blow into the mouthpiece. However, you buzz your mouth into the mouthpiece. You don’t just need to buzz your mouth though, because you’ll need to use a method called embouchure to make the sound you want to. You can do embouchure by tightening the corners of your lips and blowing, or buzzing in this case, into the mouthpiece. There are seven slide positions on the trombone which range from as close as the slide can get to the mouthpiece to the very end of the tubing under the slide. Each position of the slide gets a lower and lower tone. Another thing you should know about playing the trombone, is how to hold the trombone. To hold the trombone you use your left hand to hold the mouthpiece area of the trombone with your middle, ring, and pinky fingers on the slide brace, thumb on the bell brace, and index finger on the mouthpiece. Your right hand holds the slide any time the slide is unlocked so the slide doesn’t fall off and so you can position the slide. While you’re holding the trombone, you rest the back of it on your left shoulder.
The next thing I’ll talk about is my experience with the trombone. I heard about it first when I was playing a mobile game about collecting monsters (I forgot the name) when I got a rare monster that played the trombone. I liked the sound a lot and then I looked more into it and that’s when the trombone became my favorite instrument. In 6th grade, I would have joined band class, but I was nervous to be doing parades and stuff. I am looking forward to joining band in 8th grade though. This year I’ve started saving up for my own trombone. I’m going to be saving for a while because it’ll cost me $387. I’m looking forward to getting the JP-031 trombone which is a very good trombone for beginners.
Now I will talk about when the trombone became my favorite. Before I liked the trombone, my favorite instrument was the didgeridoo. You still have to buzz into the didgeridoo and the didgeridoo and trombone have slightly similar sounds, so I guess I just like brass or other instruments you need to buzz with. I also like it because the slide is very unique. I prefer it over valves because you have more control over the tune while with valves they can get stuck or break. While slides can still get stuck, it’s easier since you have more room while oiling the slide. My last reason is that brass instruments in general just sound good. Some other instruments that are brass are trumpets, tubas, cornets, flugelhorns, and euphoniums, which all sound great in my opinion. I do like the sound of saxophones, but what some people don’t know is that saxophones are woodwinds because you blow into them instead of buzzing, even though they are made of brass.
In the end, I hope reading this made you interested in the trombone. It’s a unique instrument capable of making very beautiful sounds. You can watch this video to hear a cover of a certain popular song on trombone.
