Trombone :)

Hello again all.

I’ve purchased a pBone[/url] Trombone after a long affair with Ska [Woooo RX Bandits in Leeds in a couple of weeks 🙂 ] – now I just need to learn to play the thing.

In two or three hours of 15 or so minutes sessions, I’ve found 6 positions and can blow 4 notes in the first 4 and 3 in the latter 2. Oh, and I can sort-of play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star! 🙂

Progress was hampered by not taking it away at xmas, and also by fainting over the break and smashing my top lip into a hard surface on the way down. I think most of the bruising has gone now

What should I do next? Get few lessons? Buy a book? Try and play all my fave songs? Deafen the rabbits*? My friend** suggested the Muppets Themetune, heh.

Any tips, from any brassists [plasticists in my case]? Does anyone have a teacher to recommend around Bradford/Leeds?

Oh – the thing itself is wonderful, even when I cock up I make myself laugh and smile, it’s no chore like trying to learn guitar was. Also the plastic trombone is a lovely invention, and sounds great***.

*Unavoidable, but actually they don’t seem to mind at all after the first few days

**Grade 8 Trombone, but not local sadly.

***Parp parp parrrrrpPPP

There a guy at work who told us about playing a rusty trombone with his partner.

There a guy at work who told us about playing a rusty trombone with his partner.

Yeah, I deliberately DIDN’T call this thread “Tromboning” etc etc 🙄

Valuable learning material.

In two or three hours of 15 or so minutes sessions, I’ve found 6 positions

this thread is all give.

Aka a ‘Dirty Bristow’ in some quarters.

Think about it……….

Get a few lessons from someone really good, just to make sure you’re not ingraining bad technical habits ( no pressure against the mouthpiece, no drooping mouth sides etc, ) then crack on with internet tuition

Where are you based? I’m a sax/woodwind man but if its NW I can hunt down some bone recommendations

I’m not only a giver.

Any real help or is this just what the Large Helmet thread should have been 🙄

Aka a ‘Dirty Bristow’ in some quarters.

I used to play the trombone years ago – great instrument.

Didn’t stick at it and wish I had now

Aaaaayyy Cheers Ed! Your comment hadn’t loaded when I typed.

I am in Bradford, and am but a poor student, so a balance of good and affordable is a necessary evil, but thanks so much!

Please drop me a line at sam{d0t}firth{?t}gmail{d0t}com if you have any luck.

Danny – pBones are £120 or thereabouts – buy a new one and start again 🙂

Played a tenor horn for most of my life amongst others, literally infant school and beyond. Havent touched it in a few years tho as after earning my music degree it started to become not fun anymore. I’d defo be getting lessons on it to learn the basics and then go from there, i’d personally get good enough to join some sort of group as IMO you cant beat playing in a group/band for making it enjoyable and spurring you on to learn more. As you’re in Bradford not a million miles away from Leeds College of Music, where I went, why dont you perhaps go around there or nip in and ask about students who play the trombone as they might be after a bit of cash to teach it to you and they’re bound to be a great standard!

Great suggestion! Thanks.

Sorry if I sounded a bit shirty earlier everyone, I was trying to type extra fast as my wonderful girlfriend had made me two veg pasties for dinner and she wanted me to stop dicking about on the forum and eat them, so I didn’t look what I was writing very well. 😳

I do realise the humor in these instruments 😉

Parp parp!

not read it all so don’t know if its been mentioned. 🙂

Problems I am having:

Leakage [air] around the mouthpiece [solving this requires increasing pressure, apparently not good]

A funny smell from the bell-end

My mouth gets tired when tromboning

etc etc etc – oh man I’m still laughing after 4 weeks, hehe

As above, get some proper lessons and try to get good enough to play in a group of some sort. Most of your problems will be solved with more practice and/or a bit of tuition on technique.

Good call – that’s always been one of my stock “busking” pieces on a trumpet, though a bit more advanced than twinkle, twinkle.

Thanks all, it’s been fun!

2nd trombone in Darfield Foulstone School Jazz band, early 90’s. Remember opening the tap on the slide with my foot to blow dribble out of it that then used to run down to where the trumpet players sat, bloody show offs….
Best thing about playing trombone in a big band is that if you can’t be arises to practice a peice you can just copy the slide positions of the bloke next to you.
If I remember, it was easy to get the basics dialled, but hard to nail the more complex stuff. A bit like the brass equivalent of golf…

my contacts don’t go as far as bradford but as GolfChick said, get to Leeds College and bug the students

I play Euphonium, not quite the same as there are valves involved, but the theory is the same.

How much music theory do you know? 8 notes per octave, 12 semitones, all that jazz? Try one of the “Tune A Day” books just to get going, and once you have the basics you can pick and choose how to further your playing.

More good advice guys a girls. Thanks again.

Hopefully soon I’ll be with a degree, a better tattoo and know how to play the Trombone properly 🙂

Wish me luck!

good luck with the tattoo

http://www.musicteachers.co.uk/ is pretty good for locating teachers.

Is your degree finished now or is this trombone another distraction?

Something to aspire to – https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10202993423784520

So, having read this and having aabsolutely no musical talent whatsoever, I ‘d followed the pbone link in the first post and just loved this

“hello there doll, wanna come up to my place and blow my pink trombone?”
(Un)fortunately, on my visit to the Big City the shop I visited had sold out, all colours, and instead I picked up a second hand Yamaha 354 for the price of a pbone plus cheap mouthpiece (the Internet says pbone blowy bits are crap but the rest of it’s ok). leading to a bizarre combination of frustration (trying to get a consistent tone) and hilarity (cos most of the time it sounds like a wet fart).
Anyway, woohoo, cheers OP, this is great fun – working on the Star Wars theme – think darth vader’s first appearance in the first film, only he’d just dined on sprouts, beans and guiness.

Join a brass band. I played cornet for years and it can be a lot of fun (useful skill is the ability to drink beer and not mind going to bleak windswept places for annual championship contests).