How do I go about putting more air into my trombone?

Question

It seems to me that better breath support would improve the sound of my trombone playing but I cannot figure out how to do so. Whenever I try, I just seem to make myself louder, which isn't the effect I want.

Answer 1

It sounds to me as if your problem is not in the quantity of air being used, but the quality, though it may be both. As you are playing, you should have an intensity to the air that creates a centered, crystal-clear tone. This can be achieved by providing diaphramatic pressure as you play. Some ways to learn this:

- Check out the book "The Breathing Gym" by Patrick Sheridan and Sam Pilafian.

- Pretend as if you are trying to blow out 100 candles at a birthday party every time you play your horn. In order blow out that many, you have to use sustained, consistant air all the way across the top of the cake. It must be intense enough to blow out the candles, but easy enough to maintain air flow across the entire cake without running out of breath.

- Do a Santa-type "ho ho ho" laugh. Each time you say ho, if you are doing it loudly enough, then you are contracting your diaphragm in the way that you would when you are playing your horn. Now do the same thing is slow motion. This gives you an idea of how to contract the proper muscles in order to create intense air. It is all about controlling the pace of air release.

- Take a sheet of paper and hold it against a smooth wall with you at arms'-length from the wall. Now blow on the paper. Try to hold the paper to the wall using nothing but air. How long can you hold it there? Try to increase your time. Many of my students are approaching 45 seconds or even a minute.

I hope that these help. I have dozens more exercises and ideas. Email me if you would like some more.

Answer 2

Breath support is key to getting a good sound, but it sounds like what you are having problems with is an embouchure problem more than an air problem. If you are putting all the air through the horn that you can then you are likely not using it properly. That starts with forming a good lip pucker that will buzz efficiently and not waste the air you are blowing through the horn.

Try making your lips take the form of saying the letter M (pronounced as "emm"). At the same time, make sure that you have a nice big air cavity inside your mouth. Pretend you have the erase from a pencil wedged between your back teeth so that they stay apart a bit. Another way to think of this is to drop your jaw as though you had a raw egg in your mouth and did not want to make it crack.

Once you have your jaw and lips in the right position you have to practice a lot. Embouchure changes are the most difficult and annoying thing for any brass player to go through. This means you have to stick with it and if possible, get professional help from a local trombone teacher.

Answer 3

I think that what the band directors told you is absolutely correct, but I would like to add something that might really help you. I've played trombone for 17 years now, and in college I was introduced to a "breath builder training device." This $15 item made a huge difference in my breath support and my overall playing ability.

This device consists of a tube and a plastic chamber containing a ball (like a ping pong ball). You blow through the tube to make the ball float. If you decide to use one, I would suggest trying to keep the ball afloat for a defined period of time. Try to keep it floating for 10 seconds, then for 12 seconds, then for 15 seconds, and keep challenging yourself. 5 to 10 minutes each day with a "breath builder training device" will make a huge difference in your sound.

Answer 4

See above answers and remember that you want to breath from your stomach not your chest. Your stomach should be doing the rising and falling.

I also used a breath builder in collage. It works wonnders!!!

Answer 5

Try not blowing so hard. If you know what I mean. Peaches and Cream! Oh yeah, I almost forgot Gatorade rules immediately!!!!