Chapter 6: Developing Your Sound
IN THIS LESSON:
Learn some basic exercises to help you develop tone quality and flexibility on the Trombone.
Let’s work on our Trombone tone quality by utilizing two daily exercises - Long Tones and Lip Slurs.
LONG TONES
This first long tone exercise should be played daily, often as the first part of your warm up and fundamentals time. Focus on all the concepts we have worked on to this point:
Taking a full breath that is low (breath out for two counts, and in for two counts)
Lining up your air, buzz and tongue with a “tooh” articulation
Keep your embouchure and jaw set and steady for the start, middle and end of your sound
Aim for “blocks” of sound throughout
LIP SLURS
Lip slurs are an extremely important technique on the trombone. Not only do they help develop flexibility, but they also are used in music when we want things sound more lyrical.
What is a lip slur?
A lip slur is when you move from one note to another without using articulation between the notes. The challenge with trombone is that we can only “natural slur” when we don’t move the slide. If we try to slur while moving the slide, we get what is called a “glissando”.
For this first exercise, we will practice “gliss-ing” between the two notes first or a “natural slur” to build up our embouchure. Then for “trombone slurs” we will add in a legato tongue which is required to move between the two notes without a glissando.
To legato tongue, think a softer syllable such as “dooh”. Ensure you line up your slide with your tongue.
Daily Flexibility Exercise
The exercise above is a great trainer for slide coordination and learning how lip slurs work on the trombone. Use this exercise below as a daily flexibility exercise to help develop your embouchure.
Tip #1: Always prioritize taking a full, low breath. Drive your air to the end of each note to help support your lip slur.
Tip #2: Think about utilizing more air in the lower register to keep your sound as even as possible.
Tip #3: Utilize the placement of your tongue in your mouth to assist with these lip slurs. For the upper register think an “eeh” syllable and for the lower register think an “oh” syllable. This can be helpful especially for more experienced players!
