[Trombone-l] airy sound

[Tom Gibson]

Julie,

Seems like a ton of good advice you've been given thus far. I might add a few pointers:

-check your buzz. Are you sure that sufficient air is passing through sufficiently loose lips to 
RESONATE? You might try some mezzo-forte buzzing in the middle register for 5-10 minutes each 
day. I like to sit at the piano with the sustain pedal down and just make those strings HUMMMMMM. 
Sometimes, I find it very helpful to free-buzz, too, for a few minutes (no mouthpiece)

-secondly, and at the risk of starting a flame war, your equipment is heavy-duty. It's very difficult to be 
agile on things like Tomasi and Martin when your playing a huge horn. Not that it can't be done, but 
many people run into problems when they don't check fundamentals first: buzz the proper pitch with a 
creamy, fat center and as much airFLOW as you can muster. You can't "muscle" the big horn. You 
must play WITH it and WITHIN it and don't try to manipulate it. You'll kill yourself trying. Resonate the 
space around you and play to your acoustical environment always. Use the room, in other words, and 
make every molecule vibrate in the air around you.

-Dr. Tom Gibson
www.trombonelessons.com
tom at trombonelessons.com