Brass instruments. Trombones for beginners.

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The trombone is a brass instrument belonging to the group of mouthpiece aerophones. It is made entirely of metal and has a cup-shaped cylindrical mouthpiece. Pozon belongs to the group of brass instruments, it is most closely related to the trumpet family, from which it emerged only around the thirteenth century. Then the previously straight trumpets began to be built in the shape of the letter S, elongating more and more, took a new form – the middle section of the pipe became straight, and the curved parts assumed a parallel position in relation to it. It was at this stage that the trombone was developed as the largest-size trumpet. It probably got its final form around the XNUMXth century. In the XNUMXth century, a whole family of trombones was created, which includes instruments of various sizes, corresponding to the registers of the human voice, they are: a dictant trombone in B tuning, alto in F and E tuning, tenor in B, bass in F, and double bass in B.

Soon though a puffer trombone fell into disuse, followed by the double bass trombone. The bass trombone, on the other hand, was replaced with a more measuring tenor one. Later, several improvements were made to the construction of the trombone. The most important of them was the use of a quarter valve in the nineteenth century (a device that allowed the scale of sounds to be lowered by a fourth), which finally eliminated the need to build several sizes of this instrument.

The tenor trombone, also known as the tuba minor, is the most popular instrument in this family today. Its total length is approx. 2,74 m. Modern trombones, however, have an additional rotary valve operated by the thumb of the left hand (assuming that the slider is operated by the right hand), which joins an additional channel approximately 91,4 cm long, increasing the total length of the instrument to approx. 3,66 12 m, at the same time lowering the tuning of the instrument to f. Such a trombone marked with the symbol XNUMX’B / F (length in feet and two tunings) has become a modern standard of a slide trombone, replacing the others mentioned above.

Nowadays, the number of instruments available on the market is huge. On the one hand, it may seem overwhelming, but the number of possibilities allows you to choose the best instrument for yourself, according to your ideas, physical and financial possibilities. . Unfortunately, due to the size of the trombone, most instruments are not suitable for young children to start learning. Below are the trombones of some of the leading brass manufacturers for children and teenagers.

Company Yamaha , is currently one of the largest manufacturers of trombones, offering a wide range of instruments for the youngest trombonists to professional musicians. Their instruments are famous for their careful workmanship, good intonation and precise mechanics. Here are some suggestions for tenor trombone models.

YSL-350 C – this is a model designed for the youngest. This instrument uses all standard positions, but is much shorter. It has an additional C valve, which allows you to play at full scale without using the two end positions. It has an M scale, i.e. the diameter of the tubes is from 12.7 to 13.34 mm. The goblet is made of golden brass with a diameter of 204.4 mm, the standard weight, the outer slider is made of brass, and the inner slider is made of nickel-plated silver. The whole thing is covered with golden varnish.

YSL 354 E – it is a basic model, varnished, nickel-plated silver plated zipper. The goblet is made of brass. Measured by L.

YSL 354 SE – it is a silver-plated version of the 354 E. When buying a new trombone, be aware that lacquered instruments have a darker color than silver-plated instruments. Silver-plated instruments, as a rule, are more expensive.

YSL 445 GE – ML scale instrument, varnished, with golden brass trumpet. This model is also available in the L version.

YSL 356 GE – it is a varnished model, the trunk of which is made of golden brass. It is equipped with a quartventile.

Fenix

The Fenix ​​company offers two school trombone models. They are light and durable instruments. Teachers who have come into contact with these instruments appreciate their good intonation, which is very important in the initial stage of teaching the instrument.

FSL 700L – lacquered instrument with elements of nickel-plated silver. It has a specially reduced air intake, an M scale.

FSL 810 L – it is a lacquered trombone with a quartventile. ML scale, large air intake. The goblet is made of brass, while the slider is made of nickel-plated silver.

Vincent Bach

The name of the company comes from the name of its founder, designer and brass artist Vincent Schrotenbach, a trumpeter of Austrian origin. Currently, Vincent Bach is one of the most famous and respected brands of wind instruments and great mouthpieces. Here are two school models proposed by Bach.

TB 501 – it is the basic model of the Bach company, L scale. Varnished instrument, does not have quartventyl.

TB 503B – trombone equipped with ML quartile. Perfect for learning in first and second degree music schools due to the convenience of playing and great intonation.

Jupiter

The history of the Jupiter company begins in 1930, when it functions as a company producing instruments for educational purposes. Every year it grew in strength gaining experience, which resulted in the fact that today it is one of the leading companies producing wooden and brass wind instruments. Jupiter uses the latest manufacturing technologies corresponding to the high standard of instruments. The company works with many major musicians and artists who value these instruments for good workmanship and quality of sound. Here are some models of trombones designed for the youngest instrumentalists.

JSL 432 L – standard weight varnished instrument. Scale ML. This model does not have a quartventile.

JSL 536 L – it is a lacquered model with ML quartile and scale.

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Talis brand instruments are manufactured in the Far East with the use of the latest technology by selected partner workshops. This brand has almost 200 years of tradition of designing and building musical instruments. Its offer includes several proposals of instruments intended for young musicians. Here are two of them.

TTB 355 L – it is a varnished instrument with a scale of 12,7 mm. The diameter of the trumpet is 205 mm. It has a narrow mouthpiece inlet, the internal slider is covered with hard chrome.

TTB 355 BG L – lacquered model with quartventile, measuring 11,7 mm. The goblet is made of golden brass with a diameter of 205 mm. Narrow mouthpiece mouth, hard chrome-plated slider.

Roy Benson

The Roy Benson brand has been a symbol of innovative instruments at very low prices for over 15 years. The Roy Benson company, together with professional musicians and famous instrument makers, using creative ideas and solutions, continue to strive to achieve perfect sound that will allow each player to make their musical plans a reality. Here are some of the most popular models of this brand:

TT 136 – ML scale, brass trumpet, 205 mm in diameter. The inner shell is plated with nickel-plated silver. The whole is covered with golden varnish.

TT 142U – lacquered instrument, L scale, outer and inner shells are covered with high-nickel brass, which aims to improve the sound and resonance of the instrument. This model is also available with a quartventile.

Summation

When choosing your first trombone, there are a few very important things to keep in mind. First of all, you should consider what financial possibilities we have and look for the best instrument within their reach. If financial possibilities do not allow you to buy an expensive instrument, you should consider whether a good, but used and already played instrument is not enough for the initial stage of learning to play. Moreover, we must remember that the specificity of instruments is very different, so everyone can play a given instrument differently, so you should not be influenced by instruments owned by other students. We have to look for our own instrument that is most suited to private needs, possibilities and musical ideas. It should also be borne in mind that the trombone alone is not enough and it is very important to properly adjust the mouthpiece, which should also be selected with a lot of attention.