Must haves for a beginning band student

[rrghoulies]

I want to know what accessory you wished you knew about from the beginning that would have been helpful as a new student.

We already received a list from our band director of gear we need to get our beginning band student started. Basics will be covered. Metronome, grease/oil, brushes, etc. My husband has already relegated our son to practicing outside. I know we're buying a practice mute now.

Or, tell me about what accessory you can't live without.

[BGuttman]

Don't encourage him to practice ONLY with the practice mute. It changes the way you sound unmuted and you tend to develop bad habits. Put him in a room by himself and close the door if his practicing bothers you.

If he's young enough that 7th position is a bit of a stretch, look into a slide handle. Getzen used to make one that would bolt on to any instrument's slide and give you a little more reach to get to 7th.

In addition to the metronome, get a tuner. You might be able to buy one thing that is both a tuner and metronome; or you could download apps for a cell phone.

Look into a trombone stand. You don't need a fancy one with a student trombone; the standard Hamilton will do fine. Mostly to rest the instrument on at home when he's not actually playing.

Don't forget a folding music stand.

[OneTon]

I would advocate for using a flexible, plastic coated, snake with a brush to clean the inner and outer slides. Steel or aluminum “gun” cleaning rods are prone to causing damage by youngsters and adults. I use a snake on the tuning slide and bell as well.

At the risk of starting a big argument, the biggest discouragement for young trombone players is getting the slide to work. The Yamaha Slide Lubricant is pricey but very forgiving. A small bottle lasts me several years. Use it with water. If too much is applied, often nothing happens. But if the slide does get sluggish, wipe off the inner slides with a paper towel and apply water from a squirt bottle. Clean the horn with soap and Luke warm water, no hotter than what your hand will easily tolerate, once a week, and there should not be any problems.

Once the student masters using Yamaha Slide Lubricant, they can try all the other products and experiment to their heart’s content.

[robcat2075]

My husband has already relegated our son to practicing outside. I know we're buying a practice mute now.

Must haves for beginning band student? Parents who want him to learn.

Set a specific scheduled time that he can practice indoors in his room and dad needs to get happy with that. A beginner isn't going to need nor be able to make use of more than a half hour at the start anyway.

Practice mutes really should be called "warm-up mutes". They're not useful for real practicing.

If your kid can only making loud, explosive noises after getting started then something is wrong with the instruction.

[rrghoulies]

Don't encourage him to practice ONLY with the practice mute. It changes the way you sound unmuted and you tend to develop bad habits. Put him in a room by himself and close the door if his practicing bothers you.

If he's young enough that 7th position is a bit of a stretch, look into a slide handle. Getzen used to make one that would bolt on to any instrument's slide and give you a little more reach to get to 7th.

In addition to the metronome, get a tuner. You might be able to buy one thing that is both a tuner and metronome; or you could download apps for a cell phone.

Look into a trombone stand. You don't need a fancy one with a student trombone; the standard Hamilton will do fine. Mostly to rest the instrument on at home when he's not actually playing.

Don't forget a folding music stand.

I play the violin and know plenty about "killing the cat". My husband is a non-music person who is being a wimp

You have been a treasure trove of information and I really appreciate your advice!

[imsevimse]

My husband has already relegated our son to practicing outside. I know we're buying a practice mute now.

Must haves for beginning band student? Parents who want him to learn.

Yes, that's very important. Be supportive!

If parents are interested in what kids do and encourage them I think kids will be more positive to continue but there are exceptions. When I was a kid in the mid 70'ies I had to practice in the basement in our house. It wasn't a very inspiring room. It was bad acoustics and no windows. I had to go down there when my father came home from work because he did not like noise and was tired from work. After several hours in the basement my mum came down and asked me to stop because my father could not stand more of my practice. I probably sounded like a wounded moose. What was important was that I must have found something I really enjoyed doing. I just carried on and to be asked to quit just made me want to practice more the next day. I guess a more normal reaction would be to quit playing trombone and do something else. I think I might had done that if I had been a more normal kid in the public music school and if my mum hadn't been so supportive because the first hours before my father came home I practiced in the kitchen just next to my mum when she did the dishes or made dinner. She was fantastic, it might have been her support that made me go on after all. To sum I had one supportive parent with great patience and one not very supportive parent that liked silence and often had a headache. To give my father justice he did change to be more supportive later as I got better.

Support your kid. Listen to him/her and encourage him/her. It's no fun to play in a practice mute and not fun to have the practice banned from the house. Trombone is a beautiful instrument with a wonderful sound. It's a reality in the hands of a skilled player and is also what your kid needs to believe in to be that skilled player. It takes time. Be patient.

/Tom

[rrghoulies]

My husband has already relegated our son to practicing outside. I know we're buying a practice mute now.

Must haves for beginning band student? Parents who want him to learn.

Set a specific scheduled time that he can practice indoors in his room and dad needs to get happy with that. A beginner isn't going to need nor be able to make use of more than a half hour at the start anyway.

Practice mutes really should be called "warm-up mutes". They're not useful for real practicing.

If your kid can only making loud, explosive noises after getting started then something is wrong with the instruction.

Thanks for the mute info, I learned more about them when I was researching after this post. Dad is being a wimp, he's never played an instrument. Son practiced keyboard for 2 years in his room, and closing his door is plenty of soundproofing.

His band director is a trombone player and his soon to be private lesson instructor has great credentials as well. Hoping we escape explosions!

[rrghoulies]

I would advocate for using a flexible, plastic coated, snake with a brush to clean the inner and outer slides. Steel or aluminum “gun” cleaning rods are prone to causing damage by youngsters and adults. I use a snake on the tuning slide and bell as well.

At the risk of starting a big argument, the biggest discouragement for young trombone players is getting the slide to work. The Yamaha Slide Lubricant is pricey but very forgiving. A small bottle lasts me several years. Use it with water. If too much is applied, often nothing happens. But if the slide does get sluggish, wipe off the inner slides with a paper towel and apply water from a squirt bottle. Clean the horn with soap and Luke warm water, no hotter than what your hand will easily tolerate, once a week, and there should not be any problems.

Once the student masters using Yamaha Slide Lubricant, they can try all the other products and experiment to their heart’s content.

Great tips. Thank you so much!!

[boneagain]

The one "accessory" that would have made the MOST difference to starting out would have been a small library of good role models. Urbie Green, George Roberts, the Chicago Symphony brass... they were all on vinyl, but not easy to get away from big cities. And their playing was so good and so advanced that I'm not sure if the recordings would have led me on or made me discouraged.

Now we have instant access to an amazing range of trombone exemplaries. The greatest players do some pieces that ARE in reach for a beginner. If your son enjoys trombone now, helping him develop a never-ending quest for a better-and-better "sound in his head" is, to me, the single most important accessory you can find.

Along with that, getting him started right from the beginning with singing notes and note names will be a life-long "accessory" that helps him even if he switches instruments.

BTW: trombone stands have been mentioned. Think of these as a chair you can put your violin on. Developing good habits with the stand RIGHT AWAY is crucial! Leaving a trombone on a stand during a rehearsal break is money in the repairman's pocket! (makes MY repairman quite grumpy, too!) Trust a stand with a trombone only as much as you'd trust a chair with your violin.

Oh, and for the "supportive parent" accessory: make use of the noise sensitivity to establish consideration habits. Dad is not the ONLY person your son will ever meet who does not want trombone noise around! Warming up in hotel and dormitory rooms and apartments is tough... full practice sessions are tougher. Good time to learn to manage that kind of thing!

[LeTromboniste]

+1 for the letting him practice...practicing only outdoors or only with a practice mute will be terrible for his developing technique. It's really, really setting him up for failure (in addition to the terrible signal it sends him in terms making him feeling like he's bad, and not feeling supported).

[Kingfan]

Not necessarily an accessory, but music the student can relate to can help get him or her excited about playing. I was demo-ing a horn I had for sale to a mother and her son; mom was into it but he some seemed to be "meh" about the whole thing until I started playing the Darth Vader theme. That really perked him up. I played some Harry Potter music and that set the hook. A book of music a student WANTS to play that can be pulled out after playing the standard scales, etudes, method books, etc. can be an effective incentive.

[robcat2075]

For dad. They're actually reusable, you don't have to throw them out after one use.

earplugs.jpg

[rrghoulies]

+1 for the letting him practice...practicing only outdoors or only with a practice mute will be terrible for his developing technique. It's really, really setting him up for failure (in addition to the terrible signal it sends him in terms making him feeling like he's bad, and not feeling supported).

Y'all, I was never going to ask him play outside. We live in Central Texas. That's torture. I'll let Son enjoy playing outside in the heat if he decides marching band is in his future. Mom/violinist overrides Dad when music is involved. I also learned more about practice mutes after my original post, so that was taken off our shopping list.

We started Son in piano lessons and encourage him to select an instrument for middle school. I'm jealous and amazed at his sight reading abilities. He also has a great ear. I'm not letting this kid quit music instruction any time soon.

[rrghoulies]

For dad. They're actually reusable, you don't have to throw them out after one use.

earplugs.jpg

Hahah, yes. These are great quality, have bought them before.

[rrghoulies]

Not necessarily an accessory, but music the student can relate to can help get him or her excited about playing. I was demo-ing a horn I had for sale to a mother and her son; mom was into it but he some seemed to be "meh" about the whole thing until I started playing the Darth Vader theme. That really perked him up. I played some Harry Potter music and that set the hook. A book of music a student WANTS to play that can be pulled out after playing the standard scales, etudes, method books, etc. can be an effective incentive.

Thanks for the reminder! We bought his older brother a fun music book for tuba and it honestly never got old hearing "The Eyes of Texas/I've Been Working on the Railroad" on repeat.

[afugate]

Not necessarily an accessory, but music the student can relate to can help get him or her excited about playing. I was demo-ing a horn I had for sale to a mother and her son; mom was into it but he some seemed to be "meh" about the whole thing until I started playing the Darth Vader theme. That really perked him up. I played some Harry Potter music and that set the hook. A book of music a student WANTS to play that can be pulled out after playing the standard scales, etudes, method books, etc. can be an effective incentive.

I second this. I'm blessed, because the very first song our daughter wanted to learn was the head to All of Me. So I taught it to her in B Flat. But shortly thereafter I bought her a book/CD of songs from Shrek. I cherish the time we spent playing those songs.

-- Andy in OKC