TromboneChat

I am pretty much unable of making long phrases and I run out of breath so fast. What are some exercises I could start doing daily to start to have good breath support and make long phrases.

You need efficiency - a buzz that produces maximum resonance with minimum air.
One place to start is lots of soft practice.

I'm teaching mostly young children so take my advice with an open mind. The best thing to do is have an experienced trombone teacher watch you.

First of all, many breathing problems is a lot about technique. Attitude standing or sitting. Tension if you hold the trombone wrong. Can also be embouchure related. Or tension anywhere when you hold the trombone.

Breathing is simple but when mixed in another setting it can be confusing.

I just read the post from Doug Elliott above, he might be your solution.

Doug Elliott wrote: Fri Jan 23, 2026 4:08 pm You need efficiency - a buzz that produces maximum resonance with minimum air.
One place to start is lots of soft practice.

LeTromboniste wrote: Fri Jan 23, 2026 4:54 pm

Doug Elliott wrote: Fri Jan 23, 2026 4:08 pm You need efficiency - a buzz that produces maximum resonance with minimum air.
One place to start is lots of soft practice.

Agree so much, playing soft is the clue to almost everything, especially playing fff.

How old are you? How physically fit are you? Do you exercise, aerobically or otherwise? What kind of trombone do you play?

What Doug said is spot on, of course, but there is also the need to simply get a lot of air into your body - more than normal breathing, at least if you play large tenor or bass trombone.

I'm not an athletic person and I hate exercising, but I do need to take care of my body so I do some things. A short yoga routine or some stretching timed with long inhales and exhales, some walking, etc. If you can run without hurting yourself, by all means...bicycle riding, or especially swimming...will all help free up your breathing.

Targeted breathing exercises can also help a lot ala The Breathing Gym can be tremendously helpful, but with the caveat that sometimes they give the impression that you need to be overblowing to play...which runs counter to Doug's advice. This way of thinking got me in trouble for a while.

Ultimately it becomes a matter of breathing efficiently when you play, minimizing the time it takes to get a breath without making yourself tense or unseating your embouchure completely. A lot of people have a pause between the end of a note and the beginning of their inhale; eliminate that pause and you will help yourself a lot. If you take care of the shapes of all your notes, especially the ones right before inhales, you can take frequent breaths without having every breath interrupt your phrases.

To that end, the only breathing aid gizmo I really use is this: https://www.originalbreathbuilder.com/
It addresses very directly the turnaround between inhale and exhale and vice versa, and it's great for getting the feeling of supporting the sustain with a steady stream of air.

GabrielRice wrote: Sat Jan 24, 2026 8:06 am To that end, the only breathing aid gizmo I really use is this: https://www.originalbreathbuilder.com/
It addresses very directly the turnaround between inhale and exhale and vice versa, and it's great for getting the feeling of supporting the sustain with a steady stream of air.

Gabe, can I ask how you personally use it? I’ve watched some videos which seem to be people breathing as hard as they can, ballooning cheeks, inflating their face and neck

slipperyslide wrote: Sat Jan 24, 2026 11:34 pm Gabe, can I ask how you personally use it? I’ve watched some videos which seem to be people breathing as hard as they can, ballooning cheeks, inflating their face and neck

Yeah...don't do that.

Use the bigger tube. Take a big, relaxed breath and then release your air into it. The ball will rise to the top and stay there for as long as you are exhaling enough to keep it there. Just get a feel for that with a few inhales and exhales.

Then set a metronome to a relaxed beat - maybe don't start too slow, about 72-80 BPM. Take a big, relaxed breath and exhale steadily, trying for 4 beats or so. If you have a hard time getting it started or keeping the ball up for a full 4 beats, tilt the device up close to horizontal so you're not having to work so hard against gravity. Increase the time, bring the device back closer to vertical, etc., as you get a better feel for it.

Once you're feeling more confident to keep the ball up on the exhale for a longer time, experiment with keeping the ball up during the inhale as well. If you have no hesitation between the exhale and inhale, it will stay there. Now do rhythmic breathing exercises with the aim of keeping the ball up at the top the whole time: 4 in, 4 out...3 in, 4 out...2 in, 4 out...1 in, 4 out...and other variations you can think of.

You will probably get dizzy at first, so do these sitting or keep a chair nearby.

The key here is to find that balance point where you are moving a lot of air in both directions without straining or huffing and puffing. Steady streams of air in both directions, not bursts of air. Learn to take an inhale that is not a panicked gulp but simply opening your mouth corners (you actually don't need to drop your jaw to get a big breath) and letting air fall into your body.

This will all translate into better, healthier breathing habits when you play.

Out of the Remington studies is a basic exercise for developing exactly that capacity: play God Save the King at about 60 bpm and try to get through it in one breath. You'll have to play quietly as recommended above, but doing this will also get you used to that feeling of "holding" your breath. When playing a long passage, it's not just that the lungs are running out of fuel for the lips that causes the empty feeling. The body also doesn't like the carbon dioxide build up from not breathing in more oxygen so causes the brain to send breathing signals.

Another recommendation from Remington was playing the Bach Air in G as a part of daily work. My teacher called it trombone vitamin C.

Learn circular breathing.

I'm old with asthma, and tumors and scarring in my lungs. I work hard to maximize my use of air. But in the end there was one thing that got me where no amount of exercises could get me, and that was to employ circular breathing.

If you have a nose, it's not that hard to learn.
If you don't have a nose, you're screwed.

Circular breathing is something that can work in come contexts... Not classical trombone playing, though.

Burgerbob wrote: Mon Jan 26, 2026 12:52 pm Circular breathing is something that can work in come contexts... Not classical trombone playing, though.

Really? Do tell.

I guess in my case it's a case of doing it because no one told me it couldn't be done. People here seem to think I'm "just a jazzer." Not so. That's just what I like best. I've played classical music in quartets, quintets, brass ensembles, chamber orchestras, opera orchestras, pops orchestras, studio orchestras, and symphony orchestras. What people should understand about me is that I believe in playing the entire instrument, not just doing one thing, not just playing one genre.

I haven't heard circular breathing that doesn't heavily impact the sound being made. Again, sometimes that's fine.

Burgerbob wrote: Mon Jan 26, 2026 1:34 pm I haven't heard circular breathing that doesn't heavily impact the sound being made. Again, sometimes that's fine.

I have. It can absolutely be done in orchestral playing, and it can be done on a bigger instrument than trombone even. I sat next to Chester many times, and I could only tell when he was doing it if I was watching him carefully.



I can circular breathe - not as well as Chester, but well enough to extend a held note a little longer.

Yes, it's entirely possible to circular breathe without affecting the sound.
And I don't know how some people can articulate during breaths, but that's possinble too: