How to choose your first trombone? Rod, size and rotor

To start with, the best thing to do is to tenor thrombone at Si bemole A small or medium calibre without a transposer with a soft stick slipping from end to end. It's light, simple and serves the school's band, popular music and initiation methods.

The transposer - the Fa rotor - can make sense in some cases, especially with children who do not achieve long positions but are not required. What's not negotiated is the status of the stick.

To sum up

The tenor Thrommer in Si bemol without a transpositor is the most common starting point: it weighs less and has less parts to adjust.
The stick's the first thing you have to check: it's to slide without hard spots with straight bars and without pounding.
A small or medium calibre is easier to fill with air for a beginner than a big one.
If a child doesn't reach the sixth and seventh place, Fa rotor is an alternative, for more weight.
A beamed or disaligned stick is the most delicate repair of a used thrombone.

What kind of thrombon should we start with

Types of thrombon and which to choose first
Tipo	Characteristics	To get started?
Tensor without transpositor	Rod and bell, small or medium calibre and light	That's the most common choice.
Tissue with Fa Transponer	Add an extra rotor and pipe that are activated with the left thumb	Sometimes: for children with short arms or for those who go to the orchestra
Low trombon	Large calibre and bell, one or two rotors	No, she's asking for a lot of air and she's heavy.
Stomach	Smaller and sharper	Rare and used as a dedicated repertoire
Plastic trombon	Very light and shock-resistant	as a transition for small children or to have a test and do not replace a metal

The calibre is the internal diameter of the tube of the stick. Study thrombones are usually small calibre, about 0.4 to 0.508 cm, or medium, about 0.525 cm, with a bell of about 7 ½ to 8 cm. The large calibres, from 0.547 cm, are common in orchestra and with rotor and require more air than a beginner has.

Many study thrombons bring a middle- and small-sized nozzle of type 12C in the most common nomenclature that works well to start with. Check that the nozzle's rod corresponds to the calibre: those with a small and those with a large calibre are not intertwined.

The stick: first thing you have to check

A trombone can have a broken bell and play well but with a bad stick it's very difficult to learn: the student fights with the instrument at every change of position. Check it out this way:

with a clear and lubricated stick, get her from the first to the seventh and back: she's got to run with a pair, with no hard spots or noises.
With the trombone in vertically, release the secure and let the stick come down a few cm with the other hand ready to hold it. It should move with softness and if it's stopped at a point, there's a blow or a twisted bar.
Look at the two exterior bars with both front and side: they have to be seen straight and parallel. He puts his fingers through his face and looks for doves, even if they are small.
Check the curve at the end of the stick: that's the first thing that's been hit at the ground or a wall, so there's a lot of blows.
Test the insurance: with a closed and secure stick, you should not leave with the thrombone tilting down.
He looks for new welds or repairs to his bars and indicates that his stick had an accident.

A hard stick sometimes only needs cleanup and appropriate lubricant but if the problem is a blow or an unaligned bar, repair is a fine work of workshop. how to clear a trombone We explain how maintenance prevents most of these problems.

Children and arm range

The seventh requires stretching his right arm almost completely and that's the challenge for children: more than age, his arm's length counts.

Ask the child to get his stick to his or her sixth place with his or her foot and with good posture without tipping or changing his or her grip. If you get comfortable, you can start with a regular tenor.
If you do not reach the sixth or seventh, teacher can at first choose exercises and songs that do not use them and his arm grows faster than it looks.
The Fa rotor allows you to play the sixth and seventh place notes with a far closer stick. It's a real solution but it makes the instrument heavier and more difficult to hold.
Watch the weight: The trombone holds about everything with his or her left hand. If his or her child drops his or her bell within minutes or leapes to his or her side, his or her posture should be adjusted or a little while.

That's why it's best for a child to have his or her own trombone, ideally with his or her present teacher, before his or her purchase. A table of measures doesn't replace his or her touch.

With or without a transposier?

Simple or rotary tenor trombon with Fa
Aspecto	Without a transposer	with Fa transposer
Peso	lighter	Loading, especially with his left hand
Mantenimiento	Sencillo	The rotor needs oil and regular revisions
Serious registration	He's up to the grave Mi in seventh place.	Filling up space under that My and offering an alternative posture
Long positions	We have to achieve sixth and seventh	The notes of the sixth and seventh can be played close to the first and second
Typical use	School band, popular music, initiation	Orchestra, more serious repertoire, advanced students

If the used trombone that they offer you has a rotor, check to have a smooth turn, get the lever back to its place and have no air at its disposal. A maladjusted rotor makes the instrument sound off just in the notes that use it.

What more to check with a new or used thrombon

Bell: small cuts at the edge are aesthetic and those close to the curve or at the narrow end have an impact more.
Filling pump: That of the bell body should move with his hand, without being glued.
Mawk and bell union: The nut that binds them should be firmly adjusted without forcing them. If it remains loose, the instrument will be staggering while you play.
Drain key: his cork should seal and his spring close it by itself.
Case: The stick should go into its own place, with its place set and protected, so that nothing can put pressure on it while transport.

Alarm signs: a salesman who doesn't let his stick prove, a stick that "only needs cream," new welds at bars or a new and low quality trombone with a stick already pounding from his box. He also lacks a pounding lacquer or a manufacturer that no technician recognizes, because then there will be no spare parts.

Transport and accessories

The trombone is long and its case as well. If you move by bus or at TransMiento, try to load the case before buying it: some boulder strap and a firm handle make a difference. Never wear the stick without the secure put and leave it with a wall: it's the most suffering piece.

Crema or lubricant for the stick and a small water sprinkler as your teacher indicates.
A trombone stand for pauses and put him into a chair is the fastest way to hit his stick.
Beer, nozzle brush and a flexible cleaner for the inside.
A studio satire if you practice in an apartment.
The [methonomic]](/herramientas/metronomo) and an tuner: at the trombone, the tuning depends on where you put the stick, and the tuner helps you place each place.

Before you pay, ask your teacher to play it: long notes at every place, bound and a scale are enough to know if the stick and tuning are okay. If you have no teacher yet, you can start [thrombon classes]](/clases/trombon) and decide to buy with his orientation. And if you still doubt between metals, check [trumpet or trombone]](/blog/trompeta-o-trombon).

Frequently asked questions

At how old can you start with thrombon?

There's no fixed age: it depends on the length of the arm and the force to hold it. Many children start about 9 or 10 years old and before, some teachers use plastic thrombons or propose to start with a more compact metal.

Do you serve a plastic trombone to learn?

To start with or for small children, yes: light, pounding and allowing to work with an embocture and positions. His sound and his stick are not compared with those of a good metal trombone, so sooner or later it's best to leap.

Is thrombon with a transpositor more difficult to touch?

It's no more difficult but weighs more and adds a lever that you have to learn to use. For an adult beginner of good height usually remains at first and for a child with short arms it can be an help.

What nozzle to use to start with with thrombon?

The one that brings a study trombone is usually suitable, as long as its stem corresponds to the calibre of an instrument. To change it is a decision to make with your teacher, depending on your embocatura and the music you play.