Mundane? check. Pointless? check.
I just had to share. My eldest son was placed for 7th grade band today. The trombone. He is so excited. He actually got some pretty good sound out of it, too.
We’ll find out about his other electives soon, but Band was his first choice. He’s happy. I’m investing in earplugs :). Perhaps I should warn the neighbors?
Band is a very good activity in school. I’ve been a musician for 12 years now and I can’t imagine my life without music.
Hey, I was a boner in high school! Never was very good at it, but I did have a lot of fun! Get him a copy of The Glenn Miller Story with Jimmy Stewart! It’s a good movie about another boner/band leader.
I was a trombone player when I was a lad, too. Forget the earplugs–invest in a bucket to put under the spit valve. Young trombonists tend to fill the slide up until it gurgles, particularly when warming up. :eek:
Seriously, I loved band and wouldn’t have traded it for anything. Even now <mumble> years later, I’m completely surrounded by musical instruments. The only drawback to playing trombone is that you don’t get much of the glory–trumpeters tend to get all the solos. If your son starts grousing about it, encourage him to participate in solo competitions. His director will know all about them.
Wait until he ask you where his 'bone is.
Yaaay for him!
My son is a tuba and trombone player, and I agree absolutely with angelabaca–music is a great activity.
Trombone is suprisingly mellow, even for beginners, so hopefully the neighbors won’t be too bothered. 
Wow, thanks for the heads up! I’ll be sure to put bucket on my shopping list. Also, I guess I’m in the market now for a trombone? Any advice/suggestions since I’ll be either purchasing or renting an instrument?
Ah… I, too, spent my Middle and High School years as a 'Boner. Heck, by the second semester of my Sr. year, I even made it all the way up to last chair in symphonic (first) band! Yes, you could describe my trombone skills as “adequate”–and even then, I probably flatter myself.
Nonetheless, by my Sr. year I found myself in posession of a beautiful silver Olds trombone. The improvement in tone alone over the antique I had been playing was alone responsible for my move from second chair/second band to last chair/first band. My favorite feature: the F-trigger. Whatever else you decide to get him, a trombone with a trigger sure makes playing the 'bone so much nicer (especially if you were the only one without one for six years!)
I would strongly suggest renting for at least the first year. Give him time to decide if he’s going to want to keep playing it. A good T-Bone is a sizeable investment.
And, don’t worry about warning the neighbors. They’ll know, soon enough. 
A little slide lubrication advice from a former trombonist: forget about “slide oil.” It’s nasty stuff, and doesn’t work very well. Better:[ul]
[li]Give the trombone a good bath (yes, in the bathtub, with soap and water).[/li][li]Dry it off with a soft towel.[/li][li]Apply a very thin coating of Ponds Cold Cream to the slide (to the inner part of the tube, natch).[/li][li]When playing, keep a small spray bottle of water handy, and give the slide a spritz once in a while.[/li][/ul]
The only time this doesn’t work well is if he’s going to be playing outdoors in sub-freezing weather; then, he’ll need the oil to keep the slide from freezing shut (yes, it happened to me, on more than one occasion!).
Ah yes, the trombone…
Or, as my friend Dean Friedman calls it:
A wind-driven pitch approximator
Seriously - tell him from one musician to another, have fun, and learn ALL your scales in all the keys.
That’s my problem as a keyboard player - I can only play in one key - thank the good Lord for transposing keyboards!
Oh yeah, make sure he knows how to use his slide lock! If he’s in marching band and forgets to use his slide lock and does a snap turn… (It didn’t happen to me, but to one of my older brother’s friends during the half-time show. He forgot to lock his and his slide shot down the field when he did a turn. It was an expensive repair from what I understand.)
Good for him! I was a trombonist in middle school and high school, and now that I’m in college I still play it.
I bought my first trombone at a pawn shop for about $60. It was actually in pretty good shape, after we got it thoroughly cleaned and repaired at the local music store. After it became obvious I was going to stick with it, my parents bought me a new, large-bore trombone with an F-attachment. Either that or renting, as someone above suggested, is probably best for when he’s starting out. Also, a small-bore trombone is probably best for learning, since doen’t take as much air to play properly.
My daughter started on the trombone this year. In fact tonight we went to her first band concert at school.
I’ve never heard “Ode to Joy” played with such sorrow… heh heh. It was close to painful. “Twinkle-twinkle” sounded like a durge. When they kicked in “old MacDonnald had a farm” I told my wife it would have been the soundtrack for Tim Burton’s animated film “the nightmare on macdonnalds farm”
But it was great.
My daughter did pick up pretty quick. Only the first few weeks sounded like dying whales in her room. Now the notes are mostly smooth and clear.
The thing that bugged me… I own three clarinets. Why didn’t she decide on that? heh heh
Good luck… to the both of you.
My nephew plays the trombone. He took it up when he was 11 abd we knew he was a natural when I asked him how he knew where to move the slide to hit the right notes and he looked completely nonplussed and said “My hand just know where the sounds are at.” (He’s had the trombone for about a week at this point). Anyway, he is now in the Marine Corps Band, and is very happy because, after being completely without his horn all through boot camp and artillery training, he can now spend 3 or 4 hours a day practicing while he waits to be assigned to a music class.
Good luck to your son.
B0NZ R00L D||||DZ!
And yeah, I’d agree with renting until you’re sure he’s really serious; even student models don’t come cheap. But do get him his own mouthpiece. The mouthpieces that come with rental 'bones (when they come with them at all) are rather nasty. Ask his band teacher what size he should have. An F-attatchment is a great idea, especially if he’s still waiting for the adolescent growth spurt. Even for adults it makes things easier.
When the concert is over, how do you know where the trombones were sitting? Look for the bit of the stage that looks like a herd of incontinent chihuahuas has just passed through… My dad (a 'bonist himself) taught me to dump the spit in the wastebasket when I practiced at home. Just make sure there’s a bag in the wastebasket!
Also, get him a good squirt bottle to refresh the slide, as Early Out suggested. Be warned that if you get him the type that can be adjusted to spray either a fine mist or a stream, it will be used to attack the arch enemies of trombone players, namely, the flute section. But hey, it’s only water
No, it’s the hooters we went after, i.e., the last row of clarinet players! Hoot, hoot, hoot…
A Bach 3B, by any chance? Took a lot of wind, didn’t it?!
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Early Out *
[li]Apply a very thin coating of Ponds Cold Cream to the slide (to the inner part of the tube, natch).[/li][li]When playing, keep a small spray bottle of water handy, and give the slide a spritz once in a while.[/li][/QUOTE]
You do know that they sell slide cream right? I’m not sure I’d want something like Ponds on my $1800 bone. I personally never had any problems with slide oil if the slide is in good shape, now I’ve found that I need to put way too much water on the slide to keep it going.
I do remember one time during marching band when I snapped down my tuning slide came flying off. Put a nice dent in it, though I don’t think I hit anyone.
knock knock “What are you doing in there?”
“I’m, uh… “playing my trombone!””
[sub]Sorry. I couldn’t resist.[/sub]