How To Play Louder On The Trombone (And Still Sound Good)?

There are moments when you just have to crank up the volume on your trombone. There is a lot more to it than merely increasing the volume of your breath. Playing louder on the trombone while yet keeping control, core, projection, and musicality is a skill that must be learned and can also be a challenge. In any case, here is how to play louder on the trombone.

Here are 7 ways ow to play the trombone louder and still sound great

1. Increase Your Intensity

One of the simplest methods to improve the sound of your trombone is to simply play more. When it comes to increasing your trombone’s loudness, this is one of the most prevalent methods, and even experienced players recommend it for beginners.

It is possible to play louder while maintaining a dark, focused tone and agility with larger equipment (a deeper and broader mouthpiece with a more open throat and a larger bore instrument). As a result, you may run out of stamina or be unable to play at the highest register.

2. Breathe more deeply

You won’t be able to play loudly and with good tone for very long if you can’t manage your breath. If you’d like to work on your breathing, there are countless options. As a trombonist, you should concentrate on flow exercises because the trombone has minimal air resistance, but any well-planned breathing exercise will help you learn to control air flow. Performing cardio exercises can also improve your body’s ability to take in and use oxygen, which will improve your stamina while playing.

3. Instead of playing “loud,” focus on delivering your message clearly

Overblowing and making splatting noises is a common problem among trombonists who want to play louder. This is unfavorable as well as ineffective. Furthermore, the dispersed splatting won’t travel very far.

Focus instead on maintaining strong embouchure form while increasing the volume of air being pushed through your mouthpiece. Splatting may not sound as loud at first if you are used to it, but with experience, you will be able to manage larger amounts of air without losing any of the quality of your sound.

4. Strengthen your chops

The more powerful your chops are; the more control you’ll have over those massive amounts of air. Ironically, a lot of playing gently in order to play loud will be required. Find some exercises that stretch your range and practice playing them at various levels while retaining your best tone.

After playing for a long time, take a few minutes to cool off. Those petal tones can help you practice moving large volume of air, and your chops will thank you for it.

5. Play with assurance and a thorough understanding of the music you’re playing.

All the trombonists I’ve ever known, myself included, seem to become more reticent when they’re hesitant or nervous. It’s difficult to play loudly if you don’t know what you’re doing and aren’t willing to make mistakes.

Remember that a mistake played proudly is often unnoticed, whereas the correct notes played with a lack of confidence attract attention. The only one who will know if you made a mistake is you if you play with confidence.

6. Put your skills to the test.

As with every other instrument in your musical toolbox, playing loud is a skill you can develop. The more you do it, the better it gets.

There are many other, more specific things you can do to improve your high volume playing, you’ve undoubtedly heard this before, but playing long tones on any wind instrument is very much required. Begin by playing a simple Remington exercise with entire notes, first at the pianissimo level, then at the mezzo forte level, and finally at the fortissimo level.

7. Playing long tones has several advantages

Long tones aid in the development of strength: by holding a note for an extended amount of time, the muscles in the embouchure are pushed to maintain their current position, resulting in increased strength.

When you listen to your own sound, you have the natural tendency to improve it.

• Long tones allow you the opportunity to do just that. Using long tones can help you better understand what’s going on in your lungs. The timbre of your tone will be determined by how you open and close the airflow channel.
• Long tones make you inhale and exhale more thoroughly. When you lengthen the length of a note, your breathing becomes deeper in order to accommodate the additional air that is required to keep the note in tune.
• Long tones help you avoid a wobbly tone, practice keeping your arms and hands steady while playing the instrument.
• Long tones train your respiratory system to control prolonged dynamic volumes, because an irregular air stream generates an uneven dynamic volume.
• Long tones are a good warm-up since they use less energy and are gentle on the chops before regular practice sessions. Vibrato can be improved with long tones since a controlled amount of vibrato enhances the warmth of your voice.
• Long tones allow you to play in a more comfortable manner since your attention is drawn to the essentials rather than technical issues.
• Long tones and lip slurs will help you develop your tone and dynamic range, while the lip slurs will let you change notes swiftly across greater intervals. Every day in your warm-up, try a few of these, and you’ll soon find yourself playing louder, faster, and with better tone!

Why Is It Important To Play Loud Correctly?

A powerful, emotionally rich sound is defined not only by its decibel strength, but also by the clarity of its pronunciation, which is portrayed as a clear, energetic sound attack. The last thing you want is for your trombone to make a muffled noise.

The dynamic range of the pipe can be increased by using intense tone coloring, intense vibrato, volitional direction, and joining and ending sounds.

At the end of a piece, this produces an impression of enormous emotional and dynamic intensity, which is typically required.

However, a good trombone’s powerful sound will not be able to meet all of the requirements if it lacks other crucial attributes (clear attack, flight, sonority, timbre, depth, and vibrato).

The trombone has a brilliant, forceful sound that can pierce through even the most powerful symphony orchestra’s sonority. The trombone’s sound can be calm and quiet at the same time. That kind of sound leaves an indelible effect on the ear.

The pipe has a large dynamic range. As a result, dynamics is one of the most effective modes of expression.

Final Thoughts on how to play louder on the trombone

Playing the trombone loudly is a cinch. Simply increase the volume and force with which you blow into the instrument. But the quality of your sound is likely to deteriorate.

It’s a lot more difficult to play the trombone louder while maintaining the same quality of sound. To improve your embouchure and breath control, you’ll need to practice regularly. This is especially true if you’re recording your trombone with a microphone.