How to play the trombone

1. Start with the buzz

Every brass sound begins with your lips vibrating. Before touching the trombone, practise buzzing on the mouthpiece alone: firm corners, relaxed centre, steady air. Aim for a clear, sustained buzz you can hold for eight seconds. Two minutes of mouthpiece buzzing a day does more for a beginner than an hour of struggling with the full instrument.

2. Hold it properly

Left hand carries all the weight, wrapped around the brace nearest you. Right hand holds the slide brace lightly with thumb and two fingers, like a pencil. If your right arm gets tired, you are gripping, not holding.

3. Your first three positions

The trombone has seven slide positions, but you only need three to start. First position is all the way in: that gives you B flat and F. Third position, with the slide brace roughly level with the bell rim, gives you A flat and E flat. Fourth position, just past the bell, gives you G and D. With those six notes you can play more tunes than you would think. The full chart is in my slide positions guide.

4. First tunes

Start with tunes you can sing: Hot Cross Buns, Merrily We Roll Along, When the Saints. Singing the tune first, then playing it, trains your ear to place the slide, which is the core skill of trombone playing. There are no frets and no keys; your ear does the tuning.

5. A practice routine that works

• 2 minutes mouthpiece buzzing
• 5 minutes long tones in first position
• 5 minutes slide work between two positions
• 5 minutes on a tune you enjoy

Fifteen minutes a day, six days a week, beats two hours on Sunday. Consistency builds the embouchure; cramming just tires it.

When to get a teacher

Sooner than most people think. Slide technique and embouchure habits set early, and bad ones are slow to undo. Even a few lessons at the start will save months later. If you are wondering whether the instrument will suit you at all, read is the trombone hard to learn?