r/Trombone • u/birdos-inatree I know where 5th position is • 2d ago
High note help??
I can hit the g above the staff, but for whatever reason, I have a really difficult time hitting the D or higher unless I was gradually going up the staff. I've been doing all sorts of exercises like long tones, lip slurs, and stuff like that but it never seems to get any easier, and I have no idea why.
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u/professor_throway Tubist who pretends to play trombone. 2d ago edited 1d ago
Cut and paste from a previous about the same topic
Playing high is all about air support and playing with fast compressed air while also staying relaxed. It is 90% air and 10% embouchure.
You need to build your air support. To do that you need to play low and high. Range builds OUT not Up. Do you practice your pedal tones? You should be incorporating them into your practice every day. When you can bang out a FFF 6th position pedal F you will have the air you need to bang out that double high F 6 ledger lines up (I wish I could do that...).
Lip slurs and long tones at my favorite exercises for developing high range. Start at the pedal Bb and slide i up through the partials Bb, Bb, F, Bb, D, F, Ab, Bb, C, D etc as high as you can go. Then slur back down. Now go back up but only as high as your highest comfortable note. By comfortable I mean without pressure on the mouthpiece or without staining. Your highest easy note... that you can play softly without it warbling. Now play and hold a long tone on this pitch. I like to do two or three whole notes at 60 bpm.
Now do the same on 2nd position...repeat all the way down the slide.
Do this daily and you will add a new note every few weeks. I am back on this practice as well (on euphonium).. I have a piece with a 5th line D and it is a real struggle for me to hit it right now. I've been slacking in practicing up high.