Choosing your first trombone

With so many different trombones on the market, it’s impossible for a beginner (or in most cases, the parent of a young beginner) to know where to turn to when considering buying an instrument to begin learning on. Fortunately, trombones tend to be cheaper to buy than almost any other instrument, but knowing what is right for your needs may be difficult. Ultimately, it is best to buy a trombone having taken the advice of your tutor on what you need, based on your long term ambitions etc; however, here are a few basic suggestions on what you should look out for:

• There is a huge range available from many manufacturers all often supplying their own student, intermediate and professional models. Buying the most expensive trombone will not necessarily be any more beneficial as a beginner than buying a student model. In fact, buying a professional trombone to learn on, other than costing you several thousand pounds, may slow down your progress in the long term. I have come across countless trombonists, young and old, with the latest custom professional model etc. who would make the same sound, if not better, on a trombone which cost 1/8th of the price!
• Mouthpieces and accessories can make a huge difference to the more advanced player; however, in general it doesn’t help as a beginner to chop and change equipment. Learn on what you have, and you can experiment later.
• When choosing a trombone to learn on, do take advice. Most reputable brass specialists will happily help you to choose your first instrument, but it is also wise to get advice from your tutor.
• Choose a reputable brand of trombone, and buy from a reputable source. Brand new shiny trombones on the internet (e.g. Ebay) may seem like a great deal and look great, but many of these are cheap imports with extremely poor build quality, which will make it next to impossible for you to make a noise you will be happy with.
• It is advisable to get hands on experience of playing a few models of trombone before buying one. Most shops are happy to let you try out their demo models. For guidance purposes, I can recommend the following few instruments which seem to work well, offer value for money, and have proven popular with beginners and tutors:
  • Michael Rath/JP Student Model : One of the market leaders in professional trombone building has teamed up with John Packer to build this quality student model trombone. Retails at around £250.
  • Yamaha YSL 354 : Yamaha’s most popular student model trombone. Quite expensive at around £500, but very popular.
  • Bach TB300 : Equally as popular as the Yamaha, but less expensive. Retails around £350.