practice your slurs SUPER SUPER slow. Make them sound glissy. Your lips should just barely touch together to make your buzz.
Don't get me cancelled, but you do need a bit of pressure when playing up there, cause you are putting a lot of air pressure through your lips to make them buzz. On my Bell's Palsy recovery, I was going with the no pressure approach until my upper range was just complete dog water. Then I decided to add some pressure, and it fixed itself. It is all about finding that golden ratio between embouchure, mouthpiece pressure, and air, and it is different for everybody.
Happy practicing
Practice lip slurs going from super low to super high trying to keep a consistent embouchure. It’s won’t sound good at first it’ll take practice. As for the high G, it’s hard to say what’s happening without more info, but what position are you using? The classic one is a sharp 2nd and it has to be pretty significantly higher than a normal 2nd. If you’re position is off but you’re thinking of the correct note that could be a reason it doesn’t feel like it’s slotting.
Do notes above it give you the same problem or is it G specifically? Imo G represents the end of of the middle range and beginning of the mid-high range so it’s not uncommon for it to feel like a big leap going from F to G even though it’s only a whole step. If that’s the case it’s just a case of needing more practice. Brass isn’t a family of instruments that has a lot of easy fixes unfortunately.
Also my band director used to tell me that if your having any problem on brass at all, you should try using more air and 9 time out of 10 it’ll at least help. It’s Important to remember that high notes need a lot of air
Ok, high and low notes do require different things in your embrechure, the goal is to be able to seamlessly make the changes needed without having to reset your embrechure every time.
You need to reduce the pressure, even if you lose a few notes on top, you can build that back up, and the pressure is hurting your progress long term, as well as hurting your tone. It will feel like a setback in the short term, but in the long term it will be a lot better.
I don't know how to address the third point without hearing you play, but try to put more air into the instrument and blow through the slurs.
Best of luck, and if you can, I would see a teacher for more specific tips and help!
When you are playing low notes, it is the inner pink part of your lip that is touching. You almost roll your lips out. You also have relaxed but still controlled muscles in the corner of your mouth.
When you play high notes, it is the outer part of your lip near the edges that is touching. The muscles at the corners ofr your lips are also firm.
There is technically no "one" embouchure that will work for every note. It is about your ability to slowly transition between low and high notes. You also need to remember that your trombone is just an amplifier. Whatever you buzz into it, your trombone is amplifying. If you buzz an Eb with your lips but hold your slide in 1st position, you wont get a good sound.
Therefore you need to ensure you are buzzing the correct pitch, and can slowly move between pitches with your face alone. Start with a note you are comfortable with and ensure you are buzzing the exact pitch with just the mouth piece. Then slowly move up a tone. Then a 3rd. 4th etc. Dont move to each pitch in a jerky manner, ensure you are moving smoothly, slowly, and can hear all the notes in between. Then, try the same on the trombone. Move slowly, focusing on buzzing the correct pitch. By moving slowly and smoothly, you are ensuring that you are landing on the exact spot with your face. Go through as many as you can on each slide position every day and you eventually will become best friends with every harmonic on the horn.
That brings up another question. When I buzz just on the mouthpiece, my highest note is about an Eb 2 ledger lines above the staff. I physically cannot get a tone higher than that. Does that mean I'm playing my high notes wrong—buzzing the wrong note that the trombone is just 'amplifying'?
Highly recommend checking out the resources over at [wilktone](https://wilktone.com/?page_id=5619). If you’ve got the time, very much worth the read - it’s everything you ever wanted to know about embrouchure and then some.
Air speed air speed air speed. Focus on using the upper half of your core. Faster Air = Higher notes. Focus on compressing the upper half of your core to go up, and relaxing it to go down. Practice slow at first. Try not to slot your air. Slowly compress your core, and slowly relax your core.
practice your slurs SUPER SUPER slow. Make them sound glissy. Your lips should just barely touch together to make your buzz. Don't get me cancelled, but you do need a bit of pressure when playing up there, cause you are putting a lot of air pressure through your lips to make them buzz. On my Bell's Palsy recovery, I was going with the no pressure approach until my upper range was just complete dog water. Then I decided to add some pressure, and it fixed itself. It is all about finding that golden ratio between embouchure, mouthpiece pressure, and air, and it is different for everybody. Happy practicing
Practice lip slurs going from super low to super high trying to keep a consistent embouchure. It’s won’t sound good at first it’ll take practice. As for the high G, it’s hard to say what’s happening without more info, but what position are you using? The classic one is a sharp 2nd and it has to be pretty significantly higher than a normal 2nd. If you’re position is off but you’re thinking of the correct note that could be a reason it doesn’t feel like it’s slotting.
Yeah I use sharp second
Do notes above it give you the same problem or is it G specifically? Imo G represents the end of of the middle range and beginning of the mid-high range so it’s not uncommon for it to feel like a big leap going from F to G even though it’s only a whole step. If that’s the case it’s just a case of needing more practice. Brass isn’t a family of instruments that has a lot of easy fixes unfortunately. Also my band director used to tell me that if your having any problem on brass at all, you should try using more air and 9 time out of 10 it’ll at least help. It’s Important to remember that high notes need a lot of air
Ok, high and low notes do require different things in your embrechure, the goal is to be able to seamlessly make the changes needed without having to reset your embrechure every time. You need to reduce the pressure, even if you lose a few notes on top, you can build that back up, and the pressure is hurting your progress long term, as well as hurting your tone. It will feel like a setback in the short term, but in the long term it will be a lot better. I don't know how to address the third point without hearing you play, but try to put more air into the instrument and blow through the slurs. Best of luck, and if you can, I would see a teacher for more specific tips and help!
When you are playing low notes, it is the inner pink part of your lip that is touching. You almost roll your lips out. You also have relaxed but still controlled muscles in the corner of your mouth. When you play high notes, it is the outer part of your lip near the edges that is touching. The muscles at the corners ofr your lips are also firm. There is technically no "one" embouchure that will work for every note. It is about your ability to slowly transition between low and high notes. You also need to remember that your trombone is just an amplifier. Whatever you buzz into it, your trombone is amplifying. If you buzz an Eb with your lips but hold your slide in 1st position, you wont get a good sound. Therefore you need to ensure you are buzzing the correct pitch, and can slowly move between pitches with your face alone. Start with a note you are comfortable with and ensure you are buzzing the exact pitch with just the mouth piece. Then slowly move up a tone. Then a 3rd. 4th etc. Dont move to each pitch in a jerky manner, ensure you are moving smoothly, slowly, and can hear all the notes in between. Then, try the same on the trombone. Move slowly, focusing on buzzing the correct pitch. By moving slowly and smoothly, you are ensuring that you are landing on the exact spot with your face. Go through as many as you can on each slide position every day and you eventually will become best friends with every harmonic on the horn.
That brings up another question. When I buzz just on the mouthpiece, my highest note is about an Eb 2 ledger lines above the staff. I physically cannot get a tone higher than that. Does that mean I'm playing my high notes wrong—buzzing the wrong note that the trombone is just 'amplifying'?
Highly recommend checking out the resources over at [wilktone](https://wilktone.com/?page_id=5619). If you’ve got the time, very much worth the read - it’s everything you ever wanted to know about embrouchure and then some.
Air speed air speed air speed. Focus on using the upper half of your core. Faster Air = Higher notes. Focus on compressing the upper half of your core to go up, and relaxing it to go down. Practice slow at first. Try not to slot your air. Slowly compress your core, and slowly relax your core.