Learning Out Loud: Trombone Reflections
Facing Old Habits
This past week, I had the opportunity to get some direct feedback from Christan Griego of Edwards Instruments and Griego Mouthpieces. His insights into my playing were eye-opening — and honestly, a little hard to hear at first. He pointed out some areas of tension and issues with my core approach to sound production. The hard part was realizing just how much I had built habits around those tensions.
It felt like an emotional hurdle to accept that I might need to “relearn” parts of my instrument. But Christan’s expertise was spot on, and instead of shying away from that discomfort, I’ve decided to embrace it. Growth often comes with a little pain — or at least with the humility of starting again.
Warmups with Intention
To address this, I’ve been working through long warmups that focus on low-register lip slurs, always with a metronome (yes, the dreaded click!). These exercises are about more than just moving notes around. They force me to play with full resonance, without tension, and to catch myself when old habits try to creep back in.
It’s not easy. Sometimes I play a note and immediately know it isn’t what it could be. The challenge is not to gloss over it, but to stop, recognize it, and try again — engaged practice, not just going through motions. Already, I’m noticing improvement in both tone and response, and that motivates me to keep pushing forward.
Key of the Week
Another practice tool I’ve added is something I’m calling the Key of the Week. The idea is to pick one key center and live in it for a while. That means working through scales — major, Mixolydian, minor, major blues, minor blues, pentatonic — and running different patterns, always with the metronome to keep the groove honest.
The harder part is taking songs I’ve already memorized and playing them in the key of the week, even if it’s not the key I originally learned them in. It’s uncomfortable, but it builds flexibility and keeps songs fresh in my memory.
This week, the key was B♭, and I started by taking Careless Love (which I originally learned in C) and working it in B♭. It wasn’t perfect, but it was a powerful exercise in stretching my ear and my fingers.
New Songs on the Horizon
On top of all this, we’ve added a couple of new tunes to our jam list: I Believe in Music and Accidentally on Purpose. While our goal is always to learn songs by ear, we’ll be making lead sheets to help guide our jams. I haven’t dug into these songs yet, but I’m excited. They’re fun, old-school tunes that fit right into our mix of joyful, community-driven music.
Learning Out Loud means sharing not just the polished sound, but the practice room reality — the struggles, the breakthroughs, and the notes we play again (and again) until they feel right. Thanks for walking this journey with me.
— John