Health and Beauty Tips for Your Brass: Keep It Shiny!
Did you know that the health and beauty of your brass instruments require extra special attention? It’s true-their wellbeing and happiness depend upon it. While we’re not talking about putting your tuba on a weight-loss program or taking your trumpet to the spa for a makeover, you do need to treat your brass instruments with care or they’ll refuse to come out and play. So, grab that brass and get ready for a workout-it’s time to clean!
When was the last time you saw a dirty French Horn in the orchestra? Probably never, right? That’s because professional musicians know how to take daily, monthly, and yearly care of their instruments. Now’s your chance to do the same! Starting with daily care,
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Note: Because brass instruments vary, be sure to learn the specific cleaning methods for your particular instrument. For example, rotor instruments like the French horns, rotor tubas, and rotor trombones should always be cleaned by an experienced repairperson.
Once a week, lubricate the valves on your brass instrument. Simply unscrew the valve cap and draw out the valve half way. Using the appropriate lubricant, apply a drop of valve oil to the widest part of the valve. Then, press the valve back to its original position. The valves on most brass instruments have a “guide” that helps you to line up the valve. Most often, you’ll hear a *click* when
...arpeggio in the left hand and use over 2 octaves of the keyboard. It's quite an exercise and is a good one to get your left hand moving! Edward Weiss is a pianist/composer and webmaster of Quiescence Music's online piano ...
If you play a brass instrument, you know what happens after a good session of blowing. You know, “moisture” can build up inside of your instrument. If it’s not removed, this moisture can do a real number on the health of your instrument. To be sure you’ve removed all moisture from your instrument after you’re done playing, you’ll want do a final blow with the water keys opened. This should help to keep the insides of your instruments happy and dry.
No Fingerprints Please
To keep your brass shining, be sure to wipe down the outside of the instrument after each use. This will help remove oils and perspiration left by your hands.
To spare your brass from
...is beautifully played and sensitively interpreted. If you think playing slow pieces of music is easy, try playing a very slow piece and really listen for the tone you're producing. That's a good litmus test. Edward Weiss is a pianist/composer ...
Once A Month It’s Thorough Internal Cleaning Time
To do this, you’ll need to take your brass apart completely. You’ll also need some supplies, including cleaning brushes, liquid soap, slide grease (if your instrument has slides), and valve oil. If you’re not comfortable with any of these steps, take your instrument to a
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Head to your bathroom or kitchen sink and get ready to get dirty!
- Remove all slides, valves and valve bottom caps and place them, except for the valves, in warm, soapy water. Soak the parts in the water for 10 minutes
- As your parts are soaking, run warm water over your valves and use the valve brush to brush out all openings. Give your valves a good shake to remove excess water and let dry
- Depending on your type of instrument, you’ll want to brush all its tubes and compartments as well as the valve casings
- Rinse the entire instrument with warm water and be sure to wipe off any excess moisture How to Play Piano in Less Than 1 Hour!with a soft cloth. Before moving on to the next step, you’ll want to make sure your instrument is completely dry
...don't want to start with boring triads or note reading, you're going to love learning to play the open position chord! Edward Weiss is a pianist/composer and webmaster of Quiescence Music's online piano lessons. He has been helping students learn ... - If your instrument has slides, apply a little slide grease to each and put back together reassemble
- Replace the valves and apply a drop of oil on each to lubricate. Most valves are numbered, so be sure to put yours back in the correct location
Voila! You’re done. You can now go slide that trombone or toot that trumpet to your heart’s content. Because you treated your brass with cleanly attention, it’ll serve up beautiful music for years to come! Play that horn, Daddy-O!
Jon Butt is the publisher of Musical Instruments Guide , a free resource dedicated to all things musical.
...your music. For a good example of chord changes, look at my book "New Age Piano Made Easy." It's filled with 84 exercises completely comprised of different chord changes in all 12 keys. Edward Weiss is a pianist/composer and webmaster ...