Dear Dr. Tom,

My daughter is in the 8th grade. Her band director has suggested a "step-up" horn for her, because he is concerned that a large-bore professional trombone will take too much air. Do you have any advice for a cash-strapped Dad?

Dear "Dad",

I'm not a big believer in "step-up" horns. Mostly for the reasons you cite, namely that it is too expensive to use a step-up for a couple years,
then buy a "pro" horn if progress is good. For this reason, I suggest to younger players they buy a dual-bore slide with a pro horn. Conn
makes a beautiful 88H for which you can buy a .525"/.547" slide. Other manufacturers do, too. They're usually called a "medium-large bore"
trombone. The Conn you can get (and I can help if you'd like) for right around $1400. It's all the trombone she'll ever need. For if the time
comes that she wants a "big-bore" trombone, the slide can be bought for her bell instead of a whole new instrument.

She'll most likely progress more rapidly, too, if she's on a good quality instrument that makes a beautiful sound. As far as air goes, I
also don't believe it has as much to do with "quantity" of air as it does "quality" of air. Most students do well when they move to a bigger
bore if they practice some breathing techniques. There are some really helpful ones in the General Area of our website (trombonelessons.com)
Hope that helps. Keep us posted.