Brass instruments are not cheap. Luckily, with regular maintenance, the instruments will be in great condition for decades. It’s probably best to bring your instrument for a good cleaning and check up about once a year with a trusted repair person. For brass instruments, they’ll give it a deep clean, make sure everything is in alignment, and replace the few parts that do wear out over time, like spit valve corks. In between these sessions, maintaining your brass instrument is actually pretty easy.
The below videos will walk you through how to keep your instruments in great shape. When it comes to taking apart and putting your horn back together, these videos are much better than any written descriptions I could give. Trombone and trumpet maintenance is not as hard you might think. Please enjoy!
Regular Trombone Maintenance
The day to day care for your trombone is pretty simple. Just follow this video.
Giving your Trombone a Bath
I generally recommend people bathe their instruments every 3-4 months. Don’t do this right before a performance, though, because a bath can affect how the horn responds to your playing.
Regular Trumpet Maintenance
The day to day is a little more than just adding valve oil. Check this out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cH1ak_kkZSE&ab_channel=YamahaMusicAustralia
Giving Your Trumpet a Bath
Trumpets have a few more moving parts, but they’re still pretty easy to bathe. .
Maintaining a pTrumpet
pTrumpets are all plastic, so they require a little bit different maintenance. They’re actually pretty easy to take care of, despite being plastic.
Summarizing Trombone and Trumpet Maintenance
In conclusion, brass instruments are tools with moving parts. Just like a car, you need to do some things to make sure all of its parts stay in tip top shape. Taking some time out to do this is important and can reduce unnecessary frustrations you might have while practicing.