Slide Lubrication Ed Dumas A concept that is usually taught in auto mechanics or metal shop is when there is metal rubbing on metal, there must be some kind of lubrication product to keep the two metals functioning properly. Failure to lubricate metal moving on metal can result in excessive friction which creates wear during movement. At times when the metals are not moving, they can become fused if there is no lubrication between them. The same principles apply to musical instruments made of metal. There are several types of lubrication needed for brass instruments including oiling valves and greasing slides. The article “Why Do Trumpet Valves Jam?” contains a good description of how to properly oil piston valves. Note that old oil needs to be removed before applying fresh valve oil, and there are some specifics there worth reviewing if you have not seen the article. There are two kinds of slides on brass instruments that require lubrication that I will mention here. The first type is the “slow slide” such as tuning slides and valve slides on trumpet, euphoniums, tubas and so on. The second type is the “fast slides” such as the trombone main slide, but also includes the trumpet third valve trigger slide and a few others. These two types of slides need completely different approaches, but both need some player consistency to work properly. Let’s deal first with the “slow slides” such as tuning slides and valve slides of brass instruments. These slides need to have “Tuning Slide Grease” applied infrequently to keep them moving. The feel of how these slides should move is that of a slow steady movement somewhat regardless of how much pressure is applied. The speed of this slide is somewhat unimportant, but should just be consistent, even if you push on it harder. There should not be changes in the speed of the slide as it moves, nor should it require great effort to move. The classic telltale sign that it is time to re-apply some grease is when you push or pull and the slide does not move. You decide to push a little more and then a little more. All of sudden the slide “pops” and moves a dramatic distance and then seems to get lodged in again. This is a warning sign that students need to be aware of. Not putting on some fresh grease ASAP will mean that very soon the slide will refuse to move and now the instrument must go into a repairman to get professional help. Do yourself and your students a favour and educate your students about this warning sign, as it will save you and them some money and anguish later. Just as with oiling the valves in a brass instrument, adding new grease should not be done until the old grease is removed, at least as much as possible. When students remove a slow slide from an instrument, there are two surfaces to consider. These are the outer surface of the inner tube and the inner surface of the outer tube. These two surfaces rub together, and this is where the grease is applied. At the least, students can use a rag to wipe off the old grease which will be on the outer surface of the inner tube. As I mentioned in the blog posting “Why Trumpet Valves Jam,” this rag should not be the one that is shipped with the instrument from the factory. This factory “rag” is usually a buffing cloth used for removing the fingerprints from the outer finish of brass instruments. Students should find a rag just for oil and grease purposes, and it should be made of non-stretchy cotton, such as a piece of old bed sheet or the back of an old men’s cotton dress shirt. Use this rag to wipe off any old grease from the slides. When adding grease, students should use a finger to spread the grease around the surface of the slide as evenly as possible. Then insert the tubes of the slide one at a time, the top tube first, then the bottom tube. With only one tube inserted move the slide in and out several times while rotating the slide back and forth as much as possible. This will help spread the grease to all areas of the slides’ metal surfaces. Do this for each pair of inner & outer tubes, one at a time before inserting both tubes into the required position. After the slide is put back into position, the last step is to wipe away any excess grease left on the exposed parts of the slide to keep the horn neat and clean. As an aside, I learned a trick from my post-secondary trumpet teacher of using a pencil mark on my trumpet tuning slide. Once my trumpet was placed “in tune” as close as it could be with a tuner or with the band, take a pencil and place a line on the inner tube of the tuning slide to indicate where this slide should be placed next time it is moved. This is valuable if you use a mute which often sharpens the pitches, and therefore you must pull out to compensate for the mute. But, once the passage is complete and the mute comes back out, you will now know exactly where to move the slide back to with no hesitation. Doing this little pencil mark trick is also very helpful for trumpets where the case demands that the slide be fully pushed in to fit into the case. The reason that instrument makers sometimes make this demand is to force the trumpet player to move the slide each time the horn is played. This reduces the chances that the slide becomes permanently seized and therefore needs professional help. That is the old “Use it or lose it” axiom once again! In the next rehearsal, if the situation changes, the pencil mark can be easily removed with a rag, and redrawn for the new correct tuning placement. If you teach this system to your students, remind them that this pencil mark is NOT “written in stone.” Rather, it is “A place to start.” This pencil mark trick is very useful for other brass instruments, flutes and especially saxes on the neck cork as well! The other option that students can do when lubricating their slides is to bathe the instrument completely before applying new grease. This will help remove the old grease from the inside of the outer sleeve which is not done in the above procedure. If students are very young, it might be better to leave the bathing to a repairman, though older students can complete this task on their own. There are numerous excellent videos on YouTube regarding bathing brass instruments, but I suggest you preview them first to make sure the procedures are safe for students. The fast (right-hand) slide on the trombone, though, is a different problem that does not require grease but rather an oil-based product. Using grease on this product will make the slide far too slow to be playable. Here the objective is to make the slide completely free of friction as much as possible, rather than making even, steady friction using grease. There are many different products available that students can use on the trombone main slide. Young students will probably want to use something simple, such as basic slide oil. The one that I often recommend is UltraPure Trombone Slide Oil, as it is a superior synthetic oil with few challenges in use. The one thing that many students seem to forget, though, about oiling their trombone slide is that they should remove the old oil first. As a general rule in all band instruments, wipe off old, then apply new. When troubles arise later, it is often because students have either not wiped off old slide oil, or they have never bothered to lubricate their slide at all! To wipe off the old oil, students should carefully separate the inner and outer sleeves of the trombone slide. Use the cotton rag again to wipe both arms of the inner slide several times each. Be very careful not to bend or dent the inner sleeves, as this will certainly then need to go to a repairman. Older students can also wipe off the old oil from the inner surface of the outer sleeves by using a trombone slide reamer and a small piece of rag pulled through the eyelet. Push this reamer in and out several times in each outer sleeve to remove all of the old oil. When applying the new oil, apply a few drops to each of the “socks” on the inner sleeves. The socks are the end parts of the slide (about 6”) that are very slightly thicker than the rest of the sleeves. These are the parts that contact the inner surfaces enough to keep the distances correct and the slide moving properly. This is where the oil is needed most. Use the oil bottle dropper to contact the sock directly. Dropping the oil onto the sock will cause the oil to splash onto clothing which will likely stain permanently. Once both socks are covered well in oil, insert the end of each sleeve into its corresponding outer sleeve one at a time. Move the two parts in and out a few times while rotating the sleeve to spread the oil around. Do this with each tube set before finally putting the slide together ready to play. The slide now should be very quick so that if the student accidentally lets go of the slide, the outer slide will drop to the floor on its own. Note – Use the trombone slide lock when not playing to stop the slide from falling off and getting damaged! I am always amazed at how many first-year trombone players do not oil their slides daily. Failure to do this simple task dooms more trombone players than just about any other reason. In a beginning band class, check this each day for the first month or two. Have the trombone players hold up their horn and let the slide fall to their right hand (not come off the inner sleeves, just drop a foot or so on its own). If the slide will not do this freely on its own, make the trombone player spend some time dealing with this. No sense trying to play when the horn cannot do it! Once the trombone players are in the habit of oiling the slide daily, they will learn SO much better. Now wiping the oil off the trombone does take a bit longer so players are often reluctant to do it, especially in shorter classes. The players, though, need to understand that if they never wipe off the slide, it will eventually become unplayable. The oil will continue to dry and build up in place so that eventually the slide will move only with such resistance that the players cannot possibly keep up with the band. If the slide moves so slowly that the player cannot keep up with the band, the player will surely get frustrated and think about quitting! Few players will recognize that the problem is with them because “the trombone doesn’t work.” Teachers, in the beginning, need to keep on top of the trombonists until they develop the habit of considering the slide condition EACH TIME THEY PICK UP THE HORN. Later you can probably check this less frequently. Here is a schedule that I would recommend for your young trombone players to help with shorter classes and the time it takes to lubricate the slides. In the beginning, the trombone players can apply oil each day without wiping down the slide. Then, instruct them to take the time to wipe the slide’s inner sleeve on the weekend before applying fresh oil. You could check in class once or twice ahead of time that they know how to do this before you assign them to do it at home consistently. After a month or so of slow practice wiping the inner sleeve weekly at home, have them wipe it in class for you once per week from now on. By now they will have developed the routine and some speed on the task that they should be able to do it weekly in class. Soon after you could have the trombone players wipe the inner sleeve whenever they feel that the slide is getting “gummed up” with too much oil. This could be more than just weekly. Older students, maybe in the second year, could then start using the slide reamer to clean the inner surface of the outer sleeve as well. This too could be done less frequently than daily, maybe weekly or monthly. Remind students that are learning how to use the slide reamer to flip the rag over the tip of the reamer to stop the metal end from scraping the inside of the slide. Now older trombone players that are used to putting oil on their slides daily may want to go a step further or more. One of my favourite products is called “Slide-O- Mix” which substantially drops the resistance on the slide as compared to slide oil. “Slide-O-Mix Classic” has two bottles of product. One product is applied to the socks, and the other is applied to the upper parts of the slide. Then water from a spray bottle is misted on the upper inner sleeves. The reaction between the two different products and the water on the slide creates a lack of resistance that is unsurpassed and just a pleasure in playing. Many players, though, are reluctant to use this system due to the additional effort required in maintenance. The slides will need to be wiped out frequently including the outer slide with a reamer. The payoff is huge, though, so many experienced players appreciate the option if it is provided. There is one final option for students as well. Slide-O-Mix has developed a similar system called “Slide-O-Mix All In One” that combines the two bottles into one product that is used on both parts of the slide, the socks and the upper part of the inner sleeve. Water misting from a spray bottle is still used on the inner sleeve as well. This system might be a good start for students that are no longer beginners but not yet experienced enough to use the Classic system. At the beginning of this article, I mentioned that the “fast slides” are found on other instruments besides the trombone. Trumpets have a much smaller fast slide on the third valve which must be pushed out substantially to put some notes into tune. But, this third trigger slide cannot stay out, as it will affect other notes that it should not. Hence the slide must be able to move quickly, like a trombone slide. Flugelhorns sometimes contain these fast slides for the same purpose, and I even know a pro tuba player who has added a fast trigger slide to his instrument! All of these “fast slides” will need some product to keep them functioning at their best. On student model horns, these “fast slides” (triggers) are often not very fast, regardless of the product used on them. Sometimes repairmen can speed these up with some time spent on them. But even just plenty of use is often enough to speed up a fast slide which is not well enough from the factory. That is assuming, of course, that the student has been adding the correct lubrication product to this trigger slide! If after using the correct lubrication on the third trigger slide of a trumpet and the student still finds that the trigger is not moving fast enough to be useable, here are some suggestions to help rectify that situation. First, wipe off any old lubrication product and apply fresh product to the trigger to ensure that is as best as it can be. If the slide is still slow, push and hold down the third valve to release the airlock in the tube. Then, move the slide in and out rapidly and repeatedly while checking if the slide is slowly improving. This process will take time more in the range of hours rather than minutes. Once it feels like the slide is no longer improving, wipe the old oil from both surfaces, and reapply new once again. Check the feel of the slide once again to see if it has improved once again. If it continues to improve, continue to rapidly move the trigger slide in and out while holding down the third valve. Keep repeating this process until the slide is either sufficiently fast to satisfy the player, or the improvement has stopped. If the progress of the trigger slide has stopped and the slide is still not sufficiently fast, the instrument will need to go into a repairman for further progress. Usually, I have found that most student model slides move fast enough for the student once they have run this procedure for a night or two to speed up the trigger. Students who are interested in improving the speed of their fast slides, or even just in keeping the slow slides serviced well are encouraged to seek out information. There are plenty of sources now across the internet which can provide how-to’s on using these many products. Tapestry Music is a good source, and I am sure that any one of the reps would help you or your students with questions. Tapestry Music also offers private teachers for those that want more direct help. As in just about everything in music, doing nothing is not a good option.   -->

Top Three Inches of Reed Instruments I have seen many students over the years purchase step-up or professional quality instruments while still in their school years. I can certainly understand the sentiment for doing this as the better instruments are just so much nicer to play. When you are spending many hours per week playing the instrument, it is a real treat to play a better quality horn. I am always amazed though when I see students spending thousands of dollars on better horns, but still not considering the quality of the top three inches of the reed instrument. That would be the mouthpiece, the ligature, and the reeds. I have often said that you can take a student model instrument and make it sound like it is worth thousands more by just getting a pro-quality mouthpiece, a decent ligature, and better reeds. The trouble is, the inverse is true as well. You can take a pro model clarinet and reduce its sound quality by playing on a student-quality mouthpiece, a crappy ligature, and entry-level reeds. A pro instrument cannot turn a crappy sound from the mouthpiece into something that it is not. So, I always recommend starting with the top three inches and considering the horn later. That way, the student will always be pleased with the result despite the amount of money invested. The first place to invest should be the best result for the money spent, and in my opinion, that is the ligature. The ligature is the metal clamp on the sax or clarinet that seals the reed against the mouthpiece and holds the reed in place. Manufacturers do not put decent ligatures into student model instruments as a way of keeping the price of the student model instruments affordable. Ligatures are also kind of a personal thing with many different styles that give people many options to select from. The trouble with the student model ligatures is that when the screws are tightened, much of the force that is created squeezes the sides of the reed, instead of sealing the reed onto the mouthpiece. The result is that it can cause the reed to bow slightly from side to side, which allows leaks to form between the reed and the mouthpiece. The solution is to change the ligature to one that defeats this effect. The Rovner ligature is one that I have long recommended, as it is very effective and still very affordable for students at the cost of only about one box of reeds. The Rovner ligature is made of vinyl and has one metal adjustment screw on the backside of the ligature. The screw should be placed opposite the reed on the back of the mouthpiece, and not next to the reed. Now when tightening up the Rovner ligature, the vinyl strap will convert the screw pressure into gentle even pressure on the mouthpiece without any side squeeze on the reed. The best way to convince a student to step up their ligature is to have the students try it. Band teachers can keep a Rovner ligature on hand, and then just offer it to your students to try. Once they have played on something better, they will understand the benefits and work towards getting one. Rovner ligatures have several variations as well, starting with dark, medium and light sounds. I have preferred the dark sound for school concert bands as many students already have a too-thin sound and this helps correct it. The Rovner also has the added benefit of gripping the mouthpiece better than the student model ligatures. I have seen many student metal ligatures slip off and no matter how they are adjusted little grip is provided. The Rovner fixes that problem because of the vinyl strap contacting the plastic mouthpiece which grips better. Finally, there is an added benefit of the Rovner ligature that few people know about. Virtually all ligatures are made for right-handed people since about 80% of the population are right-handed. This means that the screws for all ligatures are made to be in the right hand when the ligature is positioned correctly and the player is facing the reed. Rotating a student model ligature around for a left- handed person may solve the handedness problem, but will create other problems of gaps in the ligature due to the way it is constructed. The Rovner ligature, though, can be turned into a left-handed ligature by undoing the nut and screw and removing them completely. Then slide the two bars out from the ends of the vinyl strap and swap them the other way around. Reposition the screw and the nut, which should now be on the left-hand side of the ligature when the screw is placed on the backside of the mouthpiece and the student is facing the reed. There are many other better ligatures of all sorts of types and styles. Professional musicians will spend substantial amounts of money on their ligatures when their livelihood depends on the sound that they create. But, for students, a Rovner ligature for about the cost of one box of reeds is a bargain that makes their instrument so much more enjoyable. The next best investment students should make to improve their sound is that of a pro model mouthpiece. The only reason that I did not make this recommendation first is that a good mouthpiece will be 3-4 times the cost of a box of reeds or more. As such, students often do not do this change first, but it is certainly an important decision to achieve a better sound. One of the biggest reasons to get away from the student model mouthpiece is that the face of the mouthpiece is often cut very flat on student mouthpieces. The face is the flat surface where the reed is held in place with the ligature. Manufacturers cut this face very flat for beginners because it allows students to achieve an almost immediate sound the first time they try the instrument. That is because the students do not need to bend the reed in very much with their embouchure, and so they get that early, easy sound. The trouble is that this early sound will not have a great tone, nor will the student be able to play with a good projection. With such a flat face, if students blow harder to get more sound, the reed will easily close off and the student will get no sound at all. The unintended outcome is that a student model mouthpiece encourages students to play with a small sound and weak embouchure, and this can be very destructive to future development. While it may work on day one, in year two or three it is already holding back the student! A pro model mouthpiece will have the reed face cut more open allowing for more air to pass through. This will create a larger sound but requires more effort from the student to bend in the reed. This also will help students develop a stronger embouchure, whereas the student mouthpieces tend to encourage students to NOT develop their embouchure. Pro model mouthpieces also have a more open shape inside the mouthpiece. I am not an expert on reed mouthpieces, so if you are interested in the specifics of these parameters, you should contact a specialist on your instrument. In the beginning, though, most secondary school students would find a good improvement in a “middle-of-the-road” pro-quality mouthpiece that is cut to create a full rich tone. Contact a Tapestry specialist about this if you are interested. Finally, a pro-quality mouthpiece is made of better materials than that used in student model mouthpieces. Usually, the student mouthpieces are made of plastic, whereas the pro mouthpieces are often made from a hard rubber which plays with a darker, richer, and more pleasant sound. Once again, teachers are encouraged to keep one sample in stock for students to try. Once they have played on it for a class, students will surely understand the benefit of improving that mouthpiece. Finally, students should consider improving the quality of their reeds before they consider stepping up the instrument. Juno and Rico Royal reeds are excellent for beginners, but students should move away from them shortly after beginning and aim for something better. Vandoren is a standard brand for high school students, but there are many great things available beyond even those such as Zonda reeds. I encourage you to look back at the blog article titled “What Reed Strength Should Beginners Start On?” to read about a plan for the care and development of reeds. I am always amazed when I see students playing on great instruments while still playing on student model reeds. The top three inches of a clarinet or sax can truly make a great sound, even on a student model instrument. Just stepping up the reeds, mouthpiece and ligature make an astounding difference that most students are surprised to hear. Despite my being a trumpet player, I always kept a student model clarinet that I could use as a demo instrument for my students. Then, I would add a Vandoren B45 mouthpiece, a Rovner Dark ligature, and Vandoren Classic 2 1⁄2 reeds. When I played this right after playing the same instrument with a student model mouthpiece, ligature and Rico Royal 2 1⁄2 reeds, students were amazed at the sound difference. Many then would want to try the better equipment for themselves. Now here is an added suggestion for your best clarinet players. Before I retired, the clarinet that I had for a demo instrument was a Backun Alpha, which I consider to be the best student model instrument available anywhere. It is not significantly more expensive than the other student model instruments, but some notable changes make it a worthwhile investment for secondary school players. These include Backun’s improved key quality and strength, high overall build quality, and a unique ring that is cut into the inside of the bell of the clarinet. Even a trumpet player like me noodling on a clarinet can tell the difference going over the break with this instrument! For the small amount more as compared to other student model instruments, students that play on the Backun Alpha will just be so much more pleased for all their years of school music. The bonus from Backun though is the wooden barrel and bell options that can be added to any clarinet. Backun Clarinets has acquired a substantial supply of exotic woods that they are using to cut these ultra-high-end additions for clarinet. On the Backun Alpha that I used as a demo clarinet, I added a Backun barrel made from Cocobolo wood that created a breathtaking sound, even coming from a trumpet player like me! The cost of an added wooden barrel or bell is a fair bit more than the ligature at about a couple hundred dollars or more. Yet, this is far less than upgrading an entire instrument to pro-quality. Students that are just looking to improve the quality of sound even further could consider one of these amazing additions. All of these options are worth the small added costs to improve playability and sound quality. Most can be done one at a time, and these also happen to be items that make wonderful birthday or Christmas presents! They should certainly be considered before replacing the horn for pro-quality, and then when that pro horn comes along, the upgraded “Top Three Inches” can be used on the new horn as well! Ed Dumas, B.Ed., M.A.Ed.     -->

  Why Do Trumpet Valves Jam?  Ed Dumas Jamming valves on trumpet and other piston valved instruments is one of the most frustrating things that happen to young musicians. A jammed valve is sometimes called a sticky valve but is a little different. Sticky valves generally happen all of the time in the same consistent way & speed and are usually a result of the instrument needing some cleaning and servicing. The valves have become gummed up and just need to be cleaned out and freshly lubricated. A basic bath and service usually will solve that problem. Jamming valves is something different. This usually happens at random times and is generally not consistent. Usually, it happens when the student lifts a finger to allow the valve to return to the up position. Partway up as the valve is lifting it just suddenly seems to stop and refuses to move, even if for just a split second. Sometimes one of the valves will even jam on the way down and momentarily refuse to move even with a firmer push from the finger. These events can be enough to cause the trumpet player to stop and have to deal with the problem valve and are most frustrating, especially for young players. There are several reasons for valve jams but often the most common culprit is something that some teachers are not aware of. Presented here is a strategy for helping solve the valve jam issues for your trumpet players. The first solution for valve jams is to apply fresh valve oil to all of the valves of the trumpet. This is usually the first thought for young trumpet players because it is what they know. If you choose to do this first, point out to the trumpet players that they should remove old valve oil before applying new oil to the valves. This will have the added benefit of cleaning off the valves and casings in case the jam was brought on by dirty valves. Just applying oil on top of old oil will not solve a dirty trumpet problem. When trumpet players add valve oil, rarely do they remove old oil first. This really should be done each time oil is added, at least to the valve assembly if not also to the inside of the valve casing. Use a rag made of non-stretchy cottons, such as a piece of an old bedsheet, or the back of Dad’s worn-out cotton dress shirt. The size of this rag can vary, but it should be small enough to pass through the valve casings. About 1-foot square will do. Please do NOT use the rag that comes from the manufacturers with the instrument, as these are usually buffing rags meant to remove fingerprints from the outside finish of the trumpet. These buffing rags give off too much lint to be useful inside the valves, as a small piece of lint left behind can cause another valve jam. With the cotton rag, wipe off the outside of the valve stem where oil is applied, particularly the bottom half of the stem that is often grey. This is the part that contacts the inside of the valve casing where the oil is required. Then remove the bottom valve cap of the valve that is now open. Have a look inside this bottom valve cap for any built-up residue and “yuk.” If a fair bit is sitting in here, then it is probably time to have the trumpet serviced. You can also remove the tuning slide to look down the lead pipe to see how much “yuk” is built up inside the tubes. If it is rough and jagged looking inside, again it might be time to have the trumpet serviced. Now using a wooden pencil or pencil crayon (it doesn’t scratch) without a metal eraser tip, wrap a corner of the rag over the unsharpened pencil end. GENTLY push the rag through the open valve casing using the pencil so that it can be pulled through the other end. Pull the rag through allowing it to wipe off all oil and “yuk” inside the valve casing. This can be done a few times to make sure it is thoroughly clean. At this point, I usually also check for lint left behind from the rag. As mentioned before try to use a cotton rag that absorbs oil readily, but hopefully, one that has less lint left behind. Look for tiny lint hairs left on the valve assembly or inside the valve casing. Gently blow out any lint hairs before applying fresh oil. Replace the bottom valve cap. Apply oil to the lower half of the valve stem. Remember to not put the oil into the holes (ports) in the valve stem as this does not help. I suggest touching the tip of the valve bottle right to the bottom side of the valve stem and using this tip to spread the oil around to cover all of the lower surfaces. Note that “dropping” valve oil from a height onto the valve stem will cause a splash of droplets onto the musician’s clothing which will stain permanently and ruin clothes. Now turn the valve upright to allow any excess oil to drip off. Use the oil rag to catch any drops of excess valve oil. Gently insert the valve assembly into the casing with the number on the side of the valve facing the mouthpiece. Note that some older horns have the valve number facing the bell. Rotate the valve slightly back and forth until it “clicks” and is locked into place. Gently do up the top valve cap, and then test the valve to see if it performs better. There is one more test that students should know about. Blow gently into the trumpet without making any sound on the mouthpiece. If the air feels stopped up, gently push up and down on the valve that was just worked on. If there is a change in air pressure, the valve was inserted incorrectly. It just needs to be opened again and rotated 180 degrees and clicked into place once again before screwing on the valve cap. Now after doing this, many students still find that the valve still jams. Adding more oil once again will not likely make any difference. The next step is to examine the quality of the valve oil. I have always been convinced of playing on the best valve oil that I could find, as over the years I feel it has made a difference in lowering the frequency of valve jams. In the last few years, though, there have been some dramatic improvements in valve oils, and now there is only one that I recommend. Valve oil used to be primarily made from petroleum, and as such, it is no wonder that it stained permanently, smelled bad, and required re-applying daily due to evaporation. Today there are several good synthetic oils, but the one that seems to me to be head and shoulders above the rest is UltraPure. I have handed this oil out to many trumpet players and I do not know of anyone that did not prefer it afterward. UltraPure is the only oil that I use on my own horn now. If you are not sure if your valve oil is a petroleum product or synthetic, try this test that came to me from Drew in the Tapestry repair shop. Shake the bottle of valve oil in question until it makes a layer of foam at the top of the bottle. Watch how long it takes for the foam to dissipate. Shake the bottle of UltraPure and watch the foam at the top. You will notice that the UltraPure oil makes far less foam and is dissipated almost immediately. The petroleum product takes much longer to clear. The reason for this is the much lower surface tension in the UltraPure product, which means it lubricates better. Now if your trumpet student is still getting valve jams after wiping off old oil and applying fresh oil, check the status of their oil. Switch them to UltraPure and see if that makes a difference. Considering that UltraPure is no more expensive than any other kind of valve oil and even cheaper than some, I immediately switch ALL of my trumpet players to UltraPure and just avoid the others entirely. Now, if your student is still experiencing valve jams, it is not likely to be cleanliness or bad oil at this point. There is only one place left to look, and that is the students’ hand position. Sometimes when I suggest correcting a hand position, students are so stuck in the thought that there is something “wrong” with the trumpet that they just cannot comprehend how a bad hand position can cause this problem. I believe that bad right-hand position on trumpet is the leading cause of valve jams and have found that teaching better hand position from the beginning can completely avoid a lot of these problems. Now examine the right-hand position of the trumpet players. Note that the palm of the right hand must NOT be lowered down to be almost touching the side of the valve casings. This position would have the palm vertical and the fingertips moving more side to side rather than up and down. It is the side-to-side movement that pushes the valves even just slightly sideways, yet enough to cause them to jam. The palm of the right-hand needs to be parallel to the floor, or close to it so that the fingertips are moving more up and down rather than side to side.  To help ensure that the palm is in the correct position, place the tip of the right-hand thumb under the lead pipe and between the first and second valves. This placement will act as a spacer so that the palm cannot get closer to the trumpet. Note that the elbow does not need to be lifted, just the palm. An incorrect position for the right thumb is for it to be in between the lead pipe and the bell of the trumpet, and then sticking upright almost the height of the first valve. As soon as this happens, the palm must approach the trumpet, and the valves are either pushed sideways or played with the knuckles which will be extremely slow. The best position is to keep that thumb under the lead pipe between the first and second valves, with the thumbnail facing the floor. This allows the fingers to naturally squeeze the valves down between the fingertip and the thumb below the lead pipe. Now I have presented that order to check in the order that students will typically do when they face those valve jam frustrations. First, they will reapply oil though often not bother to wipe out the old oil which is a bad plan. Then they might consider the quality of the oil, and finally, they will consider themselves as the problem last or not at all. You may want to consider reversing that order. If you have already made sure they are using UltraPure valve oil, and you have shown them how to apply it properly by wiping out old oil first, then you should consider hand position as soon as students complain of a problem. Remind them that the majority of valve jams are caused by bad right-hand position, and if they take care of this, there should be no more problems with jamming valves. If students have done all of these things and have a good hand position when playing but the trumpet still jams, only then should you have the instrument checked out by a repairman. At this point, the valve casing has likely been slightly dented from the outside and nothing to do with oil or hand positions will repair that. It needs to go into a repair shop for servicing. Yet, too many times trumpets which are perfectly fine are being sent to the repairman when the problem is in the hand position of the trumpet player. Best that you check out the other steps first to save you and your parents some unnecessary costs and your trumpet players some unnecessary frustration.   -->