Holiday 2025 Trombone Gift Guide
Last year, I posted a couple of blogs about gifts for the student trombonist and was told that I should publish them earlier for normal people who start holiday shopping BEFORE December, so this year, I’m listening!
No links in this post are affiliate links. I make no money if you click them or order from them. I’m just offering this as a service to help parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles who want to support their student’s music habit without asking exactly what they want and spoiling the gift.
Instruments. (New price = $4000/$6500. Used = $1000 to $4000 depending on condition. I think that wanting to buy an instrument for your student is an INCREDIBLE gift idea, however, it’s not as easy as just going down to the music store or going to a website and putting in your credit card number. Students should be able to interface with the instrument and try multiple instruments out. What you CAN do is give your student a card that says “We want to buy you a trombone. Whenever you pick out your instrument, call me to make the purchase.” I PROMISE that they will be just as excited knowing that is going to happen.
Brands are a challenge. I play a Shires trombone, but it doesn’t mean that the Shires trombone is what everyone should play. Budget, level of commitment, and personal preference ALL matter. There are great instruments from Bach, Yamaha, Edwards, Getzen, Shires, and others! Coordinate with your student’s teacher for something like this. You will want their ears involved in this!
Mouthpieces. ($60 for a stock piece, up to $350 for a gold plated boutique maker mouthpiece). Same sort of deal as #1 above. This is the piece that interfaces directly with your body, and the fit must be right for the player AND the instrument. Spending more doesn’t always get the best result, either. Again, follow the card strategy I offer above.
Mutes. ($40 for budget options, up to $150 or more for top end options). Every trombonist should have a straight mute and a cup mute. For general, every day applications, I think that the mutes made by Denis Wick are pretty standard in the industry and no one will scoff at a DW product.
Denis Wick aluminum straight mute, $72 plus shipping from Hickeys Music
Denis Wick aluminum cup mute, $94 plus shipping from Hickeys Music
Stonelined Straight mute, $29.95 plus shipping from Hickeys Music
Stonelined Cup mute, $47.99 plus shipping from Hickeys Music
There are other GREAT mutes out there from Morningstar Mutes, Soulo, TrumCor and others. You cannot go wrong with a pair of Denis Wick mutes, and if they take care of them, they will never need another pair! Stonelined will get them by, but the straight mute in particular is about as affordable as they come, and you get what you pay for.
Cases. ($250 for budget options, up to $600 for mid grade, and over $1000 for carbon fiber protection). It is said that your case should cost at least 20% of your instrument’s value, but I’m not sure how that works in our current economy. My Shires would be roughly $5500, so 20% of 5500 = $1100. I’m not sure I would pay over $1000 for a case, and this is my profession! A solid “Toyota Corolla” of a case that costs mid to upper mid three figures is likely fine, unless you just want to go top end on this gift.
You will need to know if they have a large bore tenor trombone with F attachment, small bore trombone with no valve, or bass trombone. The case should fit the instrument snugly, so fit matters, and is based on the size of the trombone. I personally use Glenn Cronkhite leather gig bags from the Torpedo Cases company, but have used Marcus Bonna in the past. The leather bags look great, but don’t offer as much protection. How clumsy is your student? Another consideration for the Bonna cases is that they come from Brazil, and with international commerce and shipping in a challenging spot, you may pay for something and have it on backorder for months to a year, which can be a real bummer.
Click here for the “trombone cases” page at Hickeys.com, one of my favorite music vendors.
On the budget end, the Protec Pro Pac is hard to beat. For a more durable, but more expensive option, there are LOTS of Marcus Bonna cases if you follow that link.
Make sure you get the one that fits your horn!
Recording devices. ($150 for budget options, up to thousands for top end). I love the Zoom brand of hand held recording devices, and they can get as complicated as your wallet allows. For most students, we are using these for analysis more than artistic creation, so keep it simple.
Zoom H1 Essential recorder $89.99 from Amazon
A simple little gadget that records sound! Not many features but does the job.
Zoom H6 recorder $299.99 from Amazon
A feature rich recorder that, if the student wants to go deeper into recording, has many more options all in one unit.
Paying for a lesson with a top teacher or performer. This is one that people often forget and there is a lot to consider here:
Consult with your student’s regular teacher about this. Some “big name” teachers are complimentary to what your student is already working on, and some are…less complimentary.
If there is extensive travel involved for this lesson, consider hotel and airfare or gas to get there and back. Make it an overnight or two night visit! It can be a great experience for both student and parent, grandparent, aunt or uncle, or trusted family friend.
Just because a player plays in a major orchestra doesn’t mean that they live there all year long. Someone could play in the Cleveland Orchestra during the year and be in Santa Barbara, California all summer at a music festival. Don’t buy plane tickets to Cleveland when you need to go the other direction.
Most top names will charge anywhere from $150 to $400 for a lesson, and if your student is younger, they sometimes protect their time and schedule by charging more to scare some people off. It make seem silly, but the number of requests that come in can be overwhelming. Most are probably under $300.
Stocking Stuffers can be fun, and you can fill the stocking with several little music things, like: Valve oil or a moustache for their mouthpiece!
In the end, gifts are cool and if you want to bless the trombonist in your family with something from this list or anything else you can think of, then how fortunate are they to have you in their life? If you can’t swing it (hey, I understand that the economy is challenging right now) then there are other ways to support them. That will be my next blog post, so come back soon to see if I’ve written it. :)