FLUTE Care and Maintenance

 Avoid the keys while putting together and taking apart.

 If pads sound clicky or sticky, use a quality cleaner such as pad juice or some Yamaha Powder Paper.

 Only adjust Head Cork if you know what you are doing. All other adjustments are to be made by a qualified repair tech.

 NEVER leave your Flute on a chair or on your bed. Bent bodies are VERY EXPENSIVE to straighten out and somebody WILL sit on it!

 Do not use any grease or oil on the joints where it goes together. This only helps once and makes all future attempts even harder.

 Swab out after each use. A pad saver of high quality is fine to use.

CLARINET Care and Maintenance

 Never clean your clarinet with alcohol.

 You may wipe down after each playing time with a polish cloth available at retail outlets or from me. Stay away from the edge of the pads. If you wipe away the skin, the pads will need replacing.

 Swab out the bore after playing, to keep the moisture away from the pads. You may purchase pad savers (fuzzy sticks) to use in the bore of the Clarinet. Do not use on wooden clarinets…only on plastic ones.

 You should clean the barrel, mouthpiece and bell section monthly with warm soapy water. Rinse well. This is ONLY for plastic Clarinets.

 Look at the instrument occasionally to be sure the screws are not working loose. Tighten loose screws enough to keep the key in place but not so tight to make it bind.

 Use good quality cork grease. Do not overuse this. It can and will ruin pads.

 Do not oil your keys or the bore of your wood instrument.

 Brush your teeth before playing. This will save you a lot of expense later.

 Do not leave your instrument on a chair or the bed. Snapped joints start around $150 minimum.  When putting together and taking apart, keep hands away from key-work as much as possible. You may bend keys

SAXOPHONE Care and Maintenance

 Wipe off the sax with a soft cloth.

 Remove mouthpiece from the neck. Always.

 Wipe off the neck and swab it out. Put it in an old sock, or at least away from the body so it doesn't bounce around inside the case.

 Remove the reed and clean the moisture from the mouthpiece with a soft cloth.

 Wipe off the reed and place it in a reed holder.

 Place your end cap on the neck receiver.

 You may use a high quality pad saver in the bore if you wish. Bad quality ones leave string all through the instrument.

 Use a good quality cork grease for the mouthpiece to go on the neck.

 Brush your teeth before playing. You will save a lot of expense later.

 Do not pick up the saxophone by the bell only. This can cause more costly repairs.

TRUMPET, BARITONE/EUPHONIUM, and TUBA Care and Maintenance

Weekly Care: You will need to oil your values (the buttons you press down when you play) at least once to twice a week and occasionally put slide grease on the slides where you tune your instrument. This takes about 2 minutes. (If you don’t do it, one day you will go to play it and the value will be completely stuck and won’t move at all! Here’s how you oil valves:

Oiling Valves

 You will need to buy valve oil from a music company. They all have it and it’s cheap. 

 Do not touch the button where your fingers go at the top of your valves!

 Instead, underneath that part and the part that goes down inside the instruments when you press it down, you will see a part with groves that you do turn to take the valve out.

 Once the valve is out, put a couple drops near the bottom (of the part you pulled out of the instrument).

 Put the valve about 3/4 of the way back in, spinning the valve as you lower it. Line up the valve guide (the white thing that looks like a notch near the top) with the indent in the instrument where the value goes. They fit together like a puzzle.

 If you do not get sound, you probably put one of the values in backwards. Check them, turn them around if needed, and try again. Often, each value will have a really small number engraves somewhere near the top of the value and it either faces the mouthpiece when you put it in or it will face the bell, (usually the mouthpiece).

Slide Grease:  Slide grease is different than valve oil. You can also buy this at any music store & it’s cheap also.

 You should ALWAYS be able to move your slides so occasionally you will need to slide them out as far as they can go, smear a really small amount of slide grease on both sides of it and then push it in and out once or twice.

 There will be some extra on the very outside of the slide once your done so gently wipe that off. Otherwise all types of dust and junk will stick to it. Don’t wipe it off the slide itself that can be pushed in and out because that what will make it move.

NOTE: If valve or slide is stuck and doesn't come out, DO NOT FORCE IT. Your repair professional has the correct tools for removing stuck items. YOU WILL cause major costly damage.

ALSO, your instrument needs a bath in December & May: Bath Directions:

1). Disassemble instrument, pulling all caps, valves and tuning slides. Wipe off slides with a soft rag with some Goo-gone or other grease removing cleaner.

*If any slides or valves are stuck and doesn't come out, DO NOT FORCE IT. Your repair professional has the correct tools for removing stuck items. YOU WILL cause major costly damage.

2). Fill sink or bath with warm to touch water with Dawn dish liquid, or any other grease cutting dish liquid. Do not drop parts into the sink as you may damage parts.

3). Carefully place all of the parts in the sink. If you are able to, remove the finger button to remove top cap and felt, as we don’t want the felts getting wet.

4). Using a Scotch-Brite® pad for dishes, clean the tuning slide inner tubes. These are the dull tubes that go inside the main body of Instrument. Clean in the direction that they slide. Be careful not to scrub on any of the shiny areas.

5). You may also use scrubbing pad LIGHTLY on the valves to remove staining. Do not over do this.

6). Rinse thoroughly in warm water. If you have an air hose with a compressor, blow out all parts and wipe the body and parts dry with a soft clean cloth. You may use some Lemon Pledge on a rag and lacquered areas to polish, or use any number of silver polishes , if it's silver plated.

THEN REASSEMBLE SLIDES FIRST

1). Use a thinner slide grease, such as Selmer or Zaja. Both are thin and red colored. Use this on the 1st and 3rd valve slides only. Put a dab of this on the threads of the upper and lower valve caps.

2). Use a thicker, creamier grease on #2 and the main tuning slide.

3). Use a premium valve oil on the valves. Once the valve is out, put a couple drops near the bottom (of the part you pulled out of the instrument). Put the valve about 3/4 of the way back in, spinning the valve as you lower it. Line up the valve guide (the white thing that looks like a notch near the top) with the indent in the instrument where the value goes. They fit together like a puzzle.

4) If you do not get sound, you probably put one of the values in backwards. Check them, turn them around if needed, and try again. Often, each value will have a really small number engraves somewhere near the top of the value and it either faces the mouthpiece when you put it in or it will face the bell, (usually the mouthpiece).

5). Clean out your mouthpiece with a good mouthpiece brush.

Trombone Care and Maintenance

Weekly Care: Lubricating the playing slide: You will need to grease your slide and spray it with water once or twice a week. It should slide really easily with no scatchy sounds.

 Buy slide lubricant for trombones from any music store. It is cheap.   Buy a really small plastic spray bottle from the dollar store.  Keep both of these in your case always.  Slide your slide almost all the way out.  With your finger, take a tiny bit of slide lubricant and smear it up and down the slide.  Move the slide up and down a couple times and whip any extra lubricant off the top of the instrument if it builds up there.  Every time it seems a little dry, spray it with a little water and it should slide like butter.

NOTE: If it still does not slide well, there is probably a dent so small you can’t see it. In this case, we just take it to the shop for a minor adjustment.

Greasing your tuning slide: (on the top of your instrument), so that you can move it in and out to tune.  Slide grease is different from slide lubricant! You can also buy this at any music store & it’s cheap also.  Occasionally you will need to slide it out and smear slide grease on it. Then when you put it in move it up and down a couple times then wipe the excess where it goes into the instrument off.

December & May: Your trombone will also need baths in December and May:

1). Disassemble instrument.

If the slide is stuck or doesn't come out, DO NOT FORCE IT. Your repair professional has the correct tools for removing stuck items. YOU WILL cause major costly damage.

2). Fill sink or bath with warm to touch water with Dawn dish liquid, or any other grease cutting dish liquid. Do not drop parts into the sink as you may damage parts. Carefully place all of the parts in the sink.

4). Using a Scotch-Brite® pad for dishes, clean the tuning slide inner tubes. These are the dull tubes that go inside the main body of Instrument. Clean in the direction that they slide. Be careful not to scrub on any of the shiny areas.

5). You may also use scrubbing pad LIGHTLY on the valves to remove staining. Do not over do this.

6). Rinse thoroughly in warm water.

THEN REASSEMBLE SLIDES FIRST

1). Use a thinner slide grease on the tuning slide (not the playing slide).

2). Lubricate your playing slide again and put it back on.

4). Clean out your mouthpiece with a good mouthpiece brush.

VIOLIN, VIOLA, CELLO, and BASS Care and Maintenance

 Loosen up your bow….EVERY DAY! (If you leave it tight it will crack.)

 NEVER tap your bow on a chair, stand, or anything else as it will crack as well!

 Do not touch the hair on the bow.

 Never leave your instrument standing up. It will fall and in some cases can break in two!

 Never leave your instrument on a kitchen counter or a bed. Bad things can happen to it even though we think it might not be likely. (It has happened in the past.)

 Be very careful when you set your instrument down as not to drop it or have it back against anything. The bridge will come off, sometimes brake in two, and will make a really loud sound.

 Let Mrs. Barbe tune with the big pegs until she teaches you to do it so you don’t accidently brake strings.

 If a string does break, bring it to Mrs. Barbe to put a new one on (or if you own the instrument, go buy a string and I will put it on.)

 Wipe down the instrument with a soft cloth to remove all the rosin and residue after playing each time.

 Rosin your bow each time you play. You should always have your rosin with you at home and in class.

 Make sure you do not put anything but the instrument, a chin rest (for violins and violas, and your bow in the case. If you shove books or music in there it will damage your instrument.

 Make sure the bow is in the case (and loosened).

 Make sure that your fine tuning pegs are not all the way tightened. If so, ask me to re-adjust your large pegs so that the fine tuners can be turned to a looser position to give you room to fine tune your instrument each time.