Did you know that something that is smaller than the palm of your hand can have a huge effect on a player’s tone, articulation, projection, and range? All of these things are completely possible to achieve by just changing one part of the instrument. That part is the mouthpiece. For trombone players, the mouthpiece is a crucial element of being able to play the instrument. Without it the instrument is nearly unplayable. The construction of a trombone mouthpiece consists of several different parts and many different kinds of variations depending on the players needs. On the mouthpiece there is the rim thickness, cup depth, cup diameter, rim diameter, throat, and the shank. Each of these parts has a different effect on the players sound. The rim thickness and the shape or contour of the rim has an effect on the comfort of the mouthpiece against your embouchure. The cup diameter and the cup depth each have an effect on the articulation, tone quality/color, and the range the player could achieve. The shank has an effect on the air flow through the instrument and has an effect on the color of the sound that you produce. For example I have played