TromboneChat

I have mainly played woodwinds and valved-instrument brasses where there's a significant mixture of different combinations of slurs and tongued notes. I suspect tonguing on the slide trombone might be different. As a go-to default, are most notes on the slide trombone, legato tongued as opposed to slurred, to avoid unwanted smears? Thanks.

If you are playing legato legato tonging is used to avoid smears. However, there are natural slurs which occur which do not require the use of any tonguing at all. Some perfect their natural and tongued slurs to make them sound the same, others use a legato tongue on both natural and other slurs.

But that's just if you're playing legato/slurred passages. Other types of tonguing can be used for detached playing depending on philosophy/playing approach including syllables beginning with T or D (tee, tah, tu, dee, dah, doe, etc). For example, I studied with a German symphony player when I was stationed in Germany and he use a "d" syllable on all detached playing; up until that time I only use a "t" syllable for detached playing.

The safest bet, especially for a new player, is to use a smooth legato D for everything. In time you can discover that some intervals don't need any tongue because of the natural break. But it takes a while to learn what works on the horn and what works best for you.

I generally don't tongue for the combination of a descending interval and the slide coming in.

Thanks.