TromboneChat

I'm looking to benchmark my lung capacity as I've returned to playing bass trombone in the last 5 or 6 years. So using pedal Bb at ff how many seconds should a good play be able to sustain a note?

That's like trying to tell you what size shoe you should be wearing. It's different for everybody.

A pedal does take a lot more air than most other notes. You should be able to last 4 beats at q=60, but longer is also good. How long your air lasts can be a function of managing your air as much as lung capacity.

Note that lung capacity diminishes as we age, and also can be affected by other things like lung disease or damage to the rib cage.

Practice managing what air you have rather than fretting about how much there is.

And a persons weight!

Playing pp or ff will result in different duration.

Like Bruce said, we do not have the same lung capacity as we did, at about 20 it start to decrese. It is good to be healthy, running or swiming is good for us. But the trick is really embouchure effiechency. You can play vey loud but not hold long tones with a "leaky" embouchure. With an embouchure that works good in the low basstrombone range the air does not run out so fast. Long tones! Most bass trombonists I know play loud down to Contra Ab - G. Depnding on the repertoire there are some pedal F:s and lower to be hold uncomfortably long. ( I do sneak a breath.)