My child’s trumpet valves are sticking.

Sticking valves are nearly always dry, not broken. A trumpet’s pistons need oil a few times a week, not once a term, and most sticking valves are simply overdue.

The fix: unscrew the top cap, lift the valve partway out (don’t remove it completely), put a few drops of valve oil on the exposed surface, and drop it back in. It should seat with a click and turn freely.

If oiling doesn’t cure it, the usual culprits are a valve seated slightly out of alignment, a casing that needs a proper cleaning, or something sugary that went through the horn, which is why the no-food-before-playing rule exists. Everyone’s chemistry differs, too: some players’ saliva is more acidic, and their valves and slides need attention sooner. None of that is a defect. Some horns simply need attention a little sooner.

Bring it in if oil doesn’t solve it. A valve adjustment is quick work at the bench, and while it is in hand we will check the tuning slides, because a trumpet with dry valves almost always has dry slides too, and a seized slide is the far more expensive version of the same neglect.