The Brass Tacks

German Brass on YouTube

Awesome!

Christmas Arrangements for Brass

Music for Brass.com has several original Christmas brass quintet and quartet arrangements available for online purchase and immediate download. Trombonists will also enjoy our Christmas arrangements for trombone quartet.

Northern Soundings on iTunes

Our CD Northern Soundings - Music for Trombone by Canadian Composers is now available on iTunes. You can sample and buy individual tracks, or download the entire CD, by visiting this link. Or go to the iTunes main page and search for "Northern Soundings."

The Kevin Thompson Warm Up

Guest Author: Kevin Thompson

For me, warming-up at the beginning of every day is essential.  Consistency in my playing only started to come when I started being consistent and thorough about warming-up every day.  If for some reason I have to go into a heavy rehearsal without having warmed up, I will feel and sound very uncomfortable, and my embouchure will not be back to normal for at least a week.

Download Kevin's warm up routine here (pdf).

I have heard other musicians say that they can easily play in top form without warming up if they've been playing in the last day or two.  This doesn't work for me, but everyone is different.  I suspect these people are the exception, and most of us, like athletes, need to condition and prepare our muscles daily for the rigors that we put them through in playing a brass instrument.

Here's a basic outline of my warm-up, which I vary somewhat from day to day, to keep it from getting tedious.  As you can see, the main focus is on lip slurs, which I believe to be extremely beneficial for all players.

The patterns for the lip slur exercises can be repeated many times more than written before going to the next position.

By the way, these are not my original exercises.  I've picked them up (and modified some of them) over the years from method and study books by Remington, Stamp, Marsteller, Steiner, and others.  The other main component of my warm-up, which I haven't included here, is playing a couple of Bordogni (Rochut) vocalises every day.

All the lip slur exercises use the usual 1st to 7th or 7th to 1st position patterns.  I won't write the positions on every exercise;  once you've done a few the positions will be obvious. Valve instruments:  you know the corresponding routine with the chromatic descending valve patterns.

Exercise #1

Start with articulated scales, mid to low range, medium dynamic.  Use this sixteenth note pattern to loosen up the tongue.  Breathe only where indicated, but take some extra time (a beat or so) to get a good, relaxed breath.

Exercise #2

Start this slow, easy lip slur exercise on low E, where you finished the scale exercise.

Exercise #3, 4

Getting a bit faster and higher with the lip slurs.

Exercise  #5

Scales - play as written, then from day to day alter the articulations.  Also play melodic minor, and modal scales, sometimes going up, sometimes down.

Exercise  #6

More lip slurs - increasing the range.

Exercise  #7

Play this low slurring exercise quickly, and many times.  It will loosen the lip up nicely in preparation for the higher range exercises to follow.

Exercise  #8

Preparing for high range exercises.

Exercise  #9

Beginning to extend the range.

Exercise  #10

Getting used to the higher notes.  Be flexible with the time, taking your time on the half notes (quasi fermata).  Stop and breathe when you need to.

Exercise  #11

Another, more flexible lip slur exercise going up to high B-flat.

Exercise  #12

Extending the range further.  Breathe only where indicated, and hold the pedal notes for a long time to relax the lip.  Play the tenuto notes quasi fermata.

Exercise  #13

Scales going into the high range.  Breathe only where indicated.  Extend the scales higher if you wish.

Exercise  #14

Time to relax the embouchure, and work on some low notes.

Exercise  #15

An unusual exercise that makes use of contrary motion with the slide.  Tongue only the first note of each group, and be sure to follow the slide positions indicated.

Exercise  #16

Finally, one more high range exercise:  tongued arpeggios going up to high F.  Keep going higher if you can!

Kevin Thompson leads a busy life as a professional trombone and euphonium player. He is the Trombone Section Principal of the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, and can be heard as a euphonium soloist on two recordings. Kevin is currently playing Principal Trombone with the Bergen Philharmonic in Norway until July 2008.

My Breathing Exercises

Guest Author: Gabriel Langfur

Make your brass playing easier and more relaxed with this set of daily breathing exercises from bass trombonist Gabriel Langfur.

I wrote this out for a topic at the Online Trombone Journal discussion forum, and thought some readers of The Brass Tacks would appreciate it too! Let's start with a few suggestions for air:

Some Tips from the Masters

First of all, "When you blow, think of blowing directly into the hole of your mouthpiece." - Phil Teele. It's the last point in his long tone routine book. So simple, so effective. So easy to do something other than that.

"Blow through the notes, not at them." - Joe Alessi, attributed to his father, Joe Alessi Sr. Ditto.

Charlie Vernon talks about focusing on the sensation of air passing across your lips. Sorry, no catchy aphorism for this one, but just as effective an idea. He has another aphorism though: "Suck Air." I've considered having this one engraved on my bell, right next to "Subdivide."

Finally, do breathing exercises as part of your daily routine. In fact, do them before you play every single day and you will see a difference very soon.

The best ones I know of in print are in the Charlie Vernon book, originally called Daily Routines for Trombone (editor's note--it's now known as his Singing Approach).

A Daily Breathing Routine

Here is a routine that I often do. These are much better taught in person, but I'll do my best. This routine comes from a student of Sam Pilafian, the great tuba player and teacher at Arizona State.

Start with some simple stretches, particularly focusing on your upper body and maybe your neck. I won't go into the ones I do here, but any simple set of yoga stretches will be good. Then set a metronome at 60 and do the following series of exercises.

1. One Beat In, One Beat Out

Move air across your lips - don't worry about where the air is going inside your body - for the entire duration of the beat, without pausing at either end. Strive for an open "HO" sound in both directions. Do this at least eight times, or until you start to feel dizzy (the dizziness will go away after a few days).

I suggest using some sort of visualization that gets you thinking outside your body, so try sucking in your hand from down by your side and blowing it back out, or looking at a point across the room and imagine sucking in and then filling back up all the air in the room between you and that point. Or come up with your own creative visualization. This exercise is great with a breathing tube.

2. The Dozen Sips

Take a dozen little sips of air, either to triplets or 16ths, and then let the air fall out of your body over the next four beats. Repeat 3-5 times (or whatever feels good to you). This exercise is to explore your total capacity in a relaxed manner.

3. Six In, Six Out

Like the first exercise, only over a longer period of time. Move air across your lips for the entire duration without a pause at the top or bottom - easier said than done. If it doesn't happen the first couple of times, don't worry, just keep doing the exercise.

For this one, I use the following visualization: start with your arms down at your sides. Slowly lift them as you inhale, imagining filling up the circle your arms are describing and measuring the flow so that beat three occurs when your arms are parallel to the floor - at this point you are half full of air. At count six they are over your head and you can start your way down, with half empty at count three again. Repeat three times. Sam also does this exercise with seven and eight counts, three times each. I find one set at six counts to be plenty.

4. Three In, Six Out

This one is different. Inhale for three beats, sucking in your hand from your side. Then, over the next six beats, let the air fall out of your body. Don't measure or control the flow, just let gravity do the work. And when gravity is done and you would have to push to get more air out, stop and rest for the remainder of the six beats. You might stop at beat two or three - that's fine. Leave your hand in front of your mouth for the exhale, and you will feel the air flow. If it's bumpy, your sound will be bumpy - if it's a cool steady stream, so will your sound be. But don't try to control it. This is just feedback.

Keep repeating the exercise, focusing on the sensation of air moving across your lips, and the motion will become more relaxed. To promote a relaxed exhale, it can actually be very effective to introduce a tension-and-release action into this exercise, so I often do a variation where I create resistance at the lips during the inhale (purse them together and suck air through the tiny opening) and then let the air fall out just as before.

This whole exercise is also good with a breathing tube, and the tensio-release action can be done by constricting the end of the tube with your hand. Sam extends this to four & eight and five & 10 beats. I don't find those to be any more helpful, but extending the length of all these exercises is worth trying to see how it benefits you.

Incidentally, this kind of unforced, gravity-doing-the-work air makes for a surprisingly big sound. On trombone, it tends to be a big, warm mf that's great for a vocal style of playing. And this exercise increases your awareness of your particular standing air point in your lungs - the point at which your diaphragm goes into action for a normal inhale when you're not aware of your breathing at all.

5. Three Out, One In

This is the most like most of the playing we do. Imagine a 4/4 bar with a rest on the fourth beat. Take a big breath on the rest, and then completely empty your lungs over the next three beats. Repeat several times. Use a dynamic visualization that gets you thinking beyond your body.

That's my routine. I do it, or some variation on it, or the Vernon routine, every single day.

Related Web Sites

The Online Trombone Journal discussion forum

The revised version of Charlie Vernon's book is available at Hickey's Music

Gabriel Langfur is bass trombonist of the Vermont Symphony and Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestras, and performs frequently with the Boston Symphony and Pops, the Boston Ballet Orchestra, the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Opera Boston, and in orchestras and theaters throughout New England. In addition to a busy freelance performing career, he is Managing Director of the Chameleon Arts Ensemble of Boston and Artist Relations/Marketing Director of the S.E. Shires Company, a leading manufacturer of custom brass instruments. For nearly ten years he worked in the administration of the Boston Early Music Festival, serving in various capacities including Director of Marketing and Exhibition Manager.

Notes from a Joseph Alessi Seminar

Guest Author: Dave Tall

Joseph Alessi holds the Principal Trombone chair with the New York Philharmonic. Dave took these notes at the Alessi Seminar held Aug 8–15, 1999 in Nyack, NY. Many thanks to both Joe and Dave for giving us permission to reproduce these notes here.

You will find some repetition (and imperfect grammar) throughout. I decided to leave it that way, as it retains the informal feel of the original seminar.

Air, Sound, and Articulation
Embouchure
Practice techniques
Performing, Posture, and Attitude
Slide Technique

Air, Sound, and Articulation

Buzz the mouthpiece, but don't buzz loudly.

"Doctor’s office breath." Breathe naturally and without tension or artifice. We do different things when we breathe with the instrument in our hands. Joe believes it should be the way you breathe in for the doctor--no more complicated than that.

Don't let playing the horn get in the way of breathing well.

Start your warm-up with breathing exercises. For example, 6 counts in; 2 hold; 6 out; 2 hold. Goals: even breath in and out; no "hitches" or speeding up/slowing down; no tension in and out. When holding in, don't use throat or glottis, just breathing muscles.

Don't remove the mouthpiece from the lips when you breathe.

Breathe in slowly whenever you have the chance.

Never breathe with tension.

Practice with a full sound. Play or practice to fill a large room, not just a practice closet.

To open up your sound, use a larger, slower, thicker air stream.

Much concentration on an open, tension-free sound. Establish this sound on one note, then expand the range.

Practice your sound/long tones/etc. with eyes closed, concentrating on the sound you hear.

Instant sound: no hesitation with the air at the beginning of a note.

Notes should be slices of a long tone.

The trombone bore is small compared to the size of the body. The instrument won't take the maximum amount or speed of air we can supply and maintain a relaxed sound.

In soft playing, don't try to control the sound with the lips. Control it with the air. Joe believes that the aperture does not get smaller when you play soft--only the air slows down.

When nervous, think of slowing the airspeed (fogging up a mirror concept).

Work on taking in breaths without tension or stress.

Immediate air/immediate sound.

For "hat" notes: add fast air at the front of the note, not tongue.

Slow down air.

Don't remove mouthpiece from its "spot" when breathing.

To combat the "wah wahs": Immediate air/immediate sound.

Staccato/short notes: don't move the air too fast. Practice legato to train the air to be slow.

Play on the middle/bottom of the notes to keep sound open & dark.

Don't let the end of long notes go sharp from added tension.

Upper register: breathe from a relaxed gut. Air should be compressed in the gut, not in the throat or mouth.

Keep energy in the softest playing.

Keep air slow in the bottom range. He doesn't like "non-round" low register.

Don't squeeze the chops or change the tone for soft playing.

Don't let air build up behind the tongue.

For clarity, use more tongue when playing soft, less when playing loud. Soft: more tongue; louder: less tongue; loud: little tongue.

Don't tongue too hard. Let the air predominate, rather than the tongue.

Glottal control of air stream. Whistle 8th notes--the glottis is controlling the air, not the tongue or breathing apparatus.

When playing loud below middle F, keep it round. Don't let the sound "bark."

Be careful of overblowing notes in the low register, not hitting exactly in the middle of the note, or blowing the notes out of shape.

Maintain your "long tone sound" no matter what you're playing.

Find a balance between your air and the resistance of the horn.

Fill up the horn with a large, rich air column.

Don't use separate air for each note of a legato phrase. Blow all the way through the phrase.

Note releases: in general, not a "karate chop" but a bit of a taper.

Embouchure

"Fireman's net" concept: 8 guys pulling equally on the net/lips.

Keep your corners firm.

High register playing depends on "pucker," not "smile." Keep things "in." The airspeed supports the note. Use the tongue level to speed up the air. You can demonstrate this by whistling a note and changing the pitch. The pitch changes with the front of the tongue.

The high register embouchure is a battle between the kissing and smiling muscles. No one group of muscles wins out over the other.

Set your embouchure before you breathe, not after your actual attack. Practice no-tongue notes and attacks.

Joe uses a spot on his bottom lip as the "anchor point" for the mouthpiece. He wants to feel teeth underneath the anchor point, not gum.

Change mouth cavity size (through tongue level) for register changes.

Practice techniques

"There's nothing like fear to make you practice."

Tricky rhythms: simplify and practice to ensure the beat is steady.

Tricky passages: "fragment" the passage. Play each fragment 10 times without a mistake. If you make a mistake, go back to the first time.

Be able to concentrate on several things at once.

Practice tuning by playing intervals against a constant tone. You can make a tape of yourself playing long tones, work with colleagues, or use anything that makes a complex sound (not just a sine wave).

Make bound practice books of music you're currently working on. Joe bought a spiral binder to do this at home. He had a book with him of works he was soon to perform/record (and probably other stuff in there too).

Be careful of intonation, especially when playing with piano. Listen to the accompaniment--don't just play your part.

Practice playing with identical shapes and lengths of notes (i.e. early Arbans)

Performing, Posture, and Attitude

Don't bury yourself in the stand or music. Memorization is preferable, if you are comfortable with it (Joe isn't).

The question about memorization is not whether you can memorize a work, but whether you are comfortable with performing the work memorized. Most solos you play will be memorized to some degree just from repetition of preparation. If when you perform a memorized work, you become more distracted or concerned about the memorization and less involved in the music because of this distraction, you should consider having the music on stage. It's most important to produce your best musical performance when you perform.

Playing/projecting: "Pontificate to the audience. Attract attention to yourself on stage."

Don't stand/point too far off axis. It looks like you aren't sure whether or not to play for these people.

Play confidently.

Vary the color on long notes with subtle dynamic shadings, adding & subtracting vibrato, or changing the speed of the vibrato.

Perform!! Play for them, not for yourself. Break out of the box. If you don't perform, it's business as usual and boring.

Simplify your posture.

Use lots of dynamics in a recital.

Keep the back straight, not leaning forwards or backwards. Don't play the trombone with the shoulders.

Hold the bell/horn up both for sound reasons and visual reasons. Be outgoing in your playing.

Don't stay dynamically static.

Never let notes in the middle of a phrase die out completely--then you have to "restart" the phrase.

Practice performing.

Be more concerned with line than individual notes.

Let your body be loose & free.

Develop a great jaw vibrato, then experiment with slide vibrato.

Always be ready for the first note of an entrance. Have the horn up. Breathe slowly well before the note.

In a solo, "be a participant, not an observer."

Efficiency: don't channel energy into the body. Joe looks relaxed, even static, when he plays solos. There should be a balance--music should be in your body but don't let it make you tight or cause tension. Dave Taylor moves a lot when he plays, but his body is very loose and tension-free.

Don't gather tension the longer you play.

Tuning note with piano: play a full (not necessarily loud) note, not a shy note. Play the way you will perform.

Don't play tentatively with a withdrawn sound.

Soft playing must have energy and penetrate to the audience. Keep the bell pointed high and up at the audience, not down towards the floor.

When you're nervous or tight, let the air flow, don't make it flow.

Vibrato must go both above and below the pitch.

Don't snap into a good posture just before you start playing. Establish good posture before you take your first breath.

"Someone playing soft enough to be uncomfortable doesn't sound soft, they sound like someone in trouble."

Think of many levels of dynamic shading. "There's not only 4 and 5, there's 4.5, 4.25, 4.125, etc."

Always play a clear, great, strong first note in phrases.

No matter how much you work on technique and intonation, always be true to the music.

Naturally crescendo when descending.

"If there's one ounce of guessing about rhythm, you're in the wrong business."

Be an artist, not a student, when you perform.

Don't hunch over looking at the music. Stand up tall & relaxed. Point the bell straight out at the audience. Keep the bell up.

Play to your audience.

When playing ascending licks, think of a pyramid. Full(er) sound on the bottom of the lick.

Beat vs. line: let the line be ascendant.

Don't slow down for each cadence in a very cadential piece. It will sound disjointed.

Slide Technique

When playing legato, move the slide immediately at the end of the note, as late as possible, but no later.

Move slide immediately after each note ends (for separated playing). Exercise: play a slow staccato scale. Move the slide immediately after each note ends, so that the slide "waits" in the new position for the next note to start.

6th and 7th position: don't let slide position dictate posture or mouthpiece position.

Use alternate positions for faster passages, but not on long notes for color reasons.

Be sure to have fingers on both sides of the slide brace.

Use a firm grip on the slide for fast, technical passages, and a lighter grip for slower, lyrical passages.

Don't use wrist motion to move the slide. Always hold the slide firmly--no bouncing between fingers or throw & catch.

Always keep firm control of the slide.

Technical passages: have the rhythm in the slide. Feel the rhythm of what you're playing in your slide hand.

In one case, a person complaining about a sound problem in a specific range/piece really had a slide coordination problem.

Legato: move slide at last possible instant, well coordinated with the tongue.

When playing soft or slow, hold the slide with very little pressure ("like a baby"). Very little tension in the body; slightly less tension in the chops.

Legato with the valve: experiment with the speed of pushing the trigger.

Don't play with a "lazy" slide.

Don't move the slide prematurely.

David Tall has been the bass trombonist with the Santa Fe Symphony Orchestra & Chorus since 1990. He is also the bass trombonist with the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra. He was previously a freelance bass trombonist in Chicago, and before that, bass trombonist with the Delaware Symphony Orchestra. He has performed with the Chicago Symphony, Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Antonio Symphony, and Baltimore Symphony, among many others.

Symphonic Play-Along Practicing for Trombonists

Guest Author: Jerry Fallenberg

Listening to an orchestral recording while following one's part is an important method for learning orchestral style. You can take this a step further by playing along with the recording.

“Imitation was, is and always will be the best method of teaching that we have.”
Arnold Jacobs1

I first became aware of the value of playing along with recordings in the 1980s when I observed an orchestral trumpeter playing his part along with an LP. Since then, I have made extensive use of the technique and consider it to be an essential aid in staying competitive professionally. Play-along practicing can be especially helpful to the trombonist who has limited available practice time or who is not able to play regularly in high-quality ensembles.

These are some of the benefits you can expect from diligent use of play-along practicing:

• Intonation improvement
• Improvement of rhythmic accuracy and steadiness of tempo
• Developing habits of playing with correct style
• More interest in practicing and performing

Recommended CDs

• Orchestral works scheduled for performance.
• The Legacy of Emory Remington - featuring the Eastman Trombone Choir with demonstrations of Remington warm-ups by Ralph Sauer.2
• Concert Works & Orchestral Excerpts - Chicago Symphony Low Brass.2
• Orchestral Excerpts for Trombone (vol. 1) - Ralph Sauer.2, 3
• Orchestral Excerpts for Bass Trombone, Tenor Tuba and Bass Trumpet - Jeffrey Reynolds and Michael Mulcahy.2, 3
• Orchestra Test Pieces for Trombone - Rosin/Pleyer (excerpt book with two accompanying CDs containing Deutsche Grammophon orchestral recordings).2
• The Singing Trombone - Jay Friedman (includes Bordogni/Rochut vocalises and orchestral excerpts).2
• Bordogni Vocalises - edited by David Schwartz (with piano play-along accompaniments).
• Four of a Kind - Joseph Alessi, Blair Bollinger, Scott Hartman, Mark Lawrence.2, 3

General Guidelines

• A stereo system is not necessary. A portable CD player with earbuds or lightweight headphones will work.
• Tune up with the recording.
• Adjust the volume so that you can hear the recording over your playing.
• Challenge yourself to match or exceed the level of artistry and technical expertise demonstrated by the recording artists.
• Occasionally buzz your mouthpiece along with recordings.
• Use a variety of mutes, including a practice mute.

The Legacy of Emory Remington CD

For an example of a properly blended unison sound to strive for during play-along practicing, listen to track 2, Bach's Fugue in G minor. Each of the four parts is played by eight trombonists who expertly match pitch, articulation and tone quality.

Play along with a variety of the Remington warm-ups demonstrated by Ralph Sauer. Written versions of these exercises can be found in The Remington Warm-Up Studies published by Accura music. For variety, play the exercises at different intervals above or below Mr. Sauer. For example, when playing along with Track 22 (E-flat major scale), play an octave below Mr. Sauer; also a fifth above and below. Bass trombonists should play the Remington exercises in unison with Mr. Sauer and also an octave below him.

Ralph Sauer and Jay Friedman Orchestral Excerpts CDs

Tune up with the B-flat arpeggio at the beginning of the Mozart Requiem solo. After learning to accurately play in unison with Mr. Friedman and Mr. Sauer, play the second and third trombone parts along with their lead part. Doing so will improve your intonation and ability to follow a section leader. Bass trombonists can improve their range by playing the Bordogni/Rochut vocalises in unison with Mr. Friedman and an octave below him.

Improve your ability to play lyrically by using this technique: Listen to Mr. Friedman play a phrase or two from a Bordogni/Rochut etude, then put the CD player on pause.  Play that same phrase on your horn, keeping the recorded version vividly in mind. You may need to play the phrase a few times to get it up to a level of artistry that you are satisfied with.  Then repeat this process with the next phrase.  Work your way through the entire etude that way.  This works best on music that you are already able to play competently.

Mutes

Using a variety of mutes during play-along practicing will improve your musicianship by helping you to learn to adjust to the intonation idiosyncrasies of each mute. Additionally, blowing against the resistance of mutes will improve breath control. I frequently use a Yamaha Silent Brass mute during play-along practicing (just the mute - no wires or sound mixer).

Intonation

Because of the important role of intonation in orchestral success, any trombonist with professional orchestral ambitions would be well advised to invest in a good-quality CD-based intonation program. Two of the leading programs currently available are Stephen Colley's TuneUp System and Thomas Kociela's Intonation Repair Tool.

The Pezel Sarabande tracks in David Schwartz's Breakfast - Intonation Practice for Trombonists are very helpful for learning pure harmony.

If you are having difficulty accurately playing along with a recorded passage, do not continue to repeat the passage inaccurately. Doing so will result in reinforcing the habit of how to play the music incorrectly. Instead, practice the troublesome passage at a slower tempo, buzz the mouthpiece along with the recording, or work on music closer to your current ability level.

Play-along practicing is no magic cure-all for one's musical deficiencies. For best results, complement its use with other proven practice techniques such as long tones, scales, using a metronome, mouthpiece buzzing, and recording yourself.

Q & A

"I have not purchased any of the CDs you mention, but I have tried to play along with Christian Lindberg on occasion and have trouble tuning to my CDs."

Start with easier CDs and gradually work your way up to Christian Lindberg.  One of the best CDs to start with is The Legacy of Emory Remington. If your CD player is altering pitch, it may need to be recalibrated or replaced.

"Should the player already have worked on the passage and be able to play it accurately alone?"

Yes. Repeating a passage inaccurately along with a recording reinforces the habit of how to play the music incorrectly. Instead, as stated above, "practice the troublesome passage at a slower tempo, buzz the mouthpiece along with the recording, or work on music closer to your current ability level." Play-along practicing can be used as an assessment tool to help identify which passages need additional practicing away from the recording.

"What is the intent of recommending Four Of A Kind?"

I consider that CD to be helpful for developing orchestral skills because playing along with a quartet of professional trombonists of that caliber is similar to playing in an orchestra low brass section in which everyone is expertly matching pitch, articulation and style. Challenge yourself to match the standards they set; first on individual notes and phrases, and then on complete tracks.

"What is the proper place for play-along within an overall practice strategy?"

It is up to each musician to experiment and decide on the practice methods that work best for him or her, taking into account such factors as: upcoming playing commitments, your specific goals for improvement, and what has worked for you in the past.

Whenever I can obtain a recording of a piece of music scheduled for performance, my practice sessions include playing and buzzing my part along with the recording. That applies to wind ensemble, brass quintet, and solos, in addition to orchestral music.

Here is an additional example of a useful type of play-along practicing to include in your practice sessions:

Play slow arpeggio patterns (such as Exercise One from Buddy Baker's Tenor Trombone Method) with a drone tone in the background.

"Has anyone else done any research on this subject, and where has it been published?"

Play-along research was conducted in developing the CD intonation programs mentioned above and in David Schwartz’ series of play-along CDs.  Two 1990s articles from The Instrumentalist briefly refer to playing along with orchestral recordings:

Joseph Alessi, "Of Slides, Sinatra, and Trombone Technique," February 1993, p. 15.

As Warren Deck [former New York Philharmonic tubist] suggests, playing along with a recording is a good way to learn the score. Your playing should convey an understanding of the score.

Ellen Rose, "Auditioning With Finesse," January 1991, p. 14.

Using earphones, play along with the recording to get a sense of vitality, phrasing, and musical scope that practicing the excerpt out of context cannot yield. Successful contestants play and sound as though they hear an orchestra surrounding them.

_________________
1 Daniel Kohut, Learning How to Perform Music, T.U.B.A. Journal, May 1988, p. 19.
2 Available from Hickey's Music Center
3 Available from Amazon.com

Related Web Sites

Online Trombone Journal: Orchestral Excerpts for the Tenor Trombonist
Douglas Yeo: The Bass Trombonist's Orchestral Handbook
tromboneexcerpts.org
Play-along Materials by Rich Begel

Jerry Fallenberg has been publishing articles on play-along practicing since 1995.  He has performed as trombonist with the Monterey Bay Symphony, Carmel Bach Festival and Lexington Philharmonic. Email: Jerryf25@yahoo.com

Revised 9/14/2007

Auditioning 101

Guest Author: James Scott

There has been a lot written about how to take an audition successfully, and it's a daunting task to try to add something new to the mix, but I'm going to try to add a couple of thoughts on the subject.

This project was undertaken when we were having Bass Trombone auditions in my orchestra, the Calgary Philharmonic. In addition, I was preparing an audition of my own at the time. It would be a fairy tale ending if I had won my audition, and could then say that this is what works, but the reality is that like everyone else, I'm still working at this part of playing. My observations will have to be taken more as the observations of one player, rather than as the pronouncements of a master teacher.

Most people in the know will tell you that the things that eliminate most players at an orchestral audition are sound, pitch and time. I would wholeheartedly agree with this. These elements are the foundation of good playing in any style of music, and no one on an audition committee wants to vote for anyone who doesn't live up to their standards in these three areas of playing.

Sound

Taking them one at a time, sound is the most difficult to give specific advice on. There will often be disagreement within an audition committee as to what is the best sound of the day, but there is seldom any conflict over what sounds are unacceptable. Unfocused and airy tones, as well as overly strident sounds will leave the committee unimpressed. Two areas tend to bring out the worst sounds of applicants - loud excerpts, and lyrical passages.

At our recent auditions in Calgary, several times there were applicants who were making a good overall impression only to overplay in a couple of the louder passages. It's a difficult balancing act, but you must always try to play fortissimo excerpts with some bravura, but without losing control. Remember that the volume that might work in the back of the orchestra with everybody "sawing away" might just not impress anyone when you're by yourself. Try to get a feel for the room as well. I had a personal experience of playing Ein Heldenleben in a first round once in a dead room, where an aggressive fortissimo seemed to work, but in the next round when it came up again in another room, I realized halfway through that I should have changed my approach. The other general advice that I would give to anyone for loud excerpts comes from Joe Alessi.  Remember that good loud playing comes from good lyrical playing. Try to make sure that whatever volume you're playing at, that you're still playing music and not just notes.

Lyrical playing offers it's own challenges. A player without a good command of legato will not get far in auditions. No one wants to hire someone who doesn't show musicality at the audition, and the best place to catch the ear of the committee is with a legato tune.

On our auditions, I put the opening of the Vaughan-Williams Tuba Concerto second movement up first. I thought of it as a combination of a warm-up, and a chance to hear the applicants play a melody. I was surprised that many people were uncomfortable playing lyrically. One other surprise on this front was that several players sounded beautiful warming up on stage, but brought none of that artistry to the solo. Everyone needs to play lyrical tunes daily, and find as many opportunities as possible in your audition to present that skill. I would also say, that again, the dynamic that you might have to play in the orchestra might not be appropriate in the audition. Everyone wants to hear good contrast, but be careful to not play soft passages with airy, unfocused tones. In this balancing act, if you have captured their attention with a beautiful sound, they may even forgive you if your pianissimo isn't the softest of the day. Also, if they like what they hear overall, but are worried about the dynamic level, often the committee will ask you to play it again softer.

Pitch

Pitch presents many problems for auditionees. The reality is that this is an area where all of us have to continually keep working. Many people have given advice in other articles about how to work at your intonation, and I will just echo their statements. Lots of playing with piano, with a tuner, in trombone quartets, trios, and duets will help a great deal. So will the practice of slow scales, particularly in live rooms. There are computer programs, and CD's that are also very valuable. Finally, on top of all of this, tape yourself regularly, especially while you are preparing for the audition.

One other area of intonation that often gets bypassed, is to listen to your tapes when you are preparing your audition for melodic vs. harmonic intonation. Most people will be familiar with the concept of lowering major thirds in triads when you're playing in a trombone section. This practice can make a chord "ring." It can, however, just sound flat when playing on your own. This needs to be studied on a case by case basis. For instance, in the Brahms First Symphony 4th movement, the high G that the first trombone plays in bar two of the chorale sounds better a little low as the third of the chord with the rest of the section, but not if you're playing that note alone as a melody. On the other hand, the Ride of the Valkyries outlines enough of a chord structure, particularly in a live room where even a single player may need to pay attention to where they place the major and minor thirds. As I said, this will be a case by case basis, so taping becomes invaluable as a way of really studying your own playing. Be aware that what works on your own may need to be adjusted in the finals if you play with the section. They will be looking for someone who fits in right away with how they play.

Rhythm

Rhythm is the last of these areas to tackle. Most of my comments about rhythm would echo what I've said about intonation. Taping yourself is one of the best ways to determine what's happening in this area. Work with a metronome is crucial. I would also suggest playing along with recordings, since this can make you comfortable with the individual pieces and tempos. Study the scores (a good practice in general for many other reasons too!) to have a good understanding of what's going on while you play those whole notes. I've found that at the best auditions I've played, I've had a sense of the orchestra playing along with me, in my head. The audition became almost a "Music Minus One" in reverse, where I could hear the orchestra, and the committee could only hear me. This approach helps to keep your time steady, and your tempos in the right ballpark. As an alternative to tapping your foot, you might try lightly tapping the index finger of your left hand against your instrument while holding long notes, such as the whole notes in the William Tell Overture (another idea courtesy of Joe Alessi). Another other idea on this subject - often my time suffers when I'm running out of air. I would suggest carefully planning out breaths, and marking them in all of your excerpts. This practice alone could eliminate a lot of the occasions where rhythm becomes an issue. Lastly, try to find out if you are expected to count all rests or not. Usually, you will be expected to count the short rests (a bar or two) but not any longer ones, but a question to the backstage people at an audition about this might be in order. If there's some doubt (ie: three or four bars of rest) I would suggest counting it as carefully as you can.

Conclusion

None of my advice in this article is going to get you a job on its own. There is much more to being the successful candidate at an orchestral audition, and much of it is subjective from one occasion to another. Perhaps the best advice that I can give anyone, is to be the best musician that you can be. This includes, of course, having a good command of your instrument and all of the techniques that you need to play the required pieces. It also includes the good rhythm and intonation that I've talked about, as well as a good sound. With all of that, however, you will need a good understanding of the music that you are playing, including at least a basic understanding of the score. You will need to have knowledge of styles that are appropriate to different eras and geographical areas (ie: Classical vs. Romantic, and French vs. Germanic). But more than that, a great performance, whether at an audition, or in some other venue, will connect on an emotional level with what the composer is saying, and will communicate that to the audience. People that accomplish this regularly are successful musicians in whatever endeavors they undertake. Good luck!

James Scott is the Principal Trombone of the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra.

Circular Breathing: When And How To Use It

Guest Author: Kevin Thompson

Circular breathing is a technique that wind players use to avoid putting breaks in the music. This can be handy in certain situations, and anyone can learn to do it! Work to implement circular breathing in your own playing and you will undoubtedly find many practical uses for it.

I was once walking the streets of Victoria doing some Christmas shopping. Victoria has a lot of street musicians, and I saw this guy performing on what was supposed to be a didjeridoo, but was actually a piece of plastic pipe. He played it the way you would play a didjeridoo, with multiphonics and circular breathing. This fellow decided that he wanted to learn the didjeridoo, and he didn't even own one! Somewhere along the way somebody must have taught him the technique, and there he was: circular breathing.

Many Australians play the didjeridoo, and they all learn to circular breathe because it's part of the technique of the instrument. They don't seem to have the cultural block against it that we do. Western music is modeled on the human voice. Our instrumental music was meant to imitate singing, and the idea that we have to stop, take a breath, and start another phrase is an inherent part of it.

I once heard a student playing one of Bach's Cello Suites without breathing at all, just playing it as a technical exercise, and it sounded all wrong! If you listen to somebody like Pablo Casals playing Bach you can actually hear him breathing. You can hear it in the music and you can literally hear him on the recording taking his breaths, because he knows that even though the cello doesn't have to stop and breathe, Western music–the music that Bach was writing, with its roots in imitation of the human voice–has to be phrased, and phrasing is these contours of breathing, pausing, and continuing.

Circular Breathing: Why Bother?

If Western music is all about phrasing, and breathing is a necessary part of our music, then why bother learning to circular breathe?

Well, there are some Western composers who don't seem to have realized that brass players need to breathe. Have you ever come across a piece of music that has thirty-six bars of tied whole notes? (Wagner's tuba parts are notorious for this.) Circular breathing is also helpful when playing transcriptions of string instrument music, in which it becomes quite awkward to insert the necessary time in the phrase to catch a breath.

If you are playing a solo or melodic part, then phrasing should be part of it. But sometimes when you are accompanying you don't necessarily want to phrase the same way. In these situations using circular breathing can come in handy.

Trombonists familiar with Saint-Saëns Symphony No. 3 know that there is a long, slow, low-range solo in unison with the clarinet and french horn. Circular breathing in this passage can help make the phrases.

Here's How To Learn It

Before I get into the actual mechanics of how to circular breathe, I should voice this disclaimer: I can imagine a situation in which somebody becomes dependent on it and forgets how to breathe properly. Don't rely on circular breathing. Remember that deep breathing is an essential part of playing a brass instrument well!

The goal of circular breathing is to breathe through your nose while continuing to expel air through your mouth, allowing you to play a constant tone on your instrument while inhaling.

First try to get the idea of pushing air out of your lips using the muscles in your cheeks, rather than your lungs. Put your hands on your cheeks, then puff out your cheeks and push some air out with your hands. It'll just be a little air, but the point is that you are not using the normal breathing muscles to expel it. Using the cheek muscles to exhale is quite a different feeling. Now take your hands away and try pushing the air out with just the cheek muscles. Once you have an idea of what that feels like, the next step is to take a quick breath through your nose, so you're doing those two things at the same time. Start breathing in through your nose, and while you're doing that push the air out with your cheeks. That's the concept.

The difficult part is to go from air that's being blown out with the cheeks to air that's coming from your lungs. It takes practice to make the transition between the two types of air smooth, without a hiccup or stop.

Try this exercise  with a straw and glass of water. Blow through the straw, make bubbles, and try to keep the bubbles going while you do a transition from cheek-expelled air to lung-expelled air. The straw is a good tool because it's thin and you don't need to blow a lot of air. Once you get a small air stream going, and keep it going through the transition, you will be able to apply it to your instrument. The instrument takes more air, but once you can do the exercise it's just a matter of practice and getting used to the idea.

It's best to begin on the instrument in the middle range, not too loud. When you begin to expand the dynamics and range it becomes more difficult because of the strain on the embouchure. Your teacher probably told you not to puff out your cheeks when you play because it stretches the embouchure and you have less control. When you puff out your cheeks and circular breathe the same thing is happening–you are losing a bit of control. It's a lot more difficult to play high and loud, so just start on a mid-range note, mezzo piano.

There's a difference between the trombone and valve instruments such as the trumpet. It's almost impossible to circular breathe and tongue at the same time, because adding the tongue gets in the way of a smooth transition from one type of breath to another. If you are slurring on a valve instrument, you can circular breathe while changing notes, but on trombone we often rely on the legato tongue to simulate slurring. Circular breathing while changing notes on trombone produces a lot of glissandos. It's easiest to breathe while you're going downward in a scale passage, since your embouchure is relaxing. Try this exercise, circular breathing at the asterisk, and once you've got it mastered, make up your own, more advanced exercises:

Repeat forever!

The Case of Rafael Mendez

Rafael Mendez, the great Mexican trumpet virtuoso, transcribed Paganini's "Moto Perpetuo" for trumpet (it was originally written for violin). This virtuoso display is six or seven minutes long with constant, fast sixteenth notes. There's a recording of him playing it and not stopping. The story could be apocryphal, but apparently he did use circular breathing. He's the only person I know of that could circular breathe while tonguing. Winton Marsalis has a CD out called Carnaval on which he plays the Moto Perpetuo. I believe he also circular breathes, but slurs the sixteenth notes.

Other Considerations

You have to circular breathe more than you would if you were breathing regularly, and you probably can't play a whole phrase on one circular breath. You can get a little bit in, enough to go a bar or two, but it's not the same as filling up on air. You need to plan ahead and take a little bit before you really need it, because it's much more difficult when you are running out of air.

The sniffing noise of a circular breath can be distracting. If you are playing something like the low brass chorale in the last movement of Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6 (you don't need to circular breathe here, but let's suppose that for some reason you do), it would be a bad place to circular breathe because your audience  would hear sniffing in the middle of the note. There's nobody else in the orchestra playing, and the dynamic goes down to "ppppp." You need to be careful when playing really soft.

There is some circular breathing on my CD, Euphonic Bach. I use it in the Cello Suite No. 5, in some parts of  Suite No. 1, and in the Partita for flute. There are a few spots in the fifth suite where the breaths are rather noisy!

While its main use is as a gimmick, circular breathing does have some practical applications. Anybody can learn to do it. Work to implement circular breathing in your own playing, and you will undoubtedly find many interesting uses for it.

Kevin Thompson leads a busy life as a professional trombone and euphonium player. He is the Trombone Section Principal of the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, and can be heard as a euphonium soloist on two recordings. Kevin is currently playing Principal Trombone with the Bergen Philharmonic in Norway until July 2008.

Educate or Train

Guest Author: Barry McCommon

Brass teachers need to educate their students to put their own personal interpretation on the music, rather than training them to be a carbon copy of the teacher. In his own teaching, Barry tries to give his students the tools and freedom to make a musical statement uniquely their own.

I was recently speaking with a musician friend about my teacher, Glenn Dodson. I was very fortunate to have had four years of Glenn's teaching during my most formative years. What I say, to anyone who asks, is that I could talk for hours about what he did for me, but I sum up his teaching with two thoughts. He taught me to be a musician (as opposed to simply a trombonist), and he taught me to teach myself. These are precisely his goals as a teacher; he said to me many times that when our time together is over, he hopes that he will have prepared me to be able to teach myself. He did.

Reflecting on my two thoughts (especially the latter), my friend said that Glenn had educated me, as opposed to having trained me. I had never thought about it in that way, but I realized that he was right. Take for an example a writer or philospher; They have read much, and observed human behavior, and from that they have acquired knowledge. They then take this knowledge and create thoughts, beliefs, philosophies, etc. that are uniquely their own. This, is having been educated. Now, take for example an athlete; an athlete is coached to reach top physical form in order to achieve a set goal. Whether that goal be to jump highest, run fastest, or score the most points, the concern is not to do it with the most style or individualism, but simply to do it. This, is having been trained.

This got me to thinking about trombone teaching today. I'm afraid that too many teachers are simply training their students. There are some very fine players/teachers that are, in my opinion, training their students almost to the point that they are clones. Very good mind you, but still clones. I have worked with quite a number of trombonists over the last several years, who all had been students of one prominent trombonist, who will remain nameless. They are all very good players, and some are much more successful (in terms of name recognition) than I, but within a few minutes of hearing them, you could tell exactly who they studied with. That, to me, is not putting your personality on the music; it's putting your teacher's personality on the music. I have known many of Glenn's students, and I have never thought, "He studied with Glenn Dodson." I thought, "that's a good, musical trombonist." This comes from him having given his students the musical knowledge it takes to make their performing uniquely their own. I am now, several years since studying with him, maturing enough musically to start truly understanding and using many of the ideas and concepts that he had planted the seeds for years ago.

I think that we as musicians need to reassess our priorities in our teaching. I realize that there is pressure to achieve certain goals; to get into the college of choice, to win the audition for the job of choice, etc., but I still think that the first priority should be to help our students become the best musicians possible, and that doesn't mean they should be carbon copies of ourselves. This, I think, starts with our motivation to teach. Teaching has helped me become a better musician, and that is one reason that I teach. But the main reason is to help my students achieve what they want to achieve; not what I want them to achieve---what they want to achieve. Also, I see too many musicians concerned with how their students' success (or lack of) reflects on their reputations as teachers. I think that ego does nothing but get in the way of being a good teacher (or performer for that matter). What I tell my students is that they don't have to play a given piece the exact same way that I do, but they have to sell it to me. If they choose to play something at a slightly different tempo or dynamic, or choose to phrase something somewhat differently, that's fine, as long as it's musical. It doesn't always happen, but when it does, I really dig it, because I realize that I'm starting to do for my students, what Glenn Dodson did for me. I'm giving them the tools and the freedom to make a musical statement uniquely their own.

Barry McCommon is a Freelance Bass Trombonist from Philadelphia, PA. He's a member of The Brass Experience, and is a first call musician for much of the classical and commercial/jazz scenes. More information about Barry with some awesome sound clips can be found on his MySpace Page.