"My" is in parentheses because I cannot take credit for the source material. My work is sitting on the shoulders of the giants who came before me, and I do my best to synthesize the material into "bite sized pieces."
There are many different ways to create your musical product through the trombone. I am not a big fan of "zero sum" thinking where in order for one way to be "right," all other ways must be wrong. That being said, I DO have strong opinions about the best practices for learning the instrument, and I always look forward to opportunities to share those opinions with others.
I would like to start with the following ten tips to help your playing:
1. How you sound on the first note of a phrase is a reflection of the quality of your breath immediately before the phrase. If you take a breath that's high in the chest, tight, and shallow, you will sound high, tight, and shallow when you play. Take in a quality breath, and turn the air around immediately. I like to think INHALE -> TONE.
2. Your tone is your calling card - your musical fingerprint. Make it memorable! You can wow people with blazing technique, pedal notes that shake the foundation and high notes that shatter glass, but if it isn't a great sound, the other skills won't matter as much as they could.
3. Articulation is an unequal partnership between wind and tongue. The wind is the majority shareholder! It is totally natural to think of the tongue first when talking about articulation, but it gets people into lots of trouble. The tongue by itself makes no sound. Use the tongue to shape the front of the note, the way a painter uses a particular paintbrush to put color on canvas.
4. The biggest obstacle to good pitch is ego. The next biggest obstacle is confidence. It isn't enough to tell people that "if everyone assumes they are out of tune, we will all be better in tune." This actually erodes confidence because there is no one "laying it down" to listen and react to! If someone else is first chair when you think it should be you, then get over it and figure out how to play as a section. Believe that even if you ARE the pitch problem, that you are totally capable of making the adjustments necessary to make the pitch better!
5. If your musical concepts aren't evolving, you aren't paying careful enough attention to the musicians around you. Everyone reaches a point where they can relax a bit on the improvement journey. Usually it happens right after a big goal is met. Resist the urge to get comfortable! If you are the best player in the room, find ways to keep improving in the face of that fact. Help those around you. Give back! Read about your craft. Listen to music regularly, and listen intently! New ideas will creep into your thinking almost immediately!
6. All music is chamber music if you're really listening. If you are playing a solo piece with no accompaniment, then the room acoustics and the audience are your trio partners. Even a solo recital is more of a duet recital with piano. In a symphony orchestra, rarely does the entire orchestra play together. A little score study will reveal who your part lines up with, and how they are woven together. Listen!
7. A short pencil always beats a long memory. Mark your part! On paper, on purpose, every time! Too often students come to me with a pristine page of music that they've practiced for a week or more. They tell me that they have the breaths decided, until we dive into the music. If you're having to make breathing or phrasing decisions based on how you feel today, then your performance will always lack final polish. Mark it in pencil, knowing that if you want to change your mind, you can erase it and mark something else later. Either way, mark it down!
8. Most mechanical problems on the instrument have a musical solution. Often, technical passages become never ending strings of notes that lack direction, contour, and phrasing. Where are we going with this music? Is the music leading somewhere, or are we meandering away from something? Even if it is the third movement of the Bourgeois Concerto, never let it be technique for technique sake!
9. Several practice sessions throughout the day add up to more efficient practice than one long session. Studies have shown that our brains can really only focus at peak levels for about half an hour. If you do one long, 2 hour session a day, you will get diminishing returns after the first half hour mark. I believe that 2 half hour sessions in one day are more than twice as effective as a single, one hour session. Don't believe me? Try it for a week and THEN tell me that the other way is better. I have yet to find someone who tries it and goes back to the old way.
10. Keep your instrument in good shape. If you take care of it, it will take care of you! Much like your teeth and eyes, your instrument will degrade over time if you don't take it to a professional for cleanings and adjustments. Often, your slide is just dirtier than you can clean at home, and you're one visit to the shop away from a 10 out of 10 slide again. Oil your valves. Keep extra water key cork and valve bumpers in your case, just in case. Broken, disposable parts are a good indicator that you're overdue for a shop visit! You've spent good money on your instrument - take care of it, and it will take care of you.
There are many different ways to create your musical product through the trombone. I am not a big fan of "zero sum" thinking where in order for one way to be "right," all other ways must be wrong. That being said, I DO have strong opinions about the best practices for learning the instrument, and I always look forward to opportunities to share those opinions with others.
I would like to start with the following ten tips to help your playing:
1. How you sound on the first note of a phrase is a reflection of the quality of your breath immediately before the phrase. If you take a breath that's high in the chest, tight, and shallow, you will sound high, tight, and shallow when you play. Take in a quality breath, and turn the air around immediately. I like to think INHALE -> TONE.
2. Your tone is your calling card - your musical fingerprint. Make it memorable! You can wow people with blazing technique, pedal notes that shake the foundation and high notes that shatter glass, but if it isn't a great sound, the other skills won't matter as much as they could.
3. Articulation is an unequal partnership between wind and tongue. The wind is the majority shareholder! It is totally natural to think of the tongue first when talking about articulation, but it gets people into lots of trouble. The tongue by itself makes no sound. Use the tongue to shape the front of the note, the way a painter uses a particular paintbrush to put color on canvas.
4. The biggest obstacle to good pitch is ego. The next biggest obstacle is confidence. It isn't enough to tell people that "if everyone assumes they are out of tune, we will all be better in tune." This actually erodes confidence because there is no one "laying it down" to listen and react to! If someone else is first chair when you think it should be you, then get over it and figure out how to play as a section. Believe that even if you ARE the pitch problem, that you are totally capable of making the adjustments necessary to make the pitch better!
5. If your musical concepts aren't evolving, you aren't paying careful enough attention to the musicians around you. Everyone reaches a point where they can relax a bit on the improvement journey. Usually it happens right after a big goal is met. Resist the urge to get comfortable! If you are the best player in the room, find ways to keep improving in the face of that fact. Help those around you. Give back! Read about your craft. Listen to music regularly, and listen intently! New ideas will creep into your thinking almost immediately!
6. All music is chamber music if you're really listening. If you are playing a solo piece with no accompaniment, then the room acoustics and the audience are your trio partners. Even a solo recital is more of a duet recital with piano. In a symphony orchestra, rarely does the entire orchestra play together. A little score study will reveal who your part lines up with, and how they are woven together. Listen!
7. A short pencil always beats a long memory. Mark your part! On paper, on purpose, every time! Too often students come to me with a pristine page of music that they've practiced for a week or more. They tell me that they have the breaths decided, until we dive into the music. If you're having to make breathing or phrasing decisions based on how you feel today, then your performance will always lack final polish. Mark it in pencil, knowing that if you want to change your mind, you can erase it and mark something else later. Either way, mark it down!
8. Most mechanical problems on the instrument have a musical solution. Often, technical passages become never ending strings of notes that lack direction, contour, and phrasing. Where are we going with this music? Is the music leading somewhere, or are we meandering away from something? Even if it is the third movement of the Bourgeois Concerto, never let it be technique for technique sake!
9. Several practice sessions throughout the day add up to more efficient practice than one long session. Studies have shown that our brains can really only focus at peak levels for about half an hour. If you do one long, 2 hour session a day, you will get diminishing returns after the first half hour mark. I believe that 2 half hour sessions in one day are more than twice as effective as a single, one hour session. Don't believe me? Try it for a week and THEN tell me that the other way is better. I have yet to find someone who tries it and goes back to the old way.
10. Keep your instrument in good shape. If you take care of it, it will take care of you! Much like your teeth and eyes, your instrument will degrade over time if you don't take it to a professional for cleanings and adjustments. Often, your slide is just dirtier than you can clean at home, and you're one visit to the shop away from a 10 out of 10 slide again. Oil your valves. Keep extra water key cork and valve bumpers in your case, just in case. Broken, disposable parts are a good indicator that you're overdue for a shop visit! You've spent good money on your instrument - take care of it, and it will take care of you.