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Orchestral Excerpts

for Bass and Tenor Trombonists

 

Preparing Excerpts is an intense, demanding, and challenging endeavor. It's also very gratifying. There may be no better sensation than playing with a fantastic symphony orchestra. Some of the greatest music ever written by the greatest musical minds that ever were........Wow.

We don't take it lightly, needless to say. Preparation is done on the very slightest of details. To stay in peak shape as an orchestral trombonist, I developed a CD-ROM of my Daily Routine. You may want to check it out if you're looking for a very thorough work-out to be done evrey day by aspiring pros.

It is absolutely imperative that you do the following if you wish to perform with a good or great symphony:

 

1) Get with a good teacher. One who is now or has in the past played with a great symphony orchestra. They will help you with matters of style, interpretation, etc. There can be no guesswork.

2) Study the complete scores for all of these excerpts. You must know the style, context, and texture into which to fit your sound.

3) Listen to recordings....lots of recordings. Major orchestras under major conductors will be most reliable in terms of commonly accepted tempi, interpretations, etc.

4) Differentiate between how you play these excerpts in an audition and how you will perform them with the orchestra. An audition is played like a recital.

5) Research the music, composers, orchestras.....make this a vital part of your life. Live with this music and allow it to seed itself deeply in your conscious and sub-conscious mind. The rewards are great. If you don't already, learn to LOVE this stuff! Poke around on the Internet for as much info as you can. You can start here at google.com

Tenor Trombone Audition Preparation (with many complete excerpts for download)

Bass Trombone Audition Preparation (with many complete excerpts for download)