1) Dear Dr. Tom,

I am a teacher of some fine young trombonists. Some are in high school, some in college. How do I approach the "finer" points of musicality such as intonation, sound, etc. And how and when should I introduce orchestral excerpts?

 

Thanks for writing and GOOD questions!

Stephen Colley's TuneUp system really does work. Works GREAT, actually. So does the SmartMusic program where they play along with accompaniment. I have them do the scale-based routines on SmartMusic very slowly, and sometimes just loop the same scale over and over and over. I also like to have them play solos along with recordings. My intonation got better when I started playing along with Joe Alessi. I learned to play towards the bottom half of the pitch. This makes them keep their jaw open and opens the sound immensely. I also have a concept I use and try to teach them:
Let the first note of every phrase contain EVERY overtone. Listen for them all, then continue the phrase and put the subsequent pitches right in their place, according to the overtones you hear in the first note. Then, with each phrase, you do it again. You can practice holding the first note for a moment, then start the phrase when you hear all the overtones. This gets them listening and concentrating. It also somehow smoothes out the pace of air, giving them a better sound and line. Duets, too. Lots of duets.
Excerpts I usually start teaching in the sophomore year, after spending a year on rhythm and articulation using etudes. Advanced high schoolers can start earlier, but only after they've developed a characteristic sound and very good rhythm. All my trombone students will know at least the top ten. (Milt Stevens has a great list on his website: www.miltstevens.com). Performance majors will know the top 50....including the tenor tuba stuff. We spend a lot of time listening to recordings, discussing interpretations and articulation styles. My numbered tonguing system really helps them! I have them do a little research paper on each composer discussing their style, time period, what was happening in the world, what was happening in the music world, etc. I think the best way for you would be to gather a bunch of recordings and play along with the student. Rhythm and articulation are the 2 points to stress. I make them memorize one per week. I also try to get them thinking about individual excerpts, rather than just playing "excerpts". Many students have 1 style when it comes to orchestral playing. This is ridiculous. 300 years of music played with one style!
But the NUMBER ONE thing that works better than anything else is to make them record themselves and bring the recording to lessons to talk about it. They can use a $2 tape recorder if necessary. Record scales, etudes, excerpts, everything. Make them record things they've memorized. Minidiscs work great. Now, I use an mp3 recorder I bought,too. It's the Archos Recorder Jukebox. It'll hold 20GB of info AND has recording capability.
I sometimes put a metronome to their recording to show how far off they can be on rhythm, when it feels solid to them.

One more very important thing.........your love and enthusiasm for what you do does transfer. It takes time, and some students will just never be receptive. But the ones who are serious will learn more from your passion than anything else. Let's face it, much of what we've learned we figured out on our own, but it was the desire to figure it out that we gained from good, sincere, and passionate teachers.
We lead the horses to the water and then show them what joy there can be in drinking it.

 

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