Trombone instruction

[CharlieB]

Freshman year of high school, 1958..........
My private trombone instructor presented me with a book; "The Imperial Method For the Slide Trombone, by R. N Davis" My instructor initialed each of the 144 pages as we worked through the book. I still have the book because in the back it includes a dictionary of over 200 Italian musical terms. (My Italian isn't that great.)
Today, I noticed the copyright date of the book....1898. Scanning the book, it could have been written yesterday instead of 127 years ago.The only thing missing is instruction for a valve attachment. Tastes change, equipment changes, but the game stays the same.

[BGuttman]

Why do you think the Arban method, written in the mid 19th Century (shortly after the development of the Perinet valve) is still so popular? About the only thing that could pep these books up is introducing more modern songs that today's kids can relate to.

[Mamaposaune]

And don't forget the Cornette, Earnest Clarke and Simone Mantia Methods - my teacher, who was in his 70's at the time, had me go through these books 50+ years ago, and (to me) they are still relevant.

[robcat2075]

At a recent reunion of my college band another alumnus asked me why I got out of music and into computer graphics.

"Well, there hasn't been much new in trombone playing in the last hundred years or so. There was something new in computer graphics every week."

[Digidog]

At a recent reunion of my college band another alumnus asked me why I got out of music and into computer graphics.

"Well, there hasn't been much new in trombone playing in the last hundred years or so. There was something new in computer graphics every week."

This is both hilariously and sadly true!

I had some college students in a band I was rehearsing, and they were about to drop out because of what they percieved as rigidity from the school about only playing jazz, according to them old jazz, while they wanted the whole spectrum and the whole timespan of jazz and the subsequently derived music. As far as I know all of them left; one is now in L.A. at MIT(?) and at least one is in Boston at Berklee, and one were planning on Texas (whatever the name of the school is, now).

[BGuttman]

Daniel, MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) is in metro Boston. There are several technical schools in the Los Angeles area, including USC, UCLA, and Stanford. The first two (at least) have Music Majors.

[cmcslide]

I think the MIT he was referring to is "Musicians Institute of Technology," which is a commercial music school (non-accredited) in LA. If you have heard of Bass Institute or Percussion Institute of Technology, that's what this is. Didn't know that they had trombone students there, though!

[robcat2075]

I had some college students in a band I was rehearsing, and they were about to drop out because of what they percieved as rigidity from the school about only playing jazz, according to them old jazz...

When they find out what the new stuff sounds like, they'll be sorry.

[BGuttman]

I think the MIT he was referring to is "Musicians Institute of Technology," which is a commercial music school (non-accredited) in LA. If you have heard of Bass Institute or Percussion Institute of Technology, that's what this is. Didn't know that they had trombone students there, though!

Thanks. Didn't know about them.

[Posaunus]

Daniel, MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) is in metro Boston. There are several technical schools in the Los Angeles area, including USC, UCLA, and Stanford. The first two (at least) have Music Majors.

And Stanford University is about 600 kilometers from the "Los Angles area."
Cal Tech (California Institute of Technology), a pretty good "technical school," is in nearby Pasadena, California - but hardly a place to study jazz!

[cmcslide]

I think the MIT he was referring to is "Musicians Institute of Technology," which is a commercial music school (non-accredited) in LA. If you have heard of Bass Institute or Percussion Institute of Technology, that's what this is. Didn't know that they had trombone students there, though!

Thanks. Didn't know about them.

Yeah, it's mostly a commercial music thing. Guitars, bass, keyboards and drums, mostly. You might find ads for them in guitar magazines.

[Digidog]

Didn't know that they had trombone students there, though!

Two were trombone students, and two I had in theory classes.

The one who went to L.A. is a bassist, primary on electric bass. He passed the auditions "cum laude". He's a terriffic player and musician (great sight reader, great rhythm and groove, great stylistic knowledge and adaptability), and if he can fly right there and choose his company, he has the potential to be a top hire.

Of the two trombonists, one had the intention of going to Berklee, Ma, and the other would audition for that college in Texas I always forget the name of - though it is quite a profiled jazz institution. I have no idea if they passed the auditions and got admitted, but since I haven't seen them for some time now, I assume they pursue their studies there now.

The fourth was a pianist who dated the trombonist whom intended to go to Berklee, and though she was not the most proficient on her instrument, she was a really good accompanist and intelligent soloist.

[robcat2075]

...and the other would audition for that college in Texas I always forget the name of - though it is quite a profiled jazz institution. I have no idea if they passed the auditions and got admitted...

I presume you are thinking of The University of North Texas formerly known as North Texas State University.

It is not hard to get into but, inside, the competition is severe. I wasn't there as a jazz student but I tried a "lab band" for one semester.

You've probably heard of their famous "One O'Clock Lab Band".

There's also a "Two O'Clock" band... and a "Three O'Clock"... and two "Four O'Clock" and two "Five O'Clock" bands.

As a regular "classical" trombonist I was in the top Wind Ensemble, but as a jazz trombonist i got placed in a SIX O'CLOCK lab band

However, even at that low level the rhythm section was solid. The band leader never had to tutor them on anything, they were always ready. Likewise for the saxes. The trumpets, not quite so much but they were probably mostly freshmen and still better than the trumpet section in my undergraduate Swedish Lutheran college's jazz band.

The trombones... by six o'clock they were getting low. We were just three in that band. They could fully stock all the other sections in all the bands, but the trombones were getting rationed out to make bands for all the hard-charging drummers and basses and saxes and etc. to play in.

That was back in the 80s. Do hordes of college kids still play sax and trumpet and trombone enough to make all those bands?

I don't know.

[robcat2075]

When i was at UNT I heard a figure of ~70 trombone players in the department enrolled for lessons. That sounds semi-plausible, what with 2.5 faculty teachers and 4 TAs.

But a friend of mine who played sax then tells me there were 375 alto saxes at that time. So, to get into any of those lab bands as a sax you had to be quite able.

My friend? He was able. He was in a lab band above mine and then did 20 years in an Air Force band after graduating.