|
Placement of the Tongue
Slurring
Alternate Positions
Vibrato
Glissando (Gliss)
Placement of the Tongue
The placement of the tongue actually
changes throughout the range of the instrument. It is probably not necessary to point this out
to students, because most make this adjustment naturally. For
that reason, I teach "TOO"
and "DOO" respectively for Staccato and Legato tonguing.
-
Staccato
-
Legato - use a soft "D"
Slurring
-
The trombone is the only wind instrument
without a true slur.
-
A light tongue must
be used to separate the air flow for the slide to move. If
the tongue is too hard, slurring will not occur. If the
tongue is too soft, glissandos may occur.
Syllables
for Slurring:
DOO (middle range)
DAH (lower range)
DI -- I as in it (upper range)
Alternate Positions
-
Alternate positions should be
taught early so that players don't cling to familiar positions.
-
The more notes played with the
slide going in one direction, the better.
-
Half steps should be played
with adjacent positions whenever possible.
-
Alternate positions have a slightly
inferior quality of sound and should not be used for "prominent"
notes.
-
Teach at least 3 alternate positions
to your trombone players and encourage them to use them!
Vibrato
-
Jaw Vibrato is the best vibrato
to use for classical solo purposes. (Practice chewing gum.) Use
only on long notes; start slow to fast. Listen to recordings
of professional musicians.
-
Slide Vibrato is used in the
jazz idiom. In a jazz band soli trombone section, only the lead
player should use it.
-
A gut or air vibrato should
never be used!
Glissando (Gliss)
-
When two different tones are sounded
within the same partial, using no tongue produces a glissando
effect.
-
Use lots of air and blow through
the glissando.
-
The slide may be moved slowly
or quickly for the desired effect.
If
you would like to be added to the TSMP
Email Mailing List and receive
periodic notifications of new articles and updates to this website,
then please email
TSMP.
The Texas School Music
Project is a source for ideas and information
concerning pedagogical
practices in the music classroom or rehearsal hall. The TSMP is a service provided to
all music specialists by the faculty
of
the Department of Music
at Stephen F. Austin State University.
For questions about this
site contact [email protected].
Copyright ? 2002, Department
of Music at Stephen F. Austin State University
|
|