Lesson 3 - Legato

Trombone Legato Myths

The trombone is incapable of playing in a legato style.

False! Although the trombone lacks the valves that the other brass instruments have, it is still possible to play in the legato style. Trombonists instead rely on a steady airstream to create the connected sound and the tongue to articulate the beginning of each note. Listen to the recording below to hear a great example of trombone legato.

Playing in the legato style requires less air.

False! The legato style requires constant air to create a connected sound. To play in a lyrical and legato style, all of the notes must be connected. It is often a good idea to practice a legato piece using no articulation to work on blowing through each phrase. Once the air stream is made consistent, the articulation can be reintroduced.

To play in the legato style, the player must tongue softly and farther back in the mouth.

False! Legato playing requires a constant air stream. If the tongue is too far back, it will interrupt the air stream with each articulation. Instead the tongue must remain flat and forward. Articulation is generated with a flicking motion of the tip of the tongue. The point of articulation is on the back of the top teeth. Think of the tongue as moving up and down to interrupt the air stream, rather than back and forth.

Listen to the vocalist in the recording above connects each word of the song. The articulation does not hinder the sound being produced. Trombone legato is much the same. The various consonant sounds found in vocal music reflect the varying weight and articulation strength trombonists place on each note in the legato style.

The slide moves slowly when playing in the legato style.

False! The slide moves quickly in legato playing. The key to great legato playing is to stay on each note as long as possible and move the slide quickly and smoothly when switching notes. If the slide technique is sloppy or rigid, the connections between notes will sound forced.

Although this video is very silly (and may cause nausea), David Finlayson's slide technique is impeccable. His slide motions are quick without affecting the tone.

The trombone must play soft to play in the legato style.

False! Although lyrical music often requires the full range of dynamics, it is not all meant to be quiet. The sound must always be full and vibrant.

Activity

Think of a simple song like "O, Danny Boy" or "Yesterday" and sing this song out loud (really belt it out!). Do you notice how the sound of your voice does not stop between each word of the song? Learn that song on the trombone in any key and try to emulate that sound quality on the trombone. If you can't think of an easy song, try "My Country tis of Thee." Be ready to play your song during your real-time video lesson.

Exercises

Practice "Amazing Grace" before your next real-time video lesson. For the trombone majors, also bring a Bordogni etude of your choice.

 Amazing Grace pdf (file/download)

Lesson 2 - Slide Technique

Review of Posture

Before continuing with this lesson, take a moment to review the "Left Hand" and "Right Hand" sections of "Lesson 1 - Developing Tone."

 

Activity

Put the slide lock on and pick up the instrument with just the left hand. Now, play the first two bars of the quarter note exercise, taking the instrument off of the face to breathe between each quarter note. To free up the right hand, we must work on making the left hand independent and strong enough to support the instrument. Try this exercise in front of a mirror to check your posture and hand position.

The Mechanics of the Right Hand

To practice moving the slide effectively, we must understand what parts of the hand and arm are utilized. Take a look at your right hand and slowly make a fist. You should see that every joint in the fingers and thumb are moving to complete this action. Those joints also move when you play the trombone. Additionally, your wrist, elbow, and shoulder also move when playing trombone. All of the bendable parts of the arm and hand work simultaneously in trombone playing

Locking up any part of the arm or hand will force the other joints to work too hard, slowing down your slide speed. The most common problem with slide technique is locking the fingertips. Take a look at the pictures below. In each example, the fingers are unable to move, leaving too much work to the wrist and elbow.

Check out this video for a more detailed explanation.

 

Developing Slide Technique

The following exercises are effective ways to develop comfortable and relaxed slide technique.

 

One Position Shifts

This exercise is taken from the Remington Warm-up Studies for Trombone. Focus on using the thumb to propel the slide out and the fingers to draw the slide in. You may even want to isolate the slide technique by playing all notes under one phrase marking as a glissando.

 

Chromatic Scale Practice

If you are really adventurous, try starting this exercise on a different pitch. It may be played in any register, starting on any note.

 

Exercises

The second page of the first lesson exercises contains exercises that are good for developing slide technique. If you need another copy of the exercise, you may download it here. (file/download).

Lesson 1 - Developing Tone

Goals

Following the completion of this lesson, the student will be able to:

1. Describe how the torso, the right hand, the left hand, and the shoulders are positioned while playing the trombone.
2. Identify possible areas of tension by examining themselves in the mirror while holding the trombone.
3. Perform "off the trombone" breathing exercises.

The greatest contributor to the development of good tone is the air. Unneeded tension in the breathing process leads to a strained and unresponsive tone. To develop a breath that is free of tension, we must focus on how the body works during the inhalation and exhalation.

Posture

Good posture is necessary for the breathing process to work at its highest efficiency. The following sets of pictures will demonstrate examples of good posture and hand position as well as common problems to be avoided.

Standing Body Position

Good: The top of the head, shoulders, and hips are in a straight line











Bad: The body is slumped down causing the neck to crane forward, the shoulders to slump forward, and the sternum (the bone that is in the middle part of the ribcage) to sag inward.

 

 

Seated Body Position

When seated, the top of the head, shoulders, and hips must still line up. 

 Good: The back is off of the back of the chair. The feet are flat on the ground. The trombone is aimed slightly down.

 Bad: The body is slumped backward in the chair causing the shoulders to become more rounded and the neck to crane forward.

Bad: The trombone slide is being aimed at the ground causing the whole torso to slump forward.

 Bad: Although the head, shoulders, and hips are lined up, the angle of the trombone will cause unneeded pressure on the top lip.

 

 

Shoulders

 Good: The shoulders must be relaxed and back, allowing the sternum to raise.

 Good: Holding the trombone must not affect the shoulders.

Bad: Holding the shoulders up will cause tension to build up in the body. The slide movement will be greatly affected by tight shoulders.

 Good: The instrument is held off of the shoulder, allowing the left hand to carry the weight of the instrument while the right hand can move the slide.

 Bad: The instrument is being rested on the shoulder. This put a lot of pressure on the top lip and cause the right hand to support the instrument in 5th, 6th, and 7th positions.

 

 

Left Hand

Original photo courtesy of Edwards Trombones http://www.edwards-instruments.nl/images/trombones/slide327.jpg. Additions done by Aaron Wilson.

Good: The left hand supports the entire weight of the instrument. The middle, ring, and pinky fingers suspend the instrument from the stationary brace on the slide while the pointer finger balances the instrument. There is no gripping involved. The image below indicates where the fingers should be placed when holding the slide.

 

Bad: The left hand is gripping the instrument instead of suspending it from the middle, ring, and pinky fingers. Doing so will not allow the player to remove the mouthpiece from the face when breathing. The pointer finger is also not placed by the mouthpiece to balance the instrument.

Right Hand

Good: The right hand does not support any of the weight of the instrument. The slide that is farthest away from the mouthpiece is straddled between the middle and ring finger of the right hand with the thumb gently placed on the brace. When moving the slide, all parts of the arm (the knuckles, wrist, elbow, and shoulder) must work together to move the slide. The thumb pushes the slide out and the fingers draw the slide in.

Bad: If any part of the arm is tense, the player will not be able to move the slide rapidly or make fine adjustments for intonation. All three of the following examples will cause the elbow to control all of the slide's motion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Activity

Stand in front of a full length mirror and examine your posture first without and then with the trombone. Look at how you hold your torso, your shoulders, and your head. With the trombone, examine your left and right hand. Is all the weight being supported by the left hand? Can you move the slide out with the thumb and back in with the fingers? 

Breathing

The following video will discuss what muscles are used in the breathing process and how posture affects breathing.

 

This next video will give some examples of "off the trombone" breathing exercises that you can do in your own time.

 Exercises

 Quarter Notes

With the quarter note exercise, our goal is to work on taking a consistent relaxed breath. Think about interrupting each inhalation with the exhalation, and visa versa, eliminating any gap in the breathing process. You should breathe after every note.

Download Quarter Notes Exercise (click File/Download)

 

Long Tones

Much like the quarter note exercise, you should breath after every note in the long tones exercise. Your breath will be very similar to the "off the trombone" breathing exercises discussed in the video.

Download Long Tones  Exercise (Click File/Download)

Courtesy of the Remington Warm-up Studies for Trombone

 

Lip Slurs

The purpose of lip slurs is to develop flexibility throughout the entire range of the instrument. When performing these exercises, only the first note of each slurred group should be tongued. The numbers above indicate the slide position. Try to hold out each note for its full duration before shifting to the next note. The shift must be instantaneous and relaxed. Try whistling each of these exercises before each attempt. The way that the air moves when whistling is exactly how it moves when playing the trombone. Try out the Half Note Lip Slurs and the Three Note Lip Slurs. If those exercises feel comfortable, try moving on to the Five Note Lip Slurs.

Download Lip Slurs Exercise (Click File/Download)

Courtesy of the Remington Warm-up Studies for Trombone