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    Most trombone playing, aside from individual practice, is done within a section. The best sounds and the most personal satisfaction come when players are keenly aware of the musical concepts that apply specifically to their section and have an understanding of how their section relates to the rest of the ensemble.

Balance and Blend
    The trombones in a band or orchestra are usually scored in three parts that are played by two tenor trombones and one bass trombone, or multiples of that ratio. This three-part voicing is the most natural setting for trombones because it offers the best mixture of high and low frequencies. Just as superior stereo speakers must provide characteristic sounds with the right mixture of highs and lows, each musician in the section is responsible for providing an appropriate tone quality that will help the section sound its best.
    Section blend, in addition to being a product of voicing, is also a result of volume. The first part usually predominates simply because it has the melody and is written in a higher range. However, absolute balance is not always desirable. Players should examine each passage within the context of both the section and the full ensemble to determine which voices, if any, should be heard above the others. In fact, section balance can change within a passage, such as when two parts sustain a tone and a third part moves. At these times it is desirable for the moving line to be heard above the others. Section players should always be checking for balance and asking what the music demands.
    The second trombonist is the section’s messenger and mediator. Just as the bass trombonist welds the tuba to the trombone section, the second trombonist joins the first part to the bass; and this role requires a blending type of sound, one that contains fewer highs than the lead player’s and fewer lows than those from the bass. A good second player reacts quickly to what he hears, has a sound rich and full enough to blend with as well as heighten the other parts, and uses musical skills to help the others in the section. A section can be only as good as its second player; his individual limitations quickly become the limitations of the section.

Intonation
    Tuning begins with the lower parts and moves to the higher voices because the lower voices often play the root and fifth of a chord. Composers usually seek an open sound, so they avoid placing notes close together in the lower pitch range where a muddy sound will result. Once the intonation of the fundamental intervals is established, the pitch of thirds, sixths, seconds, and sevenths becomes obvious. While individual chords are tuned from the bottom up, it is the pitch of the first part that is used as a link to the rest of the ensemble.
    Players have to adjust their pitch to eliminate, as nearly as possible, the beats (a clash in the sound when two or more people play out of tune; the faster the beats, the more severe the problem). This is accomplished by moving the slide in a direction that first slows down, then finally eliminates the beat entirely. Having to tune every note by moving the slide in the same direction (always in or always out), is a sure sign that the main slide should be adjusted.
    Pairs of players should get together on their own and learn what it sounds like to play in (and out of) tune, then try to shorten the time it takes them to recognize out-of-tune notes and adjust them. A word of caution: if a chord or a unison note is out of tune, try to change it immediately, but do not continue to fish around and call attention to the problem if the initial adjustment proves wrong. Instead, determine the proper adjustment and use it the next time you encounter the same chord or pitch.
    The role of the bass trombone changes somewhat when the music is also scored for tuba. The two instrumentalists must work together to achieve one cohesive sound. The goal requires more than simply having the two players sit side by side. The bass trombone should sound like the first overtone of the tuba’s fundamental. This approach is especially important when two instruments are playing in octaves, which is frequently the case.
    Intonation problems between these two parts may arise because of the differences in the construction of the instruments. The tuba is a conical valve instrument that is tempered to allow for pitch discrepancies with certain valve combinations. The bass trombone, on the other hand, is a cylindrical slide instrument built basically with natural (untempered) tuning, although it is tempered somewhat in the lead pipe so octaves and fifths are more in tune.
    A certain amount of compromise is necessary to weld the tuba to the trombone section. For example, in order to play in tune with a CC tuba, the bass trombonist usually lowers B flats slightly and plays fifth position G-flat 2 and D-flat2, a bit lower than normal. Of course these adjustments vary depending on the players and their instruments. Good intonation requires good ears, a willingness to experiment, and the ability to compromise.

Articulation
    Musical clarity should be the section’s goal in an effort to make obvious what the composer has written. Basically, a feeling of motion ­– moving the music forward – can act as a guide in selecting articulation. Sometimes it is necessary for the section to exaggerate articulations, especially in forte passages. In the following examples, the 16th note should be emphasized, for the sake of rhythmic clarity.

    Repeated notes should be played in a slightly detached fashion to keep the music from bogging down. Passages that involve leaps are often performed incorrectly and are hear as though the lower note did not exist. Extreme care must be taken in passages that include both tongued and slurred notes, especially in large ensembles where clarity can be even more of a problem.
    The bass trombonist must be somewhat flexible, adjusting the usual trombone articulation to a heavier quality when playing with the tuba. Again, the idea that the bass trombone should sound like the first overtone of the tuba’s fundamental is useful. The bass trombone can be thought of as creating the front part of the sound, while the tuba provides the round part of the sound. This is not to say that the bass trombonist should punch the notes while the tuba sustains them. Both players have to work together to produce a unified effect.
    Legato passages are relatively easy for the trombone section to execute provided the musicians pay strict attention to playing with the beat. It does not matter if some members use a legato tongue, lightly tonguing every note, and others use natural slurs. A blended and balanced section is what counts.
    Low brass players need to match their articulation to other sections in the ensemble, even though the nature of the slide make this difficult to accomplish. Careful listening and quick adjustments can help to make up for the basic difference in tone production techniques.

Keeping Time
    One of the trombone section’s biggest problems is keeping good time. Low brass instruments tend to play behind the beat. The delay is caused partly by having the trombones sit in the rear of the ensemble, but is primarily the result of the instrument’s naturally slow response. It is important for the section to anticipate the beat and play as close to the beginning of it as possible, without rushing. Playing in the middle or near the end of the beat causes the section to sound late, and trying to catch up leads to other problems, such as forcing the tone. The trombones should not be told to play faster. The time between beats is exactly the same as for the rest of the ensemble; the trombone sound just needs to be started on the front part of the beat.
    Of course, stylistic preferences can lead to different approaches. Perfor­mances of Bruckner’s music by European orchestras, for example, often feature low brass sections that play toward the end of the beat.
    The section’s sound should be thought of as a cause of rhythmic activity in the ensemble, not an effect. Having the players breathe together is the best way to insure that the section will enter together. In experienced sections the principal player occasionally moves his instrument in a subtle manner when there is some question as to the proper placement of the beat; however, avoid having one or more players conduct with their slides. This technique can be useful when entering after a fermata or long rest, but the device is distracting and its overuse tends to undermine other section members’ confidence in their abilities. If your low brass section is consistently late, record a rehearsal and play back the results so the section can hear how it sounds and start making changes.

Large Ensembles
    The problems of playing in a section are compounded when there is more than one person on a part. It is important in these instances that each section have its own principal player set standards for balance, blend, intonation, and articulation. During sectional rehearsals, the principals of each section should perform the parts, allowing every player to hear a balanced one-on-a-part sound and understand how each individual part fits into the sound of the section. Then different players should take turns playing in the trio. Weaker players will immediately recognize their own trouble spots, and stronger players will be able to hear and correct intonation problems as they occur.
    An effective way of correcting problems during a full band rehearsal is to change the seating of the sections’ principal players, or to rotate the seating of others so everyone has a chance to sit next to the principal at some time. Imitation is one of the simplest yet most effective teaching devices at our disposal, and we should use it more often. Weak players should have the opportunity to hear strong players regularly. The best players should not all be placed on the first part, neither should they always be sitting next to the same players.
    Another problem in many ensembles is the exclusive use of the tenor trombones with nearly identical bores, thus destroying the desired balance ratio of two tenors to one bass. Using larger mouthpieces for the lower parts is one way of alleviating this problem.
    Balance, intonation, articulation, and rhythmic stability are important facets of playing well as a section. However, their importance lies in being used collectively to contribute to the life and clarity of the musical presentation. A worthy goal for every section of any ensemble is to emphasize musical images rather than individual personalities. By following the suggestions presented here, performing in a trombone section can provide a gratifying experience for the players, the ensemble, and the audience.

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    Carefully prepare for instrument switches. Many percussion parts are scored for multiple instruments in a short stretch of music that require stick changes, alternating between notated parts, and even moving to an entirely new station of instruments. Reducing wasted effort is the key to making smooth switches.
    Use multi-purpose mallets creatively. Snare sticks can be fitted with  timpani felt at one end and a round of metal on the shank to produce good sounds on the drum, timpani, and triangle. Some combination mallets can be purchased while others can be developed with ingenuity. Set up multiple stick trays to avoid carrying sticks back and forth. By eliminating these distractions, the music takes priority over logistics.

    Master the less common instruments. I remember playing one or­ches­tral work with an extremely difficult 12-tone melody on chimes. This part called on all of my practice work on chimes, including playing popular mel­odies, sightreading xylophone etudes, and improvising on the instrument. I recommend this thorough approach to the less-common instruments. Other oddities I have encountered were strong grooves with a shaker in each hand and dynamically and rhythmically intricate slapstick parts. Even though these situations are uncommon, they should not sound that way.

    Listen to the instruments out in the audience. Timpani can frequently sound precise up close but muddled out in the audience. Likewise, a snare drum may sound buzzy up close but different in the hall. Various marimba parts may require drastically different mallets to project the intended sound to the seats. Find someone to alternate playing and listening in various locations in the hall.

    Check all instruments carefully before playing. Opera and musical theater often require two performances of the same show in one day. In these instances, I always test every part of every instrument before the second performance. This includes playing straight up the white keys and down the black keys of the keyboard instruments as well as tapping the snare drum with the snares off and on to check response. I also assess timpani tuning to see if the temperature and humidity have produced changes. These checks take just a minute but are well worth the trouble.

    Focus on sound. Although many percussion parts are sparse, it is important to make every note sound just right. Slight adjustments in instrument choices, instrument height, mallet selection, and head tension can make a big difference. When selecting a pair of crash cymbals, play close attention to the other instrumentation, the mood of the music, and the tempo to choose just the right sound. A good cymbal player may use two or three pairs in rotation during a relatively short piece, to match the best sound to each musical moment.

    Make wise choices when mapping cues. Percussion entrances can be quite difficult, often coming during transitions in tempo and dynamics. If the ensemble is not playing together well, follow the largest group. In an orchestra a percussionist would follow  the tempo of the strings rather than one player in the trombone section. However, if everyone is playing to­gether well, go with the fastest-moving subdivision to calculate the entrance. If the strings are playing half notes and the trombones have 16ths, use the trombones to pinpoint the entrance.

    Write all over the music. Many studio teachers tell students not to mark  parts, but professional players write all over their music. Whether playing a classical work or drumset charts, the professionals use symbols, color coding, and written instructions whenever necessary. The goal should be to play the music to its fullest potential, not to turn in spotless music.
    Breathe. Thoughtful breathing helps percussionists line up with other instruments at entrances. Percus­sionists do not have the luxury of easing into an attack. All wind players and many string players breath before entrances, and such deliberate breathing can help percussionists unite with the rest of the group. Full, regular breathing can also relax the body and focus the mind during performances.

    Work more frequently with the weak hand. Of all the advice I have given to students over the years, this is perhaps the easiest and most transformative. For most people there is a gap in the skills of the two hands. Num­erous daily tasks are handled by the strong hand, while the other sits idle.
    Some years ago I began brushing my teeth with the weak hand and found it nearly impossible; now it feels strange to brush with my strong hand. Such tasks as unlocking doors, eating with a fork, and clicking the remote can improve weak-hand dexterity tremendously over time. The key is to  be committed to practicing these tasks. I have adult students who have switched the mouse to the other side of the computer at work. Balanced skill with both hands will yield greater consistency and confidence in practice and performance.
    These bits of advice should be helpful to music teachers and students, college percussion instructors and majors, music education professors and conductors, as well as aspiring professional players of any age. They are based on practical experience – on-the-job training – not to be found in  method books or brought up in college percussion classes.

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Step 2: Introduction to composing music through improvisation.
    In late January we devoted a day to discussing improvisation and composition. It began with introducing students to the B-flat concert pentatonic scale and, after a brief demonstration, encouraging them to volunteer to improvise using those notes. While many students were hesitant, a few brave souls took the lead. You could actually hear everyone growing more confident as they figured out how different notes function in the tonality.
    Some students began to repeat motives, and others drifted further from the tonic note and back while still others added interesting dynamics and rhythmic flare. Most students stayed within the tiny range of an octave, but some kids really began to explore their instrument’s range. One of the highlights of that lesson took place when a trumpet player discovered low G. He had played down to a low A, then when he meant to play the D above, the pitch went down instead of up. His eyes widened when he hit the note; he just kept playing it, repeating it, and adding some rhythm to the pitch. “I’m not sure if that was one of the right notes, but I liked it,” he said later.
    When we finished improvising, I proudly in­formed the students that they were now composers and that what they did was similar to what many of the greatest composers did to create their great works. The only difference was that those brilliant minds wrote it all down.
    Using improvisation to encourage creative thinking, we introduced important music vocabulary: Pentatonic scale, improvisation, and composition; melody, motive, tonic, and harmony. We also played some famous melodies and motives as examples of what students should already be familiar with.

Step 3: The composition assignment.
    Once students understood those ideas, we gave them a first assignment. Using carefully established parameters, they had one month to compose two pentatonic melodies of four or eight measures and four pentatonic motives of one measure each. They could turn in their work for review and advice at any time before that, and they could ask questions at any point in the process. The guidelines included:
•  You have to use the notes of the B-flat concert pentatonic scale (each instrument’s specific pitches were included on the hand out).
•  All melodies and motives are to be in 44.
•  Percussionists can compose two pentatonic motives and two rhythmic motives.
•  Write something you will be able to play, not something that looks hard and flashy. Only use notes you can play.
•  You may not use whole notes or rests for your motives. You may not use whole rests in your melody. In motives and melodies you may also use half notes, quarter notes, eighth notes, and their corresponding rests. Percus-sionists can use 16th notes in their two rhythmic motives, but not 16th  rests.
•  You have to start on concert Bb, D, or F. You have to end your melody on concert B flat (again, each instrument’s specific pitches are included in the handout).
In late February we collected the assignments. Of 150 students, about a dozen students were a few days late and only two never submitted their work.

Step 4: Arranging a work for band.
    I spent most of the spring break sorting through the assignments, hoping to find enough suitable melodies and motives to create a work. To my surprise, there were more good melodies than I had expected. The vast majority of the assignments had at least one melody and some motives that fell within the guidelines; some actually suggested that the students had sat down with their instruments and worked hard to find something that sounded cool. Now, instead of digging for a handful of useful material, I would have to narrow down the students’ efforts to those that would be most appropriate for the concert band work.
    With such a luxury, I thought it would be best to create a work with multiple movements so as to include as much of the students’ work as possible. As I hammered out a framework, it seemed logical to have two fast movements with a slow movement in between, creating each in a classical form and later discussing the differences with the student composers. With a working title of Symphony in Bb, the first movement was a modified sonata form,  the second movement was in ternary form, and the third a rondo. I usually extended the few four measure melodies I used by repeating them, adding a half cadence in the middle. Most of the melodies, though, required little in the way of such editing. Although I did not add accents to percussion motives, I added articulation to the melodies and the other motives.
    After spring break, we began work on the piece one movement at a time without telling students whose melodies had been selected. By doing this, it kept everyone excited to hear if their music was somewhere in the piece. As the students began to polish each movement and play through all the music on the page, we introduced the different musical forms and we discussed why form was important.
    Students came to the conclusion that form was important because it gives structure to music and makes it easier to understand. One bright student even compared sonata form to the chapters of a book, in that each part of the form informs the next. The beginning chapters lead up to something, the middle chapters created excitement and tension, and the closing chapters resolved the tension that was created in the middle. I wish I had some of that clarity in freshman theory.
    Once the three movements had been rehearsed, we announced the contributing composers – 13 of them – whose music was part the symphony. Before the announcement, I stated that we had received many fine assignments and could have included many more in the work; however, the constraints of time (both rehearsal time and the length of music students could perform) were against us.
The 13 student composers were invited to a pizza luncheon with the campus principal, Barbara Ponder, who thought the project was a different, interesting idea. During the luncheon she asked questions about the creative process and influences of the composers and how it felt to hear the band perform their music.
    As students learned to play the music, we asked everyone to brainstorm ideas for an engaging title for the piece. Students were given two weeks to submit ideas in writing, then the three band directors pared down the suggestions to a handful of the best ones for a student vote. We got involved only to quash a grass-roots campaign from the trumpets and saxophones who wanted the title to be Grand Mountain Fudge Cake.
    In the end the title that garnered the most votes was Eagles Take Flight. The movements were “Rising Up,” “Soaring,” and “United As One.”

Step 6: Performance.
    We gave the world premiere of Eagles Take Flight  as part of the band’s annual spring concert, May 21, 2009. The music was well received, and the families in the audience were so proud of the work their students exhibited.
    When 150 students signed up for sixth-grade band this year, the goal was to improve on the previous year’s retention of 80. Although it is impossible to know whether the composition project was the impetus, the enrollment numbers for the next year showed that approximately 100 students signed up for band. If composing didn’t convince students to remain, the excitement that the project generated helped to make band a fun, worthwhile time. In addition to that, every student in sixth grade band learned something about being creative through the art of composition.
    Composing did not intrude on the band’s regular curriculum. The vast majority of rehearsal time focused on developing characteristic instrumental sounds and basic technique, with only 90 minutes of each student’s time  devoted to composition over a three-month per­iod. We hope to invite a professional composer to Barbers Hill’s schools in the future, but for now we are off to a good start.    degree from Western Carolina University.

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