Jazz Trombone F.A.Q.

 

6) I feel like I can't keep up with the saxes and trumpets at rapid tempos.

How can I learn to play quickly on the trombone?

 

Alex Iles: Many players have overcome most of the technical obstacles

associated with the trombone with astounding results. Doodle tonguing

and double tonguing have been employed by players since the early

days of bebop. Some players I know even have developed incredibly fast

single tongues [sixteenth notes at over mm=150!!], and they can keep up

with the saxes... no problem.

Also, you can try what is called the "against the grain" technique.

Basically, it is a way of taking advantage of the overtone series to

create scales and phrases that make use of natural slurs and minimal

tonguing [the phrase "against the grain" comes from the fact that when you 

use the technique, the slide tends to go OUT to get to the next higher note, 

IN for a lower note without using much tongue, if any] . Players such as Jack

Teagarden, Frank Rosolino, Eje Thelin, Jimmy Cleveland, Phil Wilson,

Carl Fontana [when not doodling], Conrad Herwig, John Allred, and Greg

Waits [who has written a book on the topic-he calls it "fretting"] and

many others have all used the technique in some way in their improvised

solos.

As an example, take a Bb scale from the Bb below middle C [also

called,"tuning note" Bb]. Play: Bb[1st position], C[3rd pos], D[b4th],

F[#4th], D[b4th], C[3rd], back to Bb in first. These are the first four

notes of a Bb major pentatonic scale . Try repeating the notes to create

two eighth note triplets,tonguing only the first beat of each triplet,

Bb and F, or slur the whole thing and just tongue the Bb. Beat

one=Bb/C/D, and beat two= F/D/C. Start slowly and eventually you can

haul triplets out at a pretty steady clip. You can carry

this thinking into as many possible slide position and partial

combinations you can think of, and on many scale/chordal patterns. The

upper partials, since they are closer together, tend to be easier to use

for faster tempi.

Most players who can play well at faster tempi use a combination of fast

single tongue, "fretting", and some kind of multiple or "doodle" tongue.

Someone once asked Frank Rosolino, a master at ANY tempo, how he played

fast phrases and he said that he played the way he sang, which displayed

a wide variety of tonguing techniques . Easier said than done.

On the other hand, let's not forget that the trombone possesses certain

qualities that set IT apart from those  valved and keyed instruments.

Rather than just killing themselves trying to prove how fast they can

play, many trombonists take advantage of the MANY tools of expressing unique to 

the instrument such as sound, feel, melodicism, dynamics, and unusual

musical effects. Sure, more 'bonists on the scene today have developed

the technique to"keep up" on faster tempi, but there are also many bone

players who "keep up"in some other ways that those button pushers can only 

dream of.

Sam Burtis: Practice quickly. And slowly too. Also all the tempos in between.

 

   Above all...don't TRY to "keep up w/the saxes + trumpets".

 

   Trying to be the world's fastest trombonist is like trying to be the

world's tallest midget. Saxes (and almost all OTHER instruments) will

ALWAYS be faster than you.

 

   What can YOU do that they can't ? (Besides play perfectly in tune, which

is a huge accomplishment right there.)

 

Jeff Adams: Start working on you single-tonguing speed to increase it by pushing a

metronome faster and faster.  Also, keep pushing your scales faster and

faster.  Then start thinking about which type of speed-tonguing technique on

which you would like to focus and find someone who can do it, explain it and

walk you through it.

 

Chris Smith: I never use the “fretting” technique, though I do understand it.

I’ve taught myself a modified “doodle” technique which is a combination of

various approaches. But to get to the question- the only way to learn to play quickly

on the trombone is to accept the instrument’s limitations and go from there. I learned

a LOT from J.J. Johnson about what grace, accuracy, and air control can do for

the trombone.

In my estimation, many non-jazz trombonists have a “heavy” technique, meaning they are

set up equipment-wise and technique-wise to play loud, solid, long notes, as we would

be expected to do in a band or orchestra. But modern jazz players like J.J., Curtis Fuller,

Slide Hampton, Steve Turre, Robin Eubanks, etc. have what I see as a “light” technique.

I don’t mean they play lightly, but that their APPROACH to the horn is more finesse-based.

 

Their BODY is their instrument, not the trombone.

They blow THROUGH the entire horn.

They move the slide QUICKLY, not FAST.

They are balanced and graceful, not immobile and clunky.

They play like the wide receivers on a football team, not the blocking linemen.

 

And I’m not criticizing “heavy” playing. I think it sounds wonderful in it’s appropriate idioms.

I LOVE to play in more “heavy” styles now and then. There’s nothing like the majesty

of ringing, roaring trombones. But to play fleet-footed, nimble, articulate jazz on the

trombone, a different approach is called for.

Once we understand that, we’re on our way to attaining the necessary techniques,

practicing quick tonguing, scale patterns, etc.

As Sam often wisely says, it is simple, and it is not simple.

 

Also having said all that, the other guys are right, too that the trombone can do things

no other instruments can.  The richness of the trombone’s sound can make a simple,

elegantly constructed solo MUCH more enjoyable for the listeners than a zillion-note

saxophone solo.

 

All of this also brings us back to the eternal truth about simplicity being effective.

One thing I didn’t know until recently was that Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address

was almost an afterthought at the original dedication of the Pennsylvania battlefield

memorial.

The speaker before him talked for full two hours in a fiery, flashy, wordy style.

When he finished, the calm president spoke for two minutes, reading ten carefully

written sentences. Whose speech do we remember?

 

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