Bass Trom Solo suggestions

ttf_Zandit75 · Post by **ttf_Zandit75** » Sat Dec 02, 2017 2:32 pm

Hey all, how's things?
Just looking for suggestions for Bass Trom solos with piano accompaniment.
I'm not a great player, but I'm looking to improve, and expand my horizons.
At this stage, my range consists of solid pedal notes down to Pedal F, up to

above the stave. Not the biggest range, but I've only been playing my Shires Bass Trom for about 4months, and my range is slowly increasing.

For some reference, I've only been back playing for the 1.5yrs, after taking a 17yr break.

Previous favorite solos include:
Trombone Concerto - Rimsky Korsakoff
The Happy Man
The Minstrel Boy(This was a Variations style piece)

I've played a heap of others, but these were the standouts that stuck in my memory.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

ttf_BGuttman · Post by **ttf_BGuttman** » Sat Dec 02, 2017 2:54 pm

Solo works for Eb tuba often work for bass trombone. I've done two: Beelzebub by Catozzi and The Storm King (not to be confused with a march) by (I believe) Ringleben.

You can also look into Concertino Basso by Leib (actually written for bass trombone).

There's a great piece called "Variations on Barnacle Bill" but it may be a bit above you. Probably the theme and first few variations could work.

ttf_Zandit75 · Post by **ttf_Zandit75** » Sat Dec 02, 2017 3:42 pm

Quote from: BGuttman on Dec 02, 2017, 02:54PMSolo works for Eb tuba often work for bass trombone. I've done two: Beelzebub by Catozzi and The Storm King (not to be confused with a march) by (I believe) Ringleben.

You can also look into Concertino Basso by Leib (actually written for bass trombone).

There's a great piece called "Variations on Barnacle Bill" but it may be a bit above you. Probably the theme and first few variations could work.

Great suggestions BGuttman, and yes I'd agree, Barnacle Bill is over my level, but certainly something to aspire to!
I quite like Beezlebub, that will need looking at.
I couldn't find a good video of the Storm King to get a good idea of what it sounds like, but that could be another one to add to the list.

ttf_GetzenBassPlayer · Sat Dec 02, 2017 4:13 pm

Hindemith wrote a piece for cello and piano called 3 Easy Pieces that works well on bass trombone. Did you switch from another brass instrument or is this your first experience playing an instrument.

ttf_jimkinkella · Post by **ttf_jimkinkella** » Sat Dec 02, 2017 6:24 pm

Doug Yeo worked up a pretty comprehensive list of stuff to look at:
http://www.yeodoug.com/resources/text/repert.html
Look up the pieces on youtube, you can find different players and approaches.
It really helps to find something interesting.

As far as particulars, David Brubeck's Stereograms are pretty cool.
Ralph Sauer worked up the Bach Cello suites for bass tombone, always a good workout.
The Eric Ewazen pieces are really interesting, they might fall right into place, they might not.
Always remember you can take stuff down in tempo to get started where you need to.

You could try a few of the standards like Vaughn Williams, Hartley, Hindemith.
The downside to those is if you get frustrated you'll want to put your head through a wall.

Check out some players on the youtube, Charlie Vernon, Dave Taylor, Ben van Dijk, even George Roberts.
Good spot to get ideas.

ttf_Zandit75 · Post by **ttf_Zandit75** » Sun Dec 03, 2017 11:12 am

Quote from: GetzenBassPlayer on Dec 02, 2017, 04:13PMHindemith wrote a piece for cello and piano called 3 Easy Pieces that works well on bass trombone. Did you switch from another brass instrument or is this your first experience playing an instrument.

Thanks for the suggestion, I'll have a look.
I've always played Bass Trom, but up until I got the Shires, I'd been playing a Besson Sovereign Bb/F Tenor.
I'm playing my first ever solo in front of a brass band in a fortnight for our annual Xmas concert. We've been having a blast ripping through Minnie The Moocher. It's certainly not a difficult piece, but very entertaining. Hopefully I'll get a decent video of the performance that I can share with you all!

ttf_John Beers Jr. · Post by **ttf_John Beers Jr.** » Sun Dec 03, 2017 12:31 pm

The version of Ernst Sachse's Concertino for the Bass Trombone lies pretty well on the instrument and is pretty fun to play, despite not being "too" hard.

Plus, it's popular enough that you have recordings available from Ben van Dijk, Dr. Pollard, Tomer Maschkowski and a slew of other musicians available via youtube to get a feel for it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zF93-JVKRa0

ttf_Zandit75 · Post by **ttf_Zandit75** » Sun Dec 03, 2017 5:19 pm

Quote from: jimkinkella on Dec 02, 2017, 06:24PMDoug Yeo worked up a pretty comprehensive list of stuff to look at:
http://www.yeodoug.com/resources/text/repert.html
Look up the pieces on youtube, you can find different players and approaches.
It really helps to find something interesting.

As far as particulars, David Brubeck's Stereograms are pretty cool.
Ralph Sauer worked up the Bach Cello suites for bass tombone, always a good workout.
The Eric Ewazen pieces are really interesting, they might fall right into place, they might not.
Always remember you can take stuff down in tempo to get started where you need to.

You could try a few of the standards like Vaughn Williams, Hartley, Hindemith.
The downside to those is if you get frustrated you'll want to put your head through a wall.

Check out some players on the youtube, Charlie Vernon, Dave Taylor, Ben van Dijk, even George Roberts.
Good spot to get ideas.

Thanks for the link Jim, that's heaps to get through, and I love that he has explained a little about each piece, including it's difficulty.

ttf_Zandit75 · Post by **ttf_Zandit75** » Sun Dec 03, 2017 5:20 pm

Quote from: John Beers Jr. on Dec 03, 2017, 12:31PMThe version of Ernst Sachse's Concertino for the Bass Trombone lies pretty well on the instrument and is pretty fun to play, despite not being "too" hard.

Plus, it's popular enough that you have recordings available from Ben van Dijk, Dr. Pollard, Tomer Maschkowski and a slew of other musicians available via youtube to get a feel for it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zF93-JVKRa0

I like that one a lot, thanks for sharing John!
I've checked out this piece further, and it comes in quite a variety of keys. That's quite handy when it comes to picking the right key for your range limits.

ttf_Carter1016 · Post by **ttf_Carter1016** » Sun Dec 03, 2017 6:08 pm

There's a few nice arrangements of "Hosannah" by Liszt. You can get it with piano or an organ! I haven't played it yet, but I'm looking to play it on a half recital this coming spring. Doug Yeo has a great recording on YouTube, there are a few other good recordings on YouTube as well.

Here's the Yeo link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZoF4TINOTY

ttf_Carter1016 · Post by **ttf_Carter1016** » Sun Dec 03, 2017 6:08 pm

There's a few nice arrangements of "Hosannah" by Liszt. You can get it with piano or an organ! I haven't played it yet, but I'm looking to play it on a half recital this coming spring. Doug Yeo has a great recording on YouTube, there are a few other good recordings on YouTube as well.

Here's the Yeo link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZoF4TINOTY