How to know a trombone level?

[tromom]

I am a mom of young trombone player.
My child started learning a trombone more than 2 years with private instructor. She is a 12years old middle schooler. She completed band book 1 and 2 for the first year, and continues Melodious Etudes by Rochut(~#10)and Lipslurs melodies(~part I) slowly. She completed 10 etudes and LipSlurs parts 1 for a year, and practice everyday, but still cannot play every piece perfectly in high notes.

She joined a middle school honor band and a her sound quality was the best in the group(6-8th grade) because most students didn't get a private lesson. Her sight-reading skill is great because she learned a piano for several years before a trombone, so didn't practice band pieces at home, but practice scales, Bordogni's, and LipSlurs a lot for last year. For coming mid state audition, school teacher recommended students to practice level 3-4 excerpts. Now, I have a question.

I am wondering How I can know the level of my child's trombone skill? They will participate solo&ensemble festival next year at school and is this a kind of level test? Do they give students grades after the test? How many different levels have for trombone?

(Thank you for coming answers in advance.)

[Crazy4Tbone86]

In these modern times, most states have their band, orchestra, choral and solo & ensemble lists online. If it is not open for the public to see, you can certainly ask your school music director to print the parts that pertain to the trombone.

Some states have a 5 level system. My state (Maryland) has a six level system. In Maryland, level 1 is considered easy level music for 6th graders and level 6 is advanced literature, usually played by college-level groups. As a generalization, the bottom and top level will generally be the same on most state lists, but pieces could be assigned very different levels in between.

I was a high school director for 15 years and there was one thing that really struck me about the large group lists (band, orchestra and choral ensembles) versus the solo & ensemble list. The literature in the solo & ensemble list (particularly the solos) was considerably harder than the large group literature. For example, I was fortunate to have some great groups at some of my high schools and we were able to perform level 5 and 6 full band literature and receive some solid evaluations. However, most of my students performed level 3 and 4 solos when they participated in solo & ensemble. Only my stellar students who had taken private lessons for many years took level 5 and 6 solos to adjudication.

Given the information you provided, I recommend that you get your hands on that trombone solo list and work with your private teacher to pick something that is appropriate for your daughter. Don’t be surprised if there is a level 2 solo that is more difficult than many of the level 3 solos……I have seen that many times. I hope this is helpful.

[WilliamLang]

Keep working with a private teacher and look for a local youth orchestra/prep program tied to a college. There's no rush though - sometimes with trombone it's better to not push too far too fast, cause your skills can outpace 95% of the music you'll have to play rather quickly.

[AndrewMeronek]

She joined a middle school honor band and a her sound quality was the best in the group(6-8th grade) because most students didn't get a private lesson. Her sight-reading skill is great because she learned a piano for several years before a trombone, so didn't practice band pieces at home, but practice scales, Bordogni's, and LipSlurs a lot for last year.

I have to say: a middle schooler who can play some of the Bordogni etudes is doing an awesome job. Those things aren't easy. I studied them throughout college; there's tons there to dig into. I still go back to them from time to time - all 3 books.

For Solo & Ensemble, don't forget about the "ensemble" part. That can be a great option for students who have more stage fright when they do solos.

Slight rant: solos with piano accompaniment aren't really solos; they're duets. But that's also just a historical terminology thing.