TromboneChat

Hello. My son has been taking trombone lessons both privately and at school with the band for three years now. Unfortunately, current finances have meant we are discontinuing private lessons, and school band lessons are a poor substitute.

I'd like to try and help my son as best I can at home, but we're in need of some recommendations for music. His instructor gave us a duet book, which isn't really helpful, as he has no one to play with, and had him using Arban. My son really dislikes it, lol. I'll have him do some Arban exercises anyway, but would also like to find music that interests him, or is familiar to a 12 year old boy - something that makes him want to pick up the trombone and play.

He likes a range of music types; jazz is probably his least favorite, though he doesn't dislike it. As for level, his instructor assigned 'Tambourin' by Gossec for his last recital. We both felt like it was a bit too difficult for him (and I wish we'd pushed a little harder for another piece, as he never did attain the tempo the piece calls for). Range - his top note right now is the A-flat that's in the middle of the treble clef.

Lastly, he has something called irregular saccadic eye movement, which makes reading a bit harder for him than for most people. When a song isn't familiar to him, it's incredibly helpful to have a recording that he can listen to before he starts practice.

Any recommendations, or other input, is very appreciated!

Renowned performer and teacher, Brad Edwards, wrote a book for intermediate trombonists, titled "The Intermediate Trombonist"

http://trombonezone.org/books/int/

I ordered a copy for a student of mine and I like it. It's well organized. Lots of useful exercises.

That said, your son may think of practice as "playing stuff I like." That seems to be common among beginner / intermediate students. In reality, practice is working on stuff we don't do well so we can do it better. I tell my students we practice the hard stuff until it becomes easy.

That can be difficult without a teacher, because younger students may not know "why" something is hard. They just know its something they can't do. Or, they may think they do something well enough, without realizing they truly aren't. (My handful of lessons with Doug Elliott really showed me that in my own playing!)

Good luck to your son. I hope he sticks with it. Music is a lifetime of enjoyment.

--Andy in OKC