Experience of learning alto trombone
Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2017 1:46 am
Yesterday I played my first symphony concert on an alto trombone, for which I essentially learned alto trombone during the last couple of months. Here are some thoughts on the process:
We played Brahms' Ein Deutsches Requiem. It is the perfect piece for learning alto. First of all, it is beautiful. It automatically forces you to aim for a beautiful sound and proper intonation. Second, it doesn't go up high (just up to C). Again, not pushing the upper range too early facilitates developing a good tone. Third, it is really an alto trombone part. This is clear because the tenor trombone solo is given to second trombone (tenor). If Brahms had a tenor trombone in mind for the alto part, he could have given the solo to the first trombone because the alto trombone part has a break when the tenor plays. But more importantly, you learn why you should learn alto. It is the special quality of sound of an alto that distinguishes it from the tenor. The best description of this quality I saw in an older post by Ralph Sauer in this forum
http://tromboneforum.org/index.php?topic=2399.0
writing "A big tenor sounds dull unless it is played too loudly for these classical compositions. It is easier to get a fortissimo quality (when using the alto) at the lower dynamic levels that are appropriate in this music. Also, it makes a nice "bridge" between the trombones and the rotary trumpet sound."
I simply like how the alto "shines through" even without playing loudly. And the pianissimo chords of the trombone section in the last movement simply sound beautiful.
When learning alto with the Brahms part which is written in alto clef, I was not shy to write both slide positions and note above the notes. I remember that's how a learned tenor clef (and alto clef on the tenor) and after two months I don't need the positions and names of notes anymore.
Besides preparing the Brahms part, I used Harrison Reed's complete method for alto trombone. I skipped the part with bass clef and immediately went to the alto clef. Only after being comfortable with alto clef on the alto trombone, I now go back to bass clef (and also some other pieces with tenor clef and violin clef). I think it is important to learn alto with alto clef from the beginning.
I also adapted my daily tenor trombone routine to the alto (of course somewhat less ambitious on the range at the beginning). For developing a good tone and intonation, I found scales with slurred long notes and crescendo-decrescendo most helpful (including the "pedal range").
I warm up with the tenor and I always play tenor and alto during practice. At first, it somewhat affected negatively my play on the tenor both in terms of tone, intonation, and the feeling for "where the partial are." In meantime, I can switch between instruments without much problems.
For the first months, I practiced with a tuner only. Slide positions are slightly different from what we know from tenor. Moreover, the tenor seem to "slots" better than the "alto".
Here are the main mistakes I did: At the beginning I used a little too much pressure on the lips because the instrument is much lighter than a tenor, has a "weight-balance" different from the tenor, and a different feel for where the partial are. I also to rested the instruments onto my neck, which is counterproductive for developing tone and flexibility. It took me some conscious effort to correct these issues.
In terms of equipment, I am lucky to own a 1950th Kruspe alto trombone that sounds very nice and has a fully functional seventh position. It is perfect for the narrow bore "shiny" alto trombone sound. I am happy that it is an instrument without valve section. First, beginners may be tempted to use the valve section for the use "tenor positions", which hampers learning standard alto positions. Second, I don't see much use for the valve section anyway. Trills should be done with lips. Third, having a valve section like on a Conn 36H makes instrument (much) more heavy/clumsy, which is contrary to the general "light" character of an alto (in terms of weight and sound).
I found that a beautiful sound was less easy to develop on the Kruspe alto than on a Conn 36H. At first, I sounded awfully on both. After a while, the sound on the Conn 36H improved remarkably but it was not the light narrow bore alto sound I was looking for. But when I switched to the Kruspe alto I was disappointed. The sound was still airy and a kind of unfocused. Again, after as while it improved remarkably. May be the initial difference in learning alto sound is due to the Conn 36H being somewhat closer to a tenor in terms of bore and sound concept.
At first, I used a specific alto mouthpiece for my alto (Schmidt Prof. Bambula AP2) that is different from my tenor mouthpiece (Schmidt Prof. Bambula TP3 3/4E). But then I found that an old Kruspe mouthpiece very similar to the one described by Vereecke and Krause in "Eduard Kruspes Prof. Weschke Model Trombone", see https://www.researchgate.net/publication/272291158_Eduard_Kruspe's_Prof_Weschke_Model_Trombone works even better in terms of sound and also allows me to use the same mouthpiece on both my tenor (Kruspe Weschke) and alto. Per Gade in an article on Paul Weschke, see http://www.jayfriedman.net/articles/part_two_-_paul_weschke, mentioned that Weschke also used the same mouthpiece both on his tenor and alto. Of course, it is an old brass mouthpiece (and thus less slippery than modern silver or gold plated mouthpieces). If everything goes smoothly, Schmidt will be able to offer copies of the Kruspe Weschke mouthpiece described in Vereecke-Krause in a few months.
The next goal is to learn Mozart's alto trombone concerto.
We played Brahms' Ein Deutsches Requiem. It is the perfect piece for learning alto. First of all, it is beautiful. It automatically forces you to aim for a beautiful sound and proper intonation. Second, it doesn't go up high (just up to C). Again, not pushing the upper range too early facilitates developing a good tone. Third, it is really an alto trombone part. This is clear because the tenor trombone solo is given to second trombone (tenor). If Brahms had a tenor trombone in mind for the alto part, he could have given the solo to the first trombone because the alto trombone part has a break when the tenor plays. But more importantly, you learn why you should learn alto. It is the special quality of sound of an alto that distinguishes it from the tenor. The best description of this quality I saw in an older post by Ralph Sauer in this forum
http://tromboneforum.org/index.php?topic=2399.0
writing "A big tenor sounds dull unless it is played too loudly for these classical compositions. It is easier to get a fortissimo quality (when using the alto) at the lower dynamic levels that are appropriate in this music. Also, it makes a nice "bridge" between the trombones and the rotary trumpet sound."
I simply like how the alto "shines through" even without playing loudly. And the pianissimo chords of the trombone section in the last movement simply sound beautiful.
When learning alto with the Brahms part which is written in alto clef, I was not shy to write both slide positions and note above the notes. I remember that's how a learned tenor clef (and alto clef on the tenor) and after two months I don't need the positions and names of notes anymore.
Besides preparing the Brahms part, I used Harrison Reed's complete method for alto trombone. I skipped the part with bass clef and immediately went to the alto clef. Only after being comfortable with alto clef on the alto trombone, I now go back to bass clef (and also some other pieces with tenor clef and violin clef). I think it is important to learn alto with alto clef from the beginning.
I also adapted my daily tenor trombone routine to the alto (of course somewhat less ambitious on the range at the beginning). For developing a good tone and intonation, I found scales with slurred long notes and crescendo-decrescendo most helpful (including the "pedal range").
I warm up with the tenor and I always play tenor and alto during practice. At first, it somewhat affected negatively my play on the tenor both in terms of tone, intonation, and the feeling for "where the partial are." In meantime, I can switch between instruments without much problems.
For the first months, I practiced with a tuner only. Slide positions are slightly different from what we know from tenor. Moreover, the tenor seem to "slots" better than the "alto".
Here are the main mistakes I did: At the beginning I used a little too much pressure on the lips because the instrument is much lighter than a tenor, has a "weight-balance" different from the tenor, and a different feel for where the partial are. I also to rested the instruments onto my neck, which is counterproductive for developing tone and flexibility. It took me some conscious effort to correct these issues.
In terms of equipment, I am lucky to own a 1950th Kruspe alto trombone that sounds very nice and has a fully functional seventh position. It is perfect for the narrow bore "shiny" alto trombone sound. I am happy that it is an instrument without valve section. First, beginners may be tempted to use the valve section for the use "tenor positions", which hampers learning standard alto positions. Second, I don't see much use for the valve section anyway. Trills should be done with lips. Third, having a valve section like on a Conn 36H makes instrument (much) more heavy/clumsy, which is contrary to the general "light" character of an alto (in terms of weight and sound).
I found that a beautiful sound was less easy to develop on the Kruspe alto than on a Conn 36H. At first, I sounded awfully on both. After a while, the sound on the Conn 36H improved remarkably but it was not the light narrow bore alto sound I was looking for. But when I switched to the Kruspe alto I was disappointed. The sound was still airy and a kind of unfocused. Again, after as while it improved remarkably. May be the initial difference in learning alto sound is due to the Conn 36H being somewhat closer to a tenor in terms of bore and sound concept.
At first, I used a specific alto mouthpiece for my alto (Schmidt Prof. Bambula AP2) that is different from my tenor mouthpiece (Schmidt Prof. Bambula TP3 3/4E). But then I found that an old Kruspe mouthpiece very similar to the one described by Vereecke and Krause in "Eduard Kruspes Prof. Weschke Model Trombone", see https://www.researchgate.net/publication/272291158_Eduard_Kruspe's_Prof_Weschke_Model_Trombone works even better in terms of sound and also allows me to use the same mouthpiece on both my tenor (Kruspe Weschke) and alto. Per Gade in an article on Paul Weschke, see http://www.jayfriedman.net/articles/part_two_-_paul_weschke, mentioned that Weschke also used the same mouthpiece both on his tenor and alto. Of course, it is an old brass mouthpiece (and thus less slippery than modern silver or gold plated mouthpieces). If everything goes smoothly, Schmidt will be able to offer copies of the Kruspe Weschke mouthpiece described in Vereecke-Krause in a few months.
The next goal is to learn Mozart's alto trombone concerto.
