[Trombone-l] An alto neophyte asks for it.

[David A. Schwartz]

Dave,

Alto trombone, to my ear, can offer a nice bright timbre in large 
trombone ensemble and small orchestra situations and you will have a lot 
fun with it.  But there are a couple of hazards.

The sound of the alto trombone can disappear in ensemble.  Even a 7C 
mouthpiece may be too large.  Alto should sound bright.  12C, 12E, and 
15E mouthpieces are more appropriate.  Many of us tenors resist sounding 
trumpet like, but a bright edge is needed if the little instrument is to 
be heard.  The Giddings and Webster Chocolatero might be about right, 
close to a 12C.

Intonation will be a challenge.  The limited use of alto will force you 
to maintain your chops on both tenor and alto.  You will have to pay 
dues if you don't want to annoy your section mates, lots of scales and 
arpeggios.  But I have a short cut for you.

My brand new Bordogni/Schwartz Volume One for Alto trombone, in alto 
clef, with pitches raised a perfect fourth, provides practice in the 24 
most familiar Bordogni vocal etudes, in the same slide positions you 
already know.  You can play the melodies from memory, right away, and 
your brain can learn from your slide hand the positions and the clef. 
Pretty darn cool!

David

-- 
David A. Schwartz
70 Douglas Rd.
Belmont, MA  02478-3914
617-484-1490
http://mysite.verizon.net/~dschwar/

P.S.  The new Shires alto, though not available with B-flat attachment, 
sounds wonderful and has great intonation characteristics.



Dave Demko wrote:
> Tenor trombone is and will remain my principal ax, but I'm considering
> taking up alto and would welcome some informed advice. Even if the
> advice is "don't."
> 
> My notion is to have alto as an option for chamber music with trombone
> quartets and mixed brass ensembles. I want to be able to play in tune
> without having to fight and cajole the horn too much and to blend well
> with the "normal" instrumentation of a brass quintet.
> 
> Some bore sizes I've seen range from the .454 on the Amati ASL-601 up
> to .500 on the Edwards. Is a "large" bore .500 horn designed to hold
> up in a section where the second and bass are playing modern, "louder
> is better" orchestral trombones? What kind of contrast in tone quality
> between small and large are we talking about?
> 
> What do people think of the Bach 39, the Amati, the Conn with the Bb
> attachment, the Yamaha YSL671? Any other favorite equipment? This
> question is not an invitation to launch a holy war over the One True
> Alto, merely a request for impressions. Does anyone have
> recommendations about method books and etudes? Any thoughts on whether
> alto will confuse my chops or my clef-reading on tenor?
> 
> Thanks,
> Dave
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