[Trombone-l] Plunger lesson

[Tom Ervin]

I had the old book by Al Grey but sold it; it is WELL out of print.   
Al and his book virtually insisted you gotta use a pixie to get the  
Very Best Results. But certainly not every one uses a pixie.

The book suggested you learn 7 different "positions" for the plunger,  
not just two, covering the range from Shut Tight  to  Wide Open.  
Different sounds, depending on the angle away from the plane of the  
bell. You find them yourself with experimentation.

Al also taught that we should "peel" away the inner lip of the  
plunger to make it more flexible, and maybe the outer lip too.  Use a  
very sharp and strong knife like maybe a box-cutter, and please be  
extremely careful! Or have a friend nearby to help you with the wounds.

Somebody needs to write another book.

IMHO, the two most outrageous current plunger guys are Ray Anderson  
and Wycliffe Gordon. Blinding!

So I was at one of Wycliffe's wonderful sessions, and he dazzled us  
all with his plunger of course. And afterwards I went up and said  
something like, "D---, Wycliffe, how in the WORLD did you ever learn  
to use a plunger like that?"

And he looked at me, awhile, and smiled his wonderful smile, and  
said, "Ervin, you KNOW how I learned that; I *practiced* it."

Duh. But yes of course. Practicing with a plunger is tiring indeed,  
but if we hope to learn any more than playing 'boo-bop' (open and  
closed) and some 'wah,'  then I guess we'll have to spend some real  
time with it. Most days, for a few minutes at least  (10-15?).  Be  
careful about the mouthpiece pressure. Invent your own exercises and  
write them out. Learn your mute,  Your Own Mute, whether or not  
there's a hole in it.  See what it does in the high range as  
different from in the staff. Get used to it, get comfortable with it.  
Develop some favorite licks and stunts.

Hole or no-hole?  Come now.  You decide.  Buy two.

How long does it take?  Well, how good do you want to get? Since you  
still have to practice all the normal stuff too, it'll be awhile ...  
maybe it will come about as fast as multi-phonics or doodle-tonguing  
(both of which ALSO cannot be practiced for long periods, I felt).

Youngsters, be careful not to invest too much of your limited  
practice time, to these kinky peripheral things like doodle, multi- 
phonics, plunger, growling. They are useful stunts, but they are add- 
ons and they can come after you learn to play the trombone, and read.

I still read this list every day, and love y'all, HNY.  Hey, come on,  
order my duets PLEASE!

Tom Ervin
ervint at u.arizona.edu
Prof of Trombone, Univ Arizona (Emeritus)
...now a recovering trombone player.... ; >}
(520)241-4411 (cell)
website:     tom-ervin.com