[Trombone-l] A question on alternate(?) positions.

[David Shriver]

Hi Jeremy,

The reasons to choose an alternate position are many.  The general rule of thumb is that any note is going to sound the best when played with the least amount of tubing possible.  So many players always try to play notes as close in as they can.  This is especially true for long notes and in places where there are no real technical demands.  At times a player might chose to play a note in an alternate position to take advantage of the natural slide breaks across a partial.  This can be a big aid in both technical passages and in legato playing.  The other time that alternate positions come into play is fast technical sections.  When playing very fast it is often easier to keep the slide moving in the same direction as much as possible.  As a bass trombonist I can remember many hours of practice for big band gigs, planning out alternate positions for fast soli stuff that I have to do down below the staff.  A good trombonist should strive to make alternate positions sound as good as the normal ones.  This is something I practice and encourage my students to practice.  Still, playing the notes as close in as possible usually gets the best sound and is my default choice when I can make it happen.

Clear Skies,
Dave

PS
That key thingy at the end of the slide is not an octave key, regardless of what many woodwind players may think!

_______________________________________________________

David Shriver
Bass Trombone
Masters Student - Trombone - The University of Oklahoma, with Dr. Irv Wagner
Assistant to Dr. Jonathan Shames, OU Symphony Orchestra 
Recording Technician, OU Department of Music
CMC 127C
davidshriver at gmail.com
shriver at ou.edu

"World class trombone players do not just happen. Their talents are forged in the dual furnaces of determination and diligence"  ~Edward Kleinhammer


-----Original Message-----
From: trombone-l-bounces at samford.edu [mailto:trombone-l-bounces at samford.edu] On Behalf Of Jeremy Yager
Sent: Monday, March 23, 2009 9:40 PM
To: trombone-l at samford.edu
Subject: [Trombone-l] A question on alternate(?) positions.

Hey Listers,
I am a clarinet player who has been invited to play trombone with a local
trombone choir that I'm arranging some music for.  I marched baritone in
college--in fact, I made a brief appearance on this list a few years back.
I'd like to be useful to this choir rather than just making flatulent noises
behind a stand, so I'm working pretty hard to get some decent slide work
going.

So, I have a question on alternate positions after reading the '51
Positions' thread.  Do you use alternate positions whenever it is the most
convenient (in terms of same slide direction or short position changes), or
do you reserve them for technical passages when it is difficult otherwise?
In other words, would a competent trombone player be concerned about slide
direction and slide travel distance for a passage if playing standard
positions didn't affect the musicality of the passage in question?

As a reference, on clarinet, for many notes we have a basic fingering and
then alternates that come into play when it is technically difficult (or
impossible!) to reach the basic fingering from the previous or next note.
However, alternate fingerings are not usually preferred when the basic
fingering is reachable due to tuning or tone quality concerns.  Does such an
distinction exist for trombone?

Thanks,
Jeremy
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