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Jazz, brass, composition, and other things music related.

Wilktone - Jazz, brass, composition, and other things music related.

Category Archives: Trombone

Lou McGarity’s Solo On “King Porter Stomp”

I’ve recently begun playing with the Low-Down Sires, a dixieland group based out of Asheville, NC. I have always enjoyed playing dixieland, although I hadn’t been playing a whole lot of it lately, so it’s a lot of fun to be playing it again regularly. One of the things I really appreciate about this group is that everyone makes a serious effort to play in the style. There’s nothing worse than listening to players who don’t play stylistically correct, regardless of what genre of music they’re performing.

One of the tunes we’ve been playing that’s been giving me some trouble is Jelly Roll Morton’s King Porter Stomp. This tune is challenging for me to solo over, in part because of the changes (it starts on the IV chord, not rare but somewhat unusual), key (Ab major, not too hairy, but a little tricky if I’m not focused), and bright tempo. Taken together, it’s not usually a big deal for me to adjust to these changes and tempo, but I keep finding myself wanting to bop over it. In order to give me some ideas for a more stylistically correct approach I decided to transcribe Lou McGarity’s solo over this tune and get inside it a bit.

There’s a couple of things in it I find interesting. McGarity uses a lot of Ab major pentatonic over it, but with some added passing tones between the 5th (Eb) and 6th (F) as well as a lower neighbor passing tone to the 3rd (C). Here’s an example from the first 4 measures of his solo.

McGarity 1

The Ab major pentatonic scale (Ab, Bb, C, Eb, and F) provides a nice sound to blanket over this chord sequence (which makes up most of the solo changes). The chromatic passing tones (E/Fb and B/Cb) give it a little more color without sounding to bopish in the dixieland style.

McGarity recorded this solo in 1951, quite a while after the tailgate trombone style evolved, but he plays some of the typical glisses and long notes in this solo. Somewhat unusually, he also shows off his solid upper register by screaming a high Eb in this solo. Here’s an example from last 8 measures of the second chorus.

McGarity 2

If you’d like to see the whole transcription, you can use this link. As I always like to recommend, you shouldn’t trust my transcription for complete accuracy. For one thing, I’ve only approximated some of the glisses and smears McGarity plays. If you don’t really listen closely to the sound you’re going and try to learn this solo you’re going to miss a huge part of the style. Here’s a YouTube video I found of this recording, but be aware that the sound was sped up so that it is playing back a half step higher. You can buy this track here.

Kind Words From Rusty McKinney

Rusty McKinney, bass trombone

Rusty McKinney, bass trombone

A short while ago I got an email from Rusty McKinney, formerly the bass trombonist with the Utah Symphony. Rusty is one of the examples of an upstream orchestral player I mentioned in my article about five common embouchure misconceptions, specifically referring to the myth that all players need to place the mouthpiece centered or with more top lip inside the mouthpiece. Rusty has a low placement and plays quite well with it! He gave me permission to quote our email exchange and so here are some of the things he mentioned to me, with a few of my thoughts scattered between.

HI Dave,

I ran across your site and saw that you mentioned me in your upstream are in “Myths ” section. I often make the upstream list and am intrigued and slightly amused that it is usually me and jazz artists!

Like Rusty, I too find it interesting that most of the upstream players that we know about are jazz players. It’s definitely true that downstream players are more common, not because of any inherent advantage but because more players don’t have the anatomical features that make upstream players work best. I also feel that because teachers have a tendency to teach what worked for them personally that many upstream players are taught to move their mouthpiece higher on the lips and are forced into a downstream embouchure inadvertently. These players will typically struggle and either never reach their full potential or give up brass playing altogether. Because jazz players are more likely to be self taught and classical players tend to go through formal music education (particularly in conservatories, where tradition is strong) this tends to weed out upstream players in favor of downstream players.

Anyway, I wanted to let you know that I am more in your neighborhood than I used to be. I left the Utah Symphony about two years ago to switch my emphasis to being a church music director and as such I am now fulltime at White Plains United Methodist Church in Cary, NC.

I am still playing regularly, often subbing in the NC symphony, and playing for NC Opera and various orchestras that are put together for Duke Chapel. And I have given master classes this past Spring at UNC Chapel Hill for Mike Chris’ Studio and at UNCSA for John Ilika’s studio.

Hope we can connect sometime. My upstream embouchure still works just fine!

One of the common arguments I hear from downstream teachers who discourage the low mouthpiece placement that is what makes an upstream embouchure is that it will eventually break down. Rusty is a perfect example of how an upstream embouchure can function very well long term, when the player learns to work with his or her natural tendencies.

Too many folks dismiss the embouchure and that is a bad thing. I would have been ruined by well meaning teachers had I not been so bull headed. And been lucky to find folks along the way like Doug [Elliot] who either understood how the upstreamer functions or as with others who didn’t care how I did it, as long as I got good results and had endurance.

One of the funniest moments was when I was in Jr. High and my teacher, a respected ( and rightfully so ) college professor had me play for a visiting artist from Las Vegas. He had a few suggestions about improving my legato but said nothing about my embouchure. When my teacher started pointing out all the things that were “wrong” with my set-up the clinician said, “Hey man, if  you can get a sound like that you could stick the mouthpiece in your ear for all I care!”  It was pretty funny. My teacher wasn’t especially amused.

Great story. Thanks to Rusty for stopping by and allowing me to post his emails. I’m excited that he’s now so close to where I am (Asheville, NC) and the next time I make it out east towards him I hope that we’ll be able to hook up and share some upstream embouchure stories.

My own upstream embouchure is still working fine too!

Guess the Embouchure Type – Wild Bill Davis and Ashley Alexander

It’s time for another “Guess the Embouchure Type.” This time I’m going to take a look at trumpet player Wild Bill Davis and trombonist Ashley Alexander and see if I can guess which embouchure type they have. Take a look at the below video and see what you think. My guess after the break.

Wild Bill Davis is a tough one, while Ashley Alexander’s is quite easy to spot.  Continue reading →

Waltz of the Two Lips

I just came across the below YouTube video, coincidentally a couple of days after bringing this research up to Paul T. and not being able to remember the name of the author.  Jay Bulen, now professor of trombone at Truman State University, filmed trombonists’ embouchures using a camera and strobe light set up inside the mouthpiece to study the lip motion while buzzing. This video shows the lips of Peter Ellefson, who teaches trombone at Indiana University.

One of Bulen’s test subjects, whose name I’ve forgotten, sent me the video footage of his embouchure while I was researching for my dissertation. Because you don’t get to see the embouchure formation from the outside, it’s hard to put these videos into context to determine a player’s embouchure type, but in the case of Ellefson’s embouchure it looks like the upper lip predominates, so his embouchure must be one of the downstream types.

Bulen’s research, titled Synchronized Optical and Acoustical Measurements of Trombone Embouchure, was published in the The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. Here’s the abstract:

Outward striking‐ and inward striking‐reed models have been proposed for representing brass players’ lips [Sanoyesi etal., Acustica 62, 194–210 (1987)]. The models differ in the predicted relationship between mouthpiece pressure and lip displacement. To investigate this, Yoshikawa measured the phase relationship between mouthpiece pressure and lip strain as indicated by a strain gauge taped to the upper lip [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 97, 1929–1939 (1995)]. However, the relationship between strain and displacement have not been experimentally established, and Yoshikawa’s assumed correspondence ‘‘is still a hypothesis which needs refinement’’ (p. 1931). Optical measurements are required. Synchronized optical and acoustical measurements of a trombonist’s embouchure have been made under performance conditions, using an adaptation of techniques described in Sercarz etal. [Am. J. Otolaryngol. 13, 40–44 (1992)]. Using strobed videoscopy, individual video fields are coordinated with mouthpiece pressure by means of timing signals. The phase relationship between mouthpiece pressure and lip displacement will be reported for a variety of fundamental frequencies and intensities. In addition, estimates will be presented of the aperture area and the mouthpiece volume swept out by the lips.The goal of this informal workshop, a continuation of Session 1aSC, is to bring together several researchers working on various aspects of voice perception. Historically, the study of voice has been treated as a more‐or‐less autonomous area quite distinct from other research problems in speech and hearing sciences. In this workshop, some of the traditional problems of voice classification and perception will be discussed and reviewed and then these efforts will be related to recent findings in speech perception and spoken word recognition which have shown important dependencies between traditional voice parameters and perceptual analysis of the speech signal.

Bass Trombonist’s Embouchure Filmed With High Speed Video

About a year ago Stephan had some questions about my dissertation (The Correlation Between Doug Elliott’s Embouchure Types and Selected Physical and Playing Characteristics Among Trombonists) and I sent him a copy (in case he had insomnia). Recently he emailed me to ask about a bass trombonist friend of his who has been frustrated with some embouchure struggles he’s been having. His friend is worried about how his tooth structure might be affecting his tone quality. I asked him if he could take some video of his friend’s chops and Stephan came through with something I didn’t expect. Because it’s in high speed there’s no sound (filmed with 600 fps and replayed with 30 fps, which results in slow motion factor of 20), which makes it actually a bit harder to put what we’re seeing in context. Still, I am able to spot two things that I would recommend Stephan’s friend might try out. Take a close look at the video below and see what you think. My thoughts after the break.

Continue reading →

Guess the Embouchure Type – Bob Havens

Bob Havens was the featured trombone soloist with the Lawrence Welk Show for almost its entire run. He joined the show in 1960 (the show began in 1951 as a local Los Angeles program before going national in 1955) and he remained until the show ended in 1982. While I tend to find the music performed on this program hokey at best, it was always extremely well performed and you would be hard pressed to find better musicians. Bob Havens is no exception to that, he always played great on those shows and frequently demonstrated he could blow jazz very well too.

Check out this video of Havens being featured on Basin Street Blues to see what I mean.  He’s certainly playing for the audience of the program, but his improvising is very tasteful and you can hear what a great trombone player he is here. We also get a few good looks at his chops, so while you’re at it see if you can guess his embouchure type. My guess after the break.

Continue reading →

Golden Triangle Overture for Trombone Octet

I composed Golden Triangle Overture a couple of years ago for the Mississippi State University Trombone Choir, under the direction of my friend Dr. Richard Human. Over my winter break I got the urge to put together a demo recording of it to post here. I’m playing all 8 parts on tenor trombone, even though there is one alto trombone part and two bass trombone parts, because I don’t own those instruments.

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Practicing Slide Technique

I’ve moved slide technique up in my list of priorities to address in my practice routine and wanted to share a variation on a standard exercise that can be used to work on moving the slide smoothly and quickly. Most trombonists are familiar with the Remington Warm-Up Studies, which include an exercise Reminton called “Sustained Long Tones.”

Sustained Long Tones

This is an exercise that many other instrumentalists use, not just trombonists. I know several band directors who use this as a warm-up for their middle school or high school concert band.

I use variations on this exercise to teach and practice slide technique. I change it in three ways to focus on slide technique: by expanding it so that it works all 7 slide positions, by using no tongue except for initial attacks, and by altering the pattern to ensure that breaths are taken optimally.

Sustained Long Tones Variation

Play the F in 6th position and the E in 7th, so that you’re practicing moving the slide from 1st out to every other position and then back to 1st again. The extra Bbs are to ensure that you don’t use the breaths as a way to avoid moving the slide quickly and smoothly at any point.

Another excellent way to get feedback on the slide technique is to only tongue after the breath marks and without backing off on the air (blow through the slide changes), try to make each note change have as little gliss as possible while still being relaxed and not too jerky with the slide movement. After playing through it once this way add a light legato tongue to each note change to smooth out the legato. Another variation you can try is to transpose the exercise starting on any other 1st position note. Simply use the exact same slide positions (altered for intonation according to whatever partial you start on).

I’m a big believer in the idea that it’s not so much what you practice that is important, but how you practice it. With a particular goal in mind and a little creativity you can take a lot of things and alter them in ways to target your particular weaknesses. I got the ideas for the various alterations from a variety of different teachers or books and simply applied them to a different exercise.

What’s one of your current practice goals and what are you practicing to address them? Can you think of ways of altering other materials that you already know in order to specifically target your goal?

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