Practice Materials #2 (Introductory Scales)

Here are the scales and chords! In this post you will find all keys in the introductory format.

Each key is a separate downloadable PDF file - and each consists of two A4 pages.
(note: they will be added progressively as I finish them. Treble clef versions coming soon. See subsequent post for advanced scales)

Enjoy them; work slowly and carefully. There's no hurry.
Any questions please let me know :-)

KEY AREA - click the relevant letter to download its file:
C
F
Bflat
Eflat
Aflat
Dflat

Brief Note

The mass of practice materials is heralding the beginning of a new teaching year. Getting off to a good solid organisational start!

Recommended Texts for Brass Students

Adam Routine, (unpublished)
This routine by trumpet teacher Bill Adam does not to my knowledge exist in formal published form, but is referred to and practised by many players. This, I believe, is the original source of the “fanning out long tone” exercise.

Crook, Hal. How to Improvise, Advance Music 1991
Improvisation teacher at Berklee College (Boston, Mass.) and trombonist Hal Crook’s book is a masterpiece of organization and ideas. Every player (improviser or not!) would benefit from reading his thoughts on practice and systematic approach to learning. Bursting with scale and chord exercises which are nothing short of ingenious.

Edlund, Lars. MODUS NOVUS Lärobok i fritonal melodiläsning, AB Nordiska Musikförlaget / Edition Wilhelm Hansen Stockholm, 1963
A collection of atonal sight singing (reading) exercises specially written as well as collected from the repertoire. This book is a standard text in many music faculties at universities, and goes through the various intervals. Excellent material for escaping the well worn “major/minor” paths - challenging and beneficial for aural and musical development.

Iyengar, B. K. S. Light on Yoga, Allen & Unwin, 1976
Many musicians have benefited from yoga. This book is helpful in teaching you all about the practice and philosophy of yoga, but can also encourage you to appreciate the similarities between yoga and mastering a musical instrument. The author’s clear and unequivocal instructions provide much comfort during the many hours in the practice room.

Levine, Mark. The Jazz Theory Book, Sher Music Co., 1995.
This is the most comprehensive resource for explaining intervals, chord and scale relationships, progressions, practice tactics and much more. Filled with musical examples and enlightening anecdotes, this book is a must for anybody interested in how harmony really works.

Mainous, Frank D. Melodies To Harmonize With, Prentice Hall, 1978.
400-odd melodies of all styles organized into 19 sections, which go progressively through the various chord types needed for harmonization. Uses chord symbols, but also traditional terminology. Extremely valuable collection for musicians to discover that advanced (e.g., altered and augmented) chords are by no means restricted to “jazz” or “modern music”.

Reeves, Scott D. Creative Jazz Improvisation, 2nd edition, Prentice Hall, 1995.
Very useful book with chapter by chapter guide to each mode/chord. Includes thorough transcriptions of solos, patterns, and licks which add enormously to the understanding of how progressions work, and are extremely beneficial for developing the ear.

Schlossberg, Max. Daily Drills and Exercises for Trombone, Carl Fischer, (date unknown).
Classic routine book that contains an impressive collection of exercises, many of which have been incorporated into other standard routines. The interval studies, as well as ubiquitous exercise no. 17 alone make this book indispensable.

Slonimsky, Nicolas. Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns, Music Sales Corp, 1997.
An extraordinary book (first published in 1947) that contains a vast array of octave additions and divisions that spawn hundreds of “new” scales, chords, and other patterns. This is “Schoenberg meets Coltrane” in one volume, and is required reading for anybody looking for harmonic ideas.

Spence, Greg. The Only No Mystery Guide to Trumpet Mastery, Mystery to Mastery Publishing, 2006.
Commercial trumpeter Greg Spence has written a book which demystifies the whole business of air, chops, sound, and range. It takes you step by step up from low C (on the trumpet), introducing many original ideas, and teaches you to play properly and easily. Adaptable to trombone and highly recommended.

Vernon, Charles G. A Singing Approach to the Trombone & Other Brass Instruments, Atlanta Brass Society Press, 1995.
Essential text that collates and presents years of Edward Kleinhammer and Arnold Jacobs (former Chicago Symphony bass trombonist and tubist respectively) devotion. Excellent source of exercises covering flexibility, range, and smoothness.

Australia Day in Footscray

Paella on the barbie, and the old Xmas tree for fuel

Published by the "American Savings And Loan Association" in 1969, the Spanish Cookbook cost us about 50 cents at a garage sale somewhere.

Lit up a nice fire using an old Guardian, scraps of wood, and later some briquettes. We put a cast iron wok on the barbecue plate and browned about 8 drumsticks in olive oil. They came out and in went the onion puree, tomato, capsicum, chili, and arborio rice. Chicken back in, then calamari rings, king prawns, homemade fish stock, flake (shark) fillets, peas, mussels.

Let the whole thing bubble away for about 25 minutes.

Still seemed too sloppy when we put it on the table - but within 5 minutes the liquid disappeared into the rice. Fish and seafood done to perfection. Best dish ever.

Meanwhile Chinese New Year is being celebrated two blocks away. We countered the crackers and "Miss Wu" being first afraid then petrified on the Droop Street stage by burning the Christmas tree. Which caused some concern from AFM (3 years old) and many sparks.

Industrial Action in German Orchestras

"Die deutsche Orchestervereinigung streitet mit dem deutschen Bühnenverein um höhere
Gehälter - und droht mit Warnstreiks der mehr als hundert Kommunal- und Staatsorchester.
Musiker könnten Aufführungen verzögern - oder sogar die Bühne früher verlassen."

click here to download a pdf version of the whole article (Der Spiegel / deutsch)
or here to go to the original url (Der Spiegel / deutsch)

Mop and Bucket Technology

I’ve just bought a beautiful, expensive, wonderfully designed mop with matching sturdy plastic “clamping” foot operated bucket (despite being an obsessive cleaner, I don’t know the mop/bucket equipment jargon…yet).

Before the floor mopping operation there is a general sweep with a nice wide-headed-bristled yard broom. The treasures, once herded together into piles, are encouraged into the bin with the help of a sleek brush and pan, whereby the brush has a revolutionary rubber flap embedded in the bristles. This means that nothing escapes.

The mopping itself is a pleasure (recommended cleaning solution: Grön Såpa - click the picture to enlarge) and dries very quickly. Rinse mop well, and leave it to air outside.

The whole process involves little more sweat than a superficial vacuum, but the results are far superior. You can feel a clean floor with your feet.

When computers started getting fast enough to start doing "the music thing" properly, a friend and I in Germany spoke about whether to go down that track or not. The usual arguments and questions. It’s expensive, you have to keep upgrading, does it really save time?, the brass sounds are crap, etc.

Carol A introduced me to the Tools and Materials Metaphor, which I selfishly applied to justify my computer greed. I bought a Powerbook 3400. Ingolf B got a grand piano, wad of manuscript paper, and a nice sharpened lead pencil.

ArtPlay / MSO

The year is getting going with two days of workshops (2nd and 9th February) with ArtPlay/MSO. The participants are 8 to 13 year olds and the players for the year's ArtPlay ensemble will be drawn from these days.
Respective web details:
MSO Website
City of Melbourne Website
and here is wonderful information from an illustrious leader.

Equipment List

Boring

Instruments: Fuchs-Conn 70H / Conn 78H (both 1937) & Schilke 59 / 50

Microphone: AKG 414 B-ULS

Monitors: Genelec 1029A

Mixer: Mackie 1202-VLZ

MIDI Controllers: Behringer FCB1010 / Faderfox LC2

Software: Ableton Live, Pro Tools

Hardware: MacBook Pro 2.4GHz

Practice Materials #1

The basic daily warm up and technical routine (for trombone) is ready for download.
All students can use this routine, however the scale section (to follow) will be available separately and in two different formats (introductory / advanced).

The routine covers the following basic material, which is done in a different key each day:
Breath
Buzz
Pure Sound
(then comes "Scale=Chord" - posted separately)
Song

click here to download the routine [v4.2 /9 pages /110KB / .pdf]

SOUND (DUO)

formal information about my duo

Trombonist Charles MacInnes and bassist Jeremy Alsop formed the group “SOUND” in 2006 as an ensemble vehicle for their own composition and music creation. Their music has always been a matter of convergence of techniques and materials. It does not discriminate between improvised jazz, electronica and contemporary chamber music.

Alsop has extensive experience as a studio musician since the 1980s, having played on hundreds of TV commercials and with prominent jazz artists in Australia and the US. He is also a keenly sought music producer and recording engineer. MacInnes has played with orchestras and new music ensembles both in Australia and Germany, and is currently visiting lecturer in trombone at the Australian National University in Canberra. Both are gaining recognition as composers, with growing requests for works from musicians exploring music that overlaps the usual stylistic delineations.

SOUND explores the association between electronics and the human to create an aural space unique to the contemporary listener. While many of the pieces rely on the presence of the laptop, its role is anthropomorphic; in other words, it is always part of the orchestration and is never used gratuitously.

The program consists of one hour of music without breaks, and is ideally situated in an intimate to medium-sized venue. Program notes are made available, if appropriate. Recent performances have taken place in galleries, arthouse cinemas, universities and generally attract an artistic audience with a wide demographic. The group’s first CD is nearing completion and will be available in 2008.