MASTERING

a to
o

Todd L. F

f all the brass inst

ern trombone has o|
referred to as the onetl
singing voice. The reason? Legat^
singing voice, the trombone has i
Every articulationwhether it be:
staccato, tenuto, or legatomust 1
without the aid of a button or key.
bone player can move from one note i
next in a smooth, uninhibited fashion,
ists sometimes use portamento, a sliding cfe
TO one note to another. However, outside of jazz, trombonists i
transition that way. Legato, the seamless playing of a musical line, is
fy the cantabile of the trombone. As such, it is also one of the most important and most difficult articulations to be mastered by any player.
Most students learn tenuto articulation, long notes separated by a slight space,
as the first step toward perfecting legato. However, without sequential instruction,
Todd L Fallis is professor of trombone at Utah State University in Logan.
D e c e m b e r 2 0 0 3 19

students rarely master legato style.

Moving from tenuto to legato seems
easy enough. Simply connect all the
notes from breath to breath. But as
your students attempt to play legato,
you may hear the following:
smears between notes
some notes projecting better than
others
spaces between notes
spaces between large intervals
differences between notes in the
same partial versus notes in different partials

Students should learn legato technique within the first year or two of
playing. It can easily be taught right
alongside marcato or staccato techniques. By practicing fundamental
trombone techniques, your students
can move from playing tenuto or even
mediocre legato to mastering true
cantabile style.
Using Warm-Up Material
Legato is infinitely easier if the
trombonist is adept at ordinary lip
slurs. Lip slurs, or moving between

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partials without tonguing, build facial

muscles and flexibility (much like
stretching for an athlete) necessary for
moving effortlessly between notes or
intervals. Emory Remington's Daily
Warm-Up Studies is standard fare for
all trombonists. (For more information about books mentioned in this
article, see the resource list on page
23.) It includes two-, three-, four-,
and five-note slurs in all seven positions (and through triggers for Fattachment and bass trombonists).
High school and college level players
will benefit greatly by using the slur
section of Max Schlossbergs Daily
Drills and Technical Studies for Trombone, exercises 1-59. In addition,
trombonists should play the tongued
scale patterns using legato style. Most
players practice Jean-Baptiste Arban's
Complete Method for Trombone, pages
63-78 and pages 84-90 in both marcato and legato style. These studies
are essentially revolving scale patterns
in major, minor, and chromatic
modes. However, a simpler scale pattern can be used (see figure 1). Breaking up long tones using the legato
pattern in figure 2 is also helpful.
Legato as Technique
Marcato can be considered the
fundamental articulation of trombone
playing. In essence, legato should be
approached much like marcato. Imagine marcato as a note in the shape of a
bricka clean attack, a solid sustain
or middle portion of the note, and a
clean release. As such, a melody line
of marcato quarter notes would
resemble figure 3. In a similar sense,
legato simply connects each of these
perfectly shaped notes (see figure 4).
The vertical line of each brick represents the tonguing of each note.
However, the sound is seamless. The
brick image may seem unusual, yet
consider the alternative. Variations on
this theme have been heard by many
teachers. Some students may play a
crescendo note where the attack is
weak, the center or middle portion

(Figure I: This pattern should be practiced at various tempos, in all keys,

land in the full range of the trombone.

',- Figure 3

a en a

r r r r r r r r
Figure 4
1

r r r r r r r r
jbillows out, and the release is abrupt,
hers may play a decrescendo note
where the attack is clean or even overiccented, the middle portion fades
nth a lack of sustainable air, and the
Release is nonexistent. You might even
ar a note whose sound is bananaaped, most easily described by sayling the nonsense word "bu-wah."
INone of these alternative variations
Ion the marcato theme are correct or
|conducive to performing a smooth
l&to style.
Again, master the brick-shaped
[marcato first. Refer to Schlossberg and
JArban for tongued exercises, particu-

larly the beginning section of Arban's

Complete Method for Trombone, pages
17-43. In addition, consider Oscar
Blume's 36 Studies for Trombone or 36
Studies for Trombone with F Attachment.
Practice etudes la-m, 5, and 6.

use Reginald Finks Studies in Legato for

Trombone as a stepping-stone to
Rochut. However, musically speaking,
this etude book is a poor choice. A
better choice is Giuseppe Concone's
Legato Etudes for Trombone. The best
choice might be the seldom-used
Javostar Cimera's 55 Phrasing Studies.
In this case, the studies are short
one-third to one-half page in length
in various keys, and with limited
range. Many of the etudes are sealer,
saving the more disjunct and intervallie etudes for later in the book. Teachers should own and explore all
possible etude books on legato.
Regardless of the book chosen,
the following four steps offer further
instruction for students learning legato. This example uses etude 11 from
Rochut's Melodious Etudes for Trombone.

Step I
First, have the student play
through the first phrase of number 11
(figure 5) in marcato style. This will
familiarize the student with the notes
and rhythms of the etude before concentrating on legato style.

Performing Legato Style

Most teachers assign Johannes
Rochut's Melodious Etudes for Trombone,
transcribed from Bordogni's Vocalises
for singers, as the definitive book for
mastering legato. Although this is a
fine book, it is often too difficult,
beyond the first dozen exercises, for
many young players. Many teachers

Step 2
Second, eliminate the slide variable by having the student play the
rhythm of the phrase in perfect legato
style on one note (see figure 6). Pick a
note that lies in the middle of the tessitura of the phrase.
If the student cannot play con-

Figure 2: Make the sixteenths as smooth as possible, and work with this routine in the high, middle, and low
range of the instrument.

etc.

etc.
December 2003 21

Figure 5

Etude II from Melodious Etudes for Trombone, edited by Johannes Rochut Carl Fischer. Reprinted with permission.

Figure 6

*-!

*1f 1

1
)
*
f

1
P~~l
\

0-1

1
1*

.
/

^
Figure 7

T = tongue

S = slur

G = gliss

nected repeated tones correctly, he or

she will certainly not be able to execute legato between varying pitches.
The key to this step lies in the players ability to articulate the repeated
tones as lightly as possible with a
quick release of the tongue. The
tonguing syllable for legato should be
"da" as opposed to "ta," which is
often used for marcato playing. The
"da" tongue will help the player avoid
too much tongue pressure, keeping
the tonguing action light and smooth.
By saying "da," the player will place
the tongue correctly on the ridge of
the mouth, directly behind the teeth.
In addition, the player must burst
the air through the horn with each
22 Teaching M u s i c

tongued note. Refer to this as the "puff

per note." It is important for the player
to concentrate on puffing the air in
conjunction with releasing the tongue
so that the tonguing action does not
create a space between notes. Although
the airflow is continuous, it is rarely
consistent. A burst or puff of air must
be conceptualized and coordinated
with the tonguing of each note. Move
to step 3 once the student has connected the repeated tones on a single pitch
in the rhythm of the phrase.

Step 3
Consider that in legato, two possibilities exist when playing connected
tones:

1. The player moves from one note to

the next in the same harmonic or
partial. For example, F-E, E-D,
C-D (on staff).
2. The player moves from one note to
the next across harmonics or partials. For example, B^-C, F-G,
A-D.
With the first possibility, a gliss
results if the tongue does not articulate
each note. With the second possibility,
a slur results if the tongue does not
articulate each note. When playing
legato, these two note-to-note possibilities "play" very differently In the first
case, legato is completely the players
responsibility In the second, the natu-

al slur is or can be a "friend" in the

empt to connect the notes. To find
ut how these two scenarios operate
ithin legato, consider the following.
Ask your student to perform the
Ifirst phrase of the etude in rhythm
with no articulation beyond the initial
attack following each breath. From
-A will be a natural slur, from A-G a
Igliss, from G-F a natural slur, and so
Ion (see figure 7). Listen to how the
Missed notes are obviously connected,
lyet the naturally slurred notes are
islightly broken or spaced. Essentially,
I the player automatically increases the
I airflow or puff per note for the gliss.
' (The trombonist should not slide over
i the gliss. Instead, he or she should
I blow through the microtones.) But,
often the player will cheat and use the
:, natural slur as a "friend" and consequently not increase the air when connecting the notes between partials.
Have the student try the exercise
again, this time concentrating on
increasing the airflow for the naturally
slurred notes. The connections will
strengthen and become smoother.

Step 4
Once the student is continually
increasing the airflow (refer to this as
an air crescendo) through the slurred
and glissed phrases, he or she is ready
to try legato. Step 4 essentially combines steps 2 and 3. However, the
gliss connection has not yet been
addressed. In theory, totiguing should
eliminate the gliss, resulting in a
smooth connection. But if it were that
easy, trombonists would not need to
work so hard at legato. The key lies in
controlling the airflow as with the
slurred notes. First, a burst or puff of
air needs to be conceptualized and
coordinated with the tongue. Always
increase the air while playing (air
crescendo) and burst the air through
with each note change. Move the slide
as quickly as possible and do so in
exact coordination with the tongue.
The tendency is to send the slide
early, giving it a head start on the

Try These for Tron^bne Legato

ArbarvJean-Baptiste. Complete Method for B^ibone. New York- Carl Fischer, 1936.
Blume, Oscar. 36 Studies for Trombone. New York: Carl Fischer, 1962.
Blume, Oscar. 36 Studies for Trombone wftf) F Attachment New Yorlc Carl Fischer, 1962.
Bordogni, Marco. Melodious Etudes for Trombone. Edited by Johannes Rochut.
New York Carl Fischer, 1928.
Cimera, Javostar. 55 Phrasing Studies. Miami, FL: Belwin, 1950.
Concone, Giuseppe. Legato Etudes for Trombone. Edited by John Shoemaker.
New York Carl Fisher, 1969.
Fink Reginald H. Studies in Legato for Trombone. New York Carl Fischer, 1969.
Remington, Emory. Datty Warm-Up Studies. Edited by Donald Hunsberger. Athens,
OH: Accura Music, 1980.
Schlossberg, Max. Daily Drills and Technical Studies for Trombone. New York
M. Baron, 1947.

tongue and resulting in a gliss.

Instead, the student should hold the
note preceding the skip for its entire
duration and move the slide at the
last possible moment. To accomplish
this, mentally subdivide each beat
into sixteenth notes and make the
change only after reaching the last
sixteenth note. This works exceptionally well with large interval skips.

AFTER LEARNING LEGATO INITIALLY,

a student can use this four-step process
only as needed. In short, every phrase

need not be broken down in this fashion. But as the pkyer progresses, more
difficult passages can easily be broken
down into these four steps, which may
help to eliminate or at least isolate each
of the variables involved in performing
legato style.
Perfecting legato style on trombone is a long process, but it's well
worth the trouble in the end. Mastery
of legato takes concentration and
complete attention to detail and air
volume. The result, however, is nothing short of cantabile at its best. ^

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