Resources

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Available for download below are some resources that other musicians may find helpful in their practice. Included are my daily warm-up and cooldown routines which have also been adapted for bass and straight tenor trombones. The bass routines are available in three versions; one for each of the main independent second valve tuning systems (G-flat, Bollinger, and G). Bass trombonists with a dependent or single-valve setup can still benefit from these routines, but will likely need to make adjustments to a few exercises. The straight tenor routines are intentionally very similar to the F-attachment ones, still including many notes that are only regularly accessible with a valve. I am a big believer in the utility of false tones and include them in all of the routines. However, the straight tenor routines call for them more often. This is to bridge the wide gap between traditionally valved notes and open ones, minimizing one the trombone's biggest limitations. They also serve the purpose of greatly increasing the trombone's range on the lower end.

My warm-up routine serves as a daily fundamentals check before I dive into whatever I am going to do for the day, be it practicing, rehearsals, performances, or auditions. In contrast, my cooldown routine serves the purpose of feeling relaxed before resting, especially after a long or heavy day of playing.

I subscribe to the philosophy that tenor trombonists should be capable of everything bass trombonists can do (excluding things that absolutely require a second valve) and that bass trombonists should be capable of everything tenor trombonists can do. As such, I highly recommend tenor trombonists explore the bass trombone-specific exercises found in the bass trombone routines and bass trombonists explore the tenor trombone-specific exercises found in the tenor trombone routines.

The ranges of the warm-up routines are structured around the upper limits of what is found in the standard orchestral repertoire. For the tenor warm-up, the written upper limit is F5 (Beethoven, Symphony No. 5) and, for the bass warm-up, the written upper limit is C5 (Stravinsky, Petrushka). There is certainly music that goes beyond F5, but I try to be in that kind of shape only when required. In my own practice, I have found that constantly being in that kind of shape can detract from more important aspects of my playing.

Regarding warming up on alto trombone, I much prefer warming up on tenor before touching the alto (even if I have a performance only requiring alto). After warming up on tenor, I recommend transposing a few applicable exercises from the tenor warm-up up a perfect fourth to get settled on alto. Not much extra playing beyond that should be necessary. I would like to imagine that this way of thinking could also apply to contrabass trombone for bass trombonists, though I do not have nearly enough experience in that department to form an opinion.

In every routine, each major section has a few sentences that help guide the player through the exercises and introduce key thinking points. At the end of all routines are written notes that go into further detail about the exercises and their purposes. It may be helpful to read through those before working through any of the routines.

Below the routines is a detailed outline of my personal audition process that I have critically developed since I was 19. I highly recommend auditioning musicians take a look at it for new ideas. In addition to including my recommendations for preparing for an audition, I also include many general details about auditions. This can serve as a good resource for musicians who are just getting started with auditioning and do not know what to expect. Although I tried to be very detailed, this document is by no means exhaustive. Not every single detail and possibility regarding the audition process is covered, though I tried covering everything I have experienced and what is most common.