Trombone Book Ranking

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toneovertune
Posts: 16
Joined: Sep 12, 2024

by toneovertune »

I thought it would be fun to rank pedagogical books based on which have the most interesting concepts and how they are covered. I am curious about how other people would rank them. Here are some options, feel free to add more.

If the question is worded confusingly, another way to put it is if you could only ever use one of them, rank based on which you would take.

Brad Edwards Lip Slurs

Sam Burtis The American Trombone

Edward Kleinhammer's Art of the Trombone

Charlie Vernon A Singing Approach to the Trombone

J.B Arban Complete Method for Trombone and Euphonium

Brad Edwards Trombone Craft: A Musical Approach to Building Tone and Technique

Mantia The Trombone Virtuoso

Walter Beeler Method for Trombone
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Posaunus
Posts: 5018
Joined: Mar 23, 2018

by Posaunus »

[quote="toneovertune"]... if you could only ever use one of them, rank based on which you would take.[/quote]

Aha. The "desert island" trombone book competition! 8-)
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tbdana
Posts: 1928
Joined: Apr 08, 2023

by tbdana »

If I could only have one to learn from I'd have to go with Arbans, even though that's my last preference, because it's the most complete in terms of content.
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BGuttman
Posts: 7368
Joined: Mar 22, 2018

by BGuttman »

In place of Arban's I would suggest the LaFosse Methode Complete. It's got everything Arban's has plus clefs and some duets.
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hyperbolica
Posts: 3990
Joined: Mar 23, 2018

by hyperbolica »

Yeah, I would second the LaFosse set, its huge and includes a lot of stuff even beyond Arbans.. Mantia is also very good for basic fundamentals. I don't think you can limit studies or practicing to just a single book. There are so many books that cover different areas of playing that were important growing up.

All Rochut

LaFosse Sight Reading and Style series

Snedecor

Blazhevich

Kopprasch

Kahila

Schlossberg

Bitsch Rhythmic Studies

Marsteller

Edwards

Bass bone-

Aharoni (non- classical)

Ostrander (bass bone fundamentals)

Edwards

Non-trombone

Top Tones for Trumpet

Bach Cello Suites

Galliard flute sonatas

Telemann flute suites

You also have to include jazz instruction of some sort some jazz etudes, transcribed solos, chord work, improv...

If i could really only pick one, it would be Arbans, Rochut or LaFosse
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Thom
Posts: 98
Joined: Nov 29, 2024

by Thom »

Arban's is the best for all around practicing, if you can only have one, IMHO(H=humble) <EMOJI seq="1f60a" tseq="1f60a">😊</EMOJI>
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Mingmonk
Posts: 3
Joined: May 12, 2018

by Mingmonk »

Sam Burtis: Time, balance &connections

André Lafosse' méthode complète de trombone à coulisse (3 volumes)

Michael Lake: trombone improvisation savvy

Have ears on Christiane Bopp, French trombonist (my teacher); she plays with the Orchestre National de Jazz and Sylvaine Hélary's Orchestre Incandescent

Philippe Montagne

Tromboniste amateur
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timothy42b
Posts: 1812
Joined: Mar 27, 2018

by timothy42b »

[quote="tbdana"]If I could only have one to learn from I'd have to go with Arbans, even though that's my last preference, because it's the most complete in terms of content.[/quote]

Ah, but which one?

The original treble clef version is public domain. And if you're a digital user, you don't even need to print it.

But a trumpet teacher out there (Clint Mclaughlin) took the public domain version and rewrote it with greatly expanded range. The original doesn't go above high Bb, and that just doesn't cut it for a total solution. At one time that version was available free also, I'm not sure if it still is.