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Thoughts on playing the trombone again (This message was posted to the Trombone-L mailing list on 11 February 1999.) I've been away from the trombone -- and music in general -- since I got my B. Mus. in Composition about 7 years ago. I haven't played trombone with any intensity since high school, and I'm now 30. I'm just starting to play again: It's an interesting experience. Here are some things I've noticed: My reasons for playing are clearer. In high school, I played mostly because it was something I could do well and gain noteriety for without having to work too hard at it. As a result, I stayed at the same level while others surpassed me. I started again because I found myself thinking about music... then I found myself thinking about instrumental music... then I remembered that I play the trombone. There's a danger of slipping back into old habits, though. I sometimes find myself putting the trombone first and forgetting about the music. This usually happens when I hear how awful my sound is and think about all the thousands of people whose sound is really good. The antidote is to do something that reminds me that I'm a *musician*, no matter what my trombone says. Singing the piece helps, as does listening critically to recordings. I understand phrasing better, and how a piece of music tells a story. As a trombone-centered musician in high school, it was hard to get away from the notes and positions and so forth. My slide technique is better than it ever was. Weird, but true. Because I'm not focused on it as much, it becomes a means to an end (music) rather than a goal in itself. ("If I could only get smoothly from first to fourth in that passage...") I can see more reasons to play -- and what sort of playing is needed. I know my tone will probably never be the greatest, and I won't have trombone technique like Boulez has conducting technique. But you know something? I'd rather listen to Rod Stewart than Pierre Boulez. And God knows he has neither classical tone nor blistering technique. O.K. Off to visit the conservatory to see if there are some ensembles I can join. :) --Tom Geller Aaron Copland Music & Arts Program (trombone) '80, '83 Nat'l Music Camp (trombone) '81, '82, '85 Eastern U.S. Music Camp (trombone) '84 Oberlin Conservatory '86 (composition) U. Cincinnati (composition) '87-'91. This page was last updated on Monday, February 09, 2004 at 2:50pm CST. All contents copyright 2005 by Tom Geller.