Category Archives: Low Brass Resources

“Gadgets and Gizmos:” Facebook Groups for Low Brass Players

Posted on March 18, 2018 by

Today’s installment of my occasional “Gadgets and Gizmos” series highlights not a physical piece of technology or other equipment, but rather a fairly recent forum for the development and exchange of ideas with regard to pedagogy, equipment, repertoire, and other … Continue reading →

Posted in "Gadgets and Gizmos", Alto Trombone, Bass Trombone, Euphonium, Instructional Technology, Low Brass Resources, Music, Online Resources, Pedagogy, Teaching Low Brass, Tenor Trombone, Trombone, Tuba

You Kids Just Don’t LISTEN!!!

Posted on September 11, 2017 by

Even though this is my seventeenth year teaching at the university level in some capacity (having begun as a wide-eyed twenty-two-year-old graduate assistant), in my mind I still identify as the “young professor.” That self-identity is crumbling, though, and at … Continue reading →

Posted in Alto Trombone, Bass Trombone, Euphonium, Higher Education, Low Brass Resources, Music, Music Education, Practicing, Professional Organizations, Recordings, Teaching Low Brass, Tenor Trombone, Trombone, Tuba

Bass Trombone as the Primary Instrument: A Report

Posted on June 20, 2017 by

For basically the entire year from May 2016 to May 2017 I moved from my usual practice of treating the large tenor trombone as my primary instrument to placing the bass trombone in that role. While for the entirety of … Continue reading →

Posted in Alto Trombone, Bass Trombone, Daily Routine, Doubling, Euphonium, Low Brass Resources, Method Books, Micah Everett, Music, Performing, Playing Fundamentals, Practicing, Teaching Low Brass, Tenor Trombone, The Low Brass Player's Guide to Doubling, Trombone, Tuba

Choosing a Contrabass Tuba: BB-flat or CC?

Posted on June 3, 2017 by

In the past few months I have had several students at both the college and high school levels ask me for guidance regarding purchasing their first tubas. Given the state of the national economy generally and Mississippi’s perennial status as … Continue reading →

Posted in Low Brass Resources, Music, Music Education, Pedagogy, Piston Valves, Rotary Valves, Teaching Low Brass, Tuba

The Utility of Clef Studies for Future Band Directors

Posted on October 8, 2016 by

The necessity of learning to read proficiently in tenor and alto clefs is a bane to many trombone players at the college and university level. In most countries the sheet music used for initial trombone instruction and performance is written … Continue reading →

Posted in Alto Trombone, Bass Trombone, Clef Studies, Euphonium, Higher Education, Low Brass Resources, Music, Music Education, Music Theory, Pedagogy, Performing, Score Reading, Sheet Music, Teaching Low Brass, Tenor Trombone, Trombone, Tuba

Tuba Doubling Report

Posted on May 6, 2016 by

Although I’ve taught applied tuba for twelve of the fifteen years that I have taught applied lessons at the university level, I have only seriously practiced the instrument and become reasonably proficient at performing on it in the past year … Continue reading →

Posted in Doubling, Euphonium, Higher Education, Low Brass Resources, Mouthpieces, Music, Music Education, Pedagogy, Performance Videos, Performances, Performing, Playing Fundamentals, Practicing, Teaching Low Brass, The Low Brass Player's Guide to Doubling, Tuba

Summer Practice Suggestions for Low Brass Players

Posted on May 8, 2015 by

At the time of this posting wind, brass, and percussion juries at Ole Miss are half completed, so my students have either already begun or are preparing to begin their summer breaks. Some will be working at various jobs, some … Continue reading →

Posted in Alto Trombone, Auditions, Bass Trombone, Daily Routine, Education, Euphonium, Higher Education, Low Brass Resources, Method Books, Music, Playing Fundamentals, Practicing, Teaching Low Brass, Tenor Trombone, Trombone, Tuba