Course of Study
Course of Study
Alto, tenor, bass trombones
Dr. Benjamin Yates
This listing provides a general listing of materials used by students studying trombone. Separate tenor trombone and bass trombone materials have been listed. Doubling is encouraged. Alto trombone materials are listed at the end of tenor and bass trombone materials. It is expected that all undergraduate performance track majors have at least minimal exposure to alto trombone solo and method literature starting the spring of the junior year.
Non-Performance track majors have similar expectations as performance track. Additional literature for Music Education Majors is provided at the end of this document.
Jazz emphasis music performance majors are expected to study both jazz and classical methods and literature. A section for jazz players in included in each level, additional materials may be assigned as needed. Jazz performance majors are expected to transcribe one jazz solo for each lesson and play the chord progression on the piano in addition to using both the jazz and classical method and solo literature.
Additional reading/study materials are listed at the end of each section. Please do not purchase any materials until specifically assigned. Materials will be selected for individual students based on areas of strengths and weaknesses.
Reading and study materials for trombone students:
- The Art of Trombone Playing (Kleinhammer)
- Looking for the Natural Way (Fadle)
- The Trombonists Handbook (Fink)
- Mastering the Trombone (Kleinhammer/Yeo)
- Blog: rogerrocco.wordpress.com (Rocco)
- Solos for the Student Trombonist: An Annotated Bibliography (Thompson)
- Jazz Bones (Dietrich)
Tenor Trombone Materials
Freshman
- Warm-Up and Fundamentals Routine (Yates)
- Lip Slur Melodies (Brad Edwards)
- Tuning Drones (Brad Edwards)
- Lip Slurs, Progressive Exercises for Building Tone & Technique (Brad Edwards)
- Daily Scale Builder For Trombone (McGregor)
- The Remington Warm-up Studies (Remington/Hunsberger)Method Books
- Melodious Etudes for Trombone, Book 1 (Bordogni/Rochut)
- Trombone Craft for Tenor Trombone (Edwards)
- Singing for Winds (high bass clef) (Edwards)
- Before Tenor Clef (Edwards)
- Introducing the Alto Clef (Fink)
- Introducing the Tenor Clef (Fink)
- 32 Etudes for Trombone (Hering)
- 40 Progressive Etudes (Hering)
- Develop Sight Reading, Bass Clef (Dufresne)
- 40 Progressive Studies for Trombone (Tyrell)
- 60 Studies (Kopprasch/Brown)
- Legato Etudes for Trombone (Concone/Shoemaker)Solo Literature
- Meditation (Bakaleinikoff)
- Andante et Allegro (Barat)
- Recitative and Prayer (Berlioz)
- Sonata (Boda)
- Bride of the Waves (Clark)
- Pastoral (Frackenpohl)
- Variations on a Theme by Shostakovich (Frackenpohl)
- Sonata I (Galliard)
- Morceau Symphonique (Guilmant/Falaguerra)
- Sonata Breve (Hartley)
- Marcello Sonatas
- Concert Aria (Mozart- Voxman)
- Concert Piece (Nux)
- Vocalise 34, No. 14 (Rachmaninoff)
- Andante et Allegro (Ropartz)
- Cavatine (Saint-Saens)
- Six Studies in English Folk-Song (Vaughan Williams)
- Orchestral Excerpts
- Hungarian March (Berlioz)
- Requiem, Tuba Mirum (Mozart)
- Symphony 1 (Brahms)
- Symphony 9 (Schubert)
- Til Eulenspiegel (Strauss)
- Russian Easter Overture (Rimsky-Korssakov
- Symphony 6 (Tchaikovsky)
- Jazz Literature
- Jazz Aids (Aebersold)
- II, V, I (Aebersold)
- Maiden Voyage (Aebersold)
- Patterns for Jazz (for bass clef instruments) (Coker, Casale, Campbell, Greene)
- Intermediate Jazz Conception for Trombone (Snidero)
- Trombonisms (Watrous)
- The Real Book, Bass Clef
Blue Bossa (Dorham)
Summertime (DuBose Hayward and Gershwin)
Take the A Train (Ellington/Strayhorn)
Out of Nowhere (Green)
Bye Bye Blackbird (Henderson)
Cantaloupe Island (Hancock)
Autumn Leaves (Kosma/Mercer)
Satin Doll (Mercer)
- Recordings (applicable to Real Book selections)
- Jazz Software
- iReal Pro App (sheet music and play along MIDI for Jazz Improv)
- Jazz Duets
- Famous Jazz Duets for Trombone and Bass Trombone (OR two tenor trombones) Vol 1-3 (Aldcroft)
- Beginning Jazz Duets (Aldcroft)
- Double Dip, Twenty Dynamite Duets for two Trombones (Davis)
- Bone Kill (Davis)
- Just Add Trombone (Davis, Feder)
- Ten Duets for Tenor Trombone (Pederson)
- Ten Duets for Bass Trombone (Pederson)
- Ten Duets for Tenor and Bass Trombone (Pederson)
- Transcription Projects
- Minor Blues (Johnson)
- Kind of Blue (Davis)
- Curtis Fuller
- J. Johnson
Sophomore
- Warm-Up and Fundamentals Routine (Yates)
- Lip Slurs, Progressive Exercises for Building Tone & Technique (Brad Edwards)
- Daily Scale Builder For Trombone (McGregor)
- The Remington Warm-up Studies (Remington/Hunsberger)
- Method Books
- Melodious Etudes for Trombone, Book 1 (Bordogni/Rochut)
- Trombone Craft for Tenor Trombone (Edwards)
- Singing for Winds (high bass clef) (Edwards)
- Before Tenor Clef (Edwards)
- Introducing the Alto Clef (Fink)
- Introducing the Tenor Clef (Fink)
- Clef Studies (Sauer)
- 32 Etudes (Herring)
- 40 Progressive Studies for Trombone (Tyrell)
- 60 Studies (Kopprasch/Brown)
- Legato Etudes for Trombone (Concone/Shoemaker)
- 36 Studies for Trombone with F Attachment (O. Blume/ Ostrander)
- Solo Literature
- Fantasy (Arnold)
- Andante and Allegro (Barat)
- Concert Piece 5 (Blazhevich)
- Homage a Bach (Bozza)
- Sonata in F Major (Corelli/Ostrander)
- Six Sonatas (Galiard/Marx)
- Morceau Symphonique (Guilmant)
- Sonata (Jacob)
- Concertino (Lars Erik-Larsson)
- Sonata in F Major (Marcello/Ostrander)
- Sonatas (Marcello/CF Peters V.Cello Ed.)
- Sonata (Sulek)
- Six Cello Sonatas (Vivaldi)
- Lyric Suite (White)
- Sonata (White)
- Orchestral Excerpts
- Symphony 3 (Mahler)
- Symphony 5 (Mahler)
- Lohengrin, Prelude Act III (Wagner)
- Scheherazade (Rimsky-Korsakov)
- Ride of the Valkyries (Wagner)
- Bolero (Ravel)
- Tannhauser (Wagner)
- Jazz Literature
- II, V, I (Aebersold)
- Killer Joe (Aebersold)
- Contemporary Techniques for the Trombone (Vol 1, Foundation Exercises for Jazz) (Baker)
- Patterns for Jazz (for bass clef instruments) (Coker, Casale, Campbell, Greene)
- Jazz Conception for Bass Trombone (Snidero)
- Jazz Conception for Tenor Trombone (Snidero)
- Sight Reading Jazz (Bass Clef) (Taylor)
- The Real Book, Bass Clef
Blue Bossa (Dorham)
Summertime (DuBose Hayward and Gershwin)
Take the A Train (Ellington/Strayhorn)
Out of Nowhere (Green)
Bye Bye Blackbird (Henderson)
Cantaloupe Island (Hancock)
Autumn Leaves (Kosma/Mercer)
Satin Doll (Mercer)
- Recordings (applicable to Real Book selections)
- Jazz Software
- iReal Pro App (sheet music and play along MIDI for Jazz Improv)
- Jazz Duets
- Famous Jazz Duets for Trombone and Bass Trombone (OR two tenor trombones) Vol 1-3 (Aldcroft)
- Beginning Jazz Duets (Aldcroft)
- Double Dip, Twenty Dynamite Duets for two Trombones (Davis)
- Bone Kill (Davis)
- Just Add Trombone (Davis, Feder)
- Ten Duets for Tenor Trombone (Pederson)
- Ten Duets for Bass Trombone (Pederson)
- Ten Duets for Tenor and Bass Trombone (Pederson)
- Transcription Projects
- Minor Blues (Johnson)
- Kind of Blue (Davis)
- Curtis Fuller
- J. Johnson
Junior
- Warm-Up and Fundamentals Routine (Yates)
- Lip Slurs, Progressive Exercises for Building Tone & Technique (Brad Edwards)
- Daily Scale Builder For Trombone (McGregor)
- The Remington Warm-up Studies (Remington/Hunsberger)
- Method Books
Melodious Etudes for Trombone, Book 1, Book 2 (Bordogni/Rochut)
- Develop Sight Reading, Bass Clef (Dufresne)
- Trombone Craft for Tenor Trombone (Edwards)
- Singing for Winds (high bass clef) (Edwards)
- Before Tenor Clef (Edwards)
- Introducing the Alto Clef (Fink)
- Introducing the Tenor Clef (Fink)
- Clef Studies (Sauer)
- 40 Progressive Studies for Trombone (Tyrell)
- 60 Studies (Kopprasch/Brown)
- Legato Etudes for Trombone (Concone/Shoemaker)
- 36 Studies for Trombone with F Attachment (O. Blume/ Ostrander)
- Solo Literature
- Requiem and Coda (Alexander)
- Suite for Unaccompanied Trombone (Basett)
- From the Shores of the Mighty Pacific (Clarke)
- Concertino (David)
- Liebeslied (Kreisler)
- Conertino (Larsson)
- Parable XVIII for Solo Trombone, OP 133 (Persichetti)
- Blue Bells of Scotland (Pryor)
- Thoughts of Love (Pryor)
- Piece in mi Bemol (Ropartz)
- Sonata (Sanders)
- Sonatina (Serocki)
- Sonata (Sulek)
- Concerto (Tomassi)
- Lyric Suite (White)
- Orchestral Excerpts
- Concerto for Orchestra (Bartok)
- Symphonic Metamorphosis (Hindemith)
- La Gazza Ladra (Rossini)
- Symphony 2 (Brahms)
- Symphony 4 (Brahms)
- Symphony 3 (Saint-Saens)
- Symphony 4 (Tchaikovsky)
- Jazz Literature
- Killer Joe (Aebersold)
- Patterns for Jazz (Coker)
- Sight Reading Jazz (Bass Clef) (Taylor)
- Doodle Studes and Etudes (McChesney)
- Reading Key Jazz Rhythms (Lipsius)
- Basic Chords Handout (Rapson)
- Real Book
- Jazz Software
- iReal Pro App (sheet music and play along MIDI for Jazz Improv)
- Transcriptions and Tunes Based on Skill Level and Theory Knowledge
- As assigned with listening projects
- Examples:
- Curtis Fuller
- J. Johnson
- Frank Rosolino
- Carl Fontana
- As assigned with listening projects
Senior
- Warm-Up and Fundamentals Routine (Yates)
- Lip Slurs, Progressive Exercises for Building Tone & Technique (Brad Edwards)
- Daily Scale Builder For Trombone (McGregor)
- The Remington Warm-up Studies (Remington/Hunsberger)
- Method Books
- Melodious Etudes for Trombone, Book 1, Book 2 (Bordogni/Rochut)
- Trombone Craft for Tenor Trombone (Edwards)
- Singing for Winds (high bass clef) (Edwards)
- Before Tenor Clef (Edwards)
- Introducing the Alto Clef (Fink)
- Introducing the Tenor Clef (Fink)
- Clef Studies (Sauer)
- 40 Progressive Studies for Trombone (Tyrell)
- 60 Studies (Kopprasch/Brown)
- Legato Etudes for Trombone (Concone/Shoemaker)
- 36 Studies for Trombone with F Attachment (O. Blume/ Ostrander)
- 15 Rhythmic Etudes (Bitsch)
- Advanced Etudes for Tenor Trombone (Pederson)
- Solo Literature
- Fantasy (Arnold)
- Concert Variations (Bach, Jan)
- Ballade (Bozza)
- Prelude et Allegro (Bozza- really for Euph.)
- Fantasy (Creston)
- Improvisation I for Trombone (Crespo)
- Mission Red (Davis)
- Fantasia per Trombone (Hidas)
- Sonata (Hindemith)
- Concertante (Holst)
- Panorama (Englund)
- Sonatina (Koetsier)
- Concertino d’hiver (Milhaud)
- Arrows of Time (Peaslee)
- Rex (Phillips)
- Sonata (White)
- Orchestral Excerpts
- Symphonie Fantastique (Berlioz)
- Symphony 4 (Bruckner)
- The Planets (Holst)
- Symphony 3 (Schumann)
- The Firebird Suite (Stravindky)
- La Forza del Destino (Verdi)
- ALTO TROMBONE:
- Symphony 5 (Beethoven)
- Symphony 9 (Beethoven)
- Jazz Literature
- How to Improvise (Aebersold)
- Killer Joe (Aebersold)
- Jazz Pedagogy, for teachers and students (Baker)
- Patterns for Jazz (Coker)
- 24 Jazz Etudes (Gale, J.)
- Sight Reading Jazz (Bass Clef) (Taylor)
- Dance Band Reading (Raph)
- Real Book
- Jazz Software
- iReal Pro App (sheet music and play along MIDI for Jazz Improv)
- Transcriptions and Tunes Based on Skill Level and Theory Knowledge
- As assigned with listening projects
- Examples:
- Curtis Fuller
- J. Johnson
- Frank Rosolino
- Carl Fontana
- As assigned with listening projects
Bass Trombone Materials
The following materials are to be used by bass trombone majors and limited materials are to be used by those students doubling. Please see me before making purchases. Some methods from the tenor trombone listing will apply to bass trombone lessons. Orchestral excerpts come from tenor trombone listing.
Freshman:
Daily Materials for Fundamentals and Warm-up
- Warm-Up and Fundamentals Routine (Yates)
- Lip Slurs, Progressive Exercises for Building Tone & Technique (Brad Edwards)
- Daily Scale Builder For Trombone (McGregor)
- The Remington Warm-up Studies (Remington/Hunsberger)
- Method Books
- Melodious Etudes 1 (Bordogni/Rochut)
- Trombone Craft for Bass Trombone (Edwards)
- Singing for Winds (low bass clef) (Edwards)
- Studies in Legato for Bass Trombone (Fink)
- 70 Progressive Studies (Gillis)
- Elementary Etudes for Bass Trombone (Pederson)
- New Methods for Bass Trombone 4/E (Aharoni)
- 30 Etudes (Uber)
- Solo Literature
- Canto II (Adler)
- Sonata for Tuba (Boda)
- Sonatine (Casterede)
- Concerto for Tuba or Bass Trombone (Ewazen)
- Six Sonatas (Galliard/Marx)
- Concerto for Bass Trombone and Orchestra (George)
- Meditation (Hidas)
- Drei Leichte Stuecke [three easy pieces] (Hindemith)
- Hosannah (Liszt)
- Praeludium, Chorale, Variations and Fugue (Muller)
- Undertones (Nightingale)
- Concert Piece in fugal Style (Ostrander)
- Orchestral Excerpts
- Romeo and Juliet (Berlioz)
- Symphony 1 (Brahms)
- Creation (Haydn)
- William Tell (Rossini)
- Symphony 3 (Schumann)
- Til Eulenspiegel (Strauss)
- Jazz Materials: See Tenor Trombone Listing
Sophomore:
Daily Materials for Fundamentals and Warm-up
- Warm-Up and Fundamentals Routine (Yates)
- Lip Slurs, Progressive Exercises for Building Tone & Technique (Brad Edwards)
- Daily Scale Builder For Trombone (McGregor)
- The Remington Warm-up Studies (Remington/Hunsberger)
- Method Books
- New Methods for Bass Trombone 4/E (Aharoni)
- Trombone Craft for Bass Trombone (Edwards)
- Singing for Winds (low bass clef) (Edwards)
- 36 Studies for Trombone with F Attachment (O. Blume)
- Melodious Etudes (tuba/Bass Trombone) (Bordogni/Rochut)
- 70 Progressive Studes (Gillis)
- 20 Studies (Gillis)
- 60 Legato Studies for Tuba, Book 1 (Kuehn)
- Concert Piece in Fugal Style (Ostrander)
- Elementary Etudes for Bass Trombone (Pederson)
- Solo Literature
- Introduction and Dance (Barat)
- Allegro et Finale (Bozza)
- Deux Danses (Defaye)
- Ballade for Bass Trombone (Ewazen)
- Rhapsody for Bass Trombone (Ewazen)
- Six Sonatas (Galliard/Marx)
- Sonata in F Major (Handel/Yeo)
- Suite for Solo Tuba (Hartly)
- Allegro Maestoso (Koitsier)
- Zwei Fantassiestucke (Lassen)
- Concerto (Lebedev)
- Sonata (McCarty)
- Praeludium, Chorale, Variation, and Fugue (Mueller)
- Sonate en 6 minutes 30 (Pascal)
- Rock (Raph)
- Concerto Classico (Saglietti)
- Andante (Tcherepnine)
- Etre ou ne pas etre! Monologue d’Hamlet (to be or not to be!: Hamlet’s Monologue) [Tomasi]
- Orchestral Excerpts
- Gungarian March (Berlioz)
- Kyrie from Requiem (Mozart)
- La Gazza Ladra (Rossini)
- Symphony 4 and 6 (Tchaikovsky)
- Tannhauser (Wagner)
- Jazz Materials: See Tenor Trombone Listing
Junior:
Daily Materials for Fundamentals and Warm-up
- Warm-Up and Fundamentals Routine (Yates)
- Lip Slurs, Progressive Exercises for Building Tone & Technique (Brad Edwards)
- Daily Scale Builder For Trombone (McGregor)
- The Remington Warm-up Studies (Remington/Hunsberger)
- Method Books
- New Method for Bass Trombone E/4 (Aharoni)
- Quatorze Etudes de rythme pour trombone basse (Bitsch)
- 70 Studies for Tuba (Blazhevich)
- Trombone Craft for Bass Trombone (Edwards)
- Singing for Winds (low bass clef) (Edwards)
- 73 Advanced Tuba Studies (Cimera)
- 20 Etudes (Gillis)
- 40 Advanced Studies for Bb Bass (tyrell)
- Intermediate Etudes for Bass Trombone (Pederson)
- Double Valve Bass Trombone (Ostrander)
- Solo Literature
- Canto II (Adler)
- New Orleans (Bozza)
- Suite (Culver)
- Concerto (Ewazen)
- Odd-Meter Etudes (Gates)
- Sonata Breve (Hartley)
- Sonata [Tuba] (Hindemith)
- Cameos (Jacob)
- Concerto (Spillman)
- Sonatina (Stevens)
- Sonata (Wilder)
- Orchestral Excerpts
- The Creation, Achieved (Haydn)
- Symphonic Metamorphosis (Hindemith)
- Symphony 2 and 5 (Mahler)
- The Pines of Rome (Respighi)
- Prelude to Act III or Lohengrin (Wagner)
- Die Walkure (Wagner)
- Jazz Materials: See Tenor Trombone Listing
Senior:
Daily Materials for Fundamentals and Warm-up
- Warm-Up and Fundamentals Routine (Yates)
- Lip Slurs, Progressive Exercises for Building Tone & Technique (Brad Edwards)
- Daily Scale Builder For Trombone (McGregor)
- The Remington Warm-up Studies (Remington/Hunsberger)
- Method Books
- New Method for Bass Trombone E/4 (Aharoni)
- 70 Studies for Tuba [Vol. 2] (Blazhevich)
- Melodious Etudes [vol. 2, 8va basso] (Bordogni/Rochut)
- Trombone Craft for Bass Trombone (Edwards)
- Singing for Winds (low bass clef) (Edwards)
- Pi a la Bone [Technical Etudes] (Knaub)
- 60 Selected Studies for BB flat Tuba (Kopprash)
- School of Sight Reading and Style (Lafosse)
- Low Etudes for Tuba (Snedecor)
- Shifting Meters Studies (Ostrander)
- A Singing Approach to the Trombone (Vernon)
- Solo Literature
- Concerto for Bass Trombone and Orchestra (Brubeck, C.)
- Fantasie Concertante (Casterede)
- Variations on Barnacle Bill the Sailor (Frank)
- Deux Dances (Defay)
- Concerto (George)
- Meditation (Hidas)
- Allegro Maestoso (Koetsier)
- Concerto (Nelhybel)
- Capriccio for Solo Tuba (Panderecki)
- Concerto (Pliss)
- Prelude, Fuge, and Big Apple (Ross)
- Etre ou ne pas Etre [To Be or Not To Be] (Tomasi)
- Two Songs (Spillman)
- Tuba Concerto (Vaughan Williams)
- Tetra Ergon (White)
- Sonata (Wilder)
- Tuba Concerto (Williams)
- Orchestral Excerpts
- Concerto for Orchestra (Bartok)
- Wozzeck (Berg)
- Symphony 4 (Bruckner)
- Brahms Symphony (1-4)
- Pictures at an Exhibitions (Mussorgsky/Ravel)
- Symphony 5 (Shostakovich)
- Entry of the Gods into Valhalla, Das Rheingold (Wagner)
- Jazz Materials: See Tenor Trombone Listing
Alto Trombone Materials
Daily Materials for Fundamentals and Warm-up
- Warm-Up and Fundamentals Routine (Yates)
- Lip Slurs, Progressive Exercises for Building Tone & Technique (Brad Edwards)
- Daily Scale Builder For Trombone (McGregor)
- The Remington Warm-up Studies (Remington/Hunsberger)
- Method Literature
- Method for Alto Trombone (Slokar)
- Alto Trombone Tutor [Volume 1] (Luchin)
- Twenty Studies (Maxted)
- Solo Literature
- Concerto (Albrechtsberger)
- Sequenza V (Berio)
- Sonata in Eb (Finger)
- Baroque Concerto for Alto Trombone and String Orchestra (Hidas)
- Sonat in Eb for Alto Horn and Piano (Hindemith)
- Concerto (Hyden, M)
- Concerto (Mozart, L)
- Agnus Dei (Mozart)
- Jener Donnoerworte Kroft (Mozart)
- Suite (Prescott)
- Concerto (Wagenseil)
**MUSIC EDUCATION MAJORS
Additional literature for music education majors is provided below. These solos and methods may not be used regularly in lessons, but will be covered due to the importance in teaching beginning and intermediate students in the public school system.
Grades 9-12 Methods/Etudes
Bordongni/Rochut, Melodius Etudes: Vol. 1
Kopprash, 60 Selected Studies: Vol. 1
Pederson, Elementary Etudes for Bass Trombone (Bass Trombone Only)
Rubank, Advanced Method for Trombone or Baritone
Tyrrell, 40 Progressive Studies
Grades 8-12 Jazz Methods
Aebersold books w/CD
Coker, Patterns for Jazz
Snidero, Easy Jazz Conception w/CD
Grades 9-12 Solos
Bakaleinikoff, Meditation
Barat, Andante and Allegro
Guilmant, Morceau Symphonique
Hasse, Hasse Suite
Nux, Concert Piece
Pryor, Annie Laurie
Rachmaninoff, Vocalise Op. 34, No. 14
Telemann, Sonata in F minor