• Posts
  • RSS
  • ◂◂RSS
  • Contact

  • Trombone Parts

    September 24th, 2014
    contra, music, transcript, trombone, trumpet
    I want to get better at playing horn parts at contra dances, but I'm not very good at figuring out what to play yet. A couple weeks ago the Free Raisins played the Montpelier dance with Nils calling. He's also a great contra dance trombone player, playing with Elixir, and he sat in with us for a few sets. People loved his playing, as usual, so I decided to listen back to it and transcribe the main ideas.

    On The Danforth, key of A major. (without trombone)

    • The main idea is "A F# D" repeated, with an occasional "C# B" to lead back to the "A". This mostly goes over the A part. (mp3)
    • Another A part idea is to play "A C#, B A," an octave higher than the previous idea. (mp3)
    Road to Erogie, key of A major. (without trombone)
    • One B part idea is "C# C# D E," which could be followed by going back down as "D C# B A" (mp3) or back down as "F# E D C# B A" (mp3). This works especially well over slow chords, changing its interpretation each time.
    • An A part idea is "C# D E, D C# D E A,," or instead of holding the final A you could follow it with an even higher "C# B A". (mp3)
    • An very simple idea is just to play sustained notes. In this case, just A (the root) over a lot of droning and the B when we switch from Erogie in A major to the same tune in B major. (mp3)
    Speed the Plow, key of A major. (without trombone)
    • A simple A part idea is just "A C# D" repeated: (mp3).
    • Sustained notes are again good. Here's a sustained "A" with first an "E" pickup and then a "C# B" pickup: (mp3).
    • This idea is a reduced version of the melody. "E C# B, A," generally by itself but sometimes followed by "C#, D E": (mp3).
    • A bit of synchopation where the tune rolls around. "C# B C# D,, C# D, C# D, D E": (mp3).
    I feel like transcribing these and playing these over has been helpful, but it's hard to summarize what I've learned. Maybe "use the major third (C#) a lot"? Mostly just priming my fingers with these sorts of parts.

    Comment via: google plus, facebook

    Recent posts on blogs I like:

    How much to coerce children?

    What's "for their own good"? The post How much to coerce children? appeared first on Otherwise.

    via Otherwise May 29, 2023

    Cycling Injuries Analysis in DC

    I looked at a few years’ worth of data for DC (where I live) to try to figure out how risky cycling is here.

    via Home May 19, 2023

    Some mistakes I made as a new manager

    the trough of zero dopamine • managing the wrong amount • procrastinating on hard questions • indefinitely deferring maintenance • angsting instead of asking

    via benkuhn.net April 23, 2023

    more     (via openring)


  • Posts
  • RSS
  • ◂◂RSS
  • Contact