Review

Bart van Lier
Coordination for Trombone Playing:

,
Publisher: Advance Music
Date of Publication: 2000
URL: http://www.schott-music.com

Primary Genre: Study Material - method

Dutch trombonist Bart van Lier is world-renowned as a jazz/commercial artist and pedagogue. He has been a professor in the jazz departments at the Conservatories Den Haag and Hilversum. His playing and teaching are featured on numerous recordings, tours, workshops, collaborations, and master classes around the world. In 2015 he received the ITA AWARD for exceptional performances at the International Trombone Festival in Valencia.

Coordination Training is a theory, technique, and practice manual for all trombonists that includes exercises (both musical and physical) and verbal explanations. Its main aim is the improvement of technical facility, endurance, range, flexibility, sound, and expression. It is intended for all trombonists.  Some of the greatest jazz players have praised this concise book (47 pages) of instructions and exercises.

Bart van Lier's new studies on embouchure maintenance are the most important contribution to the art of brass playing since the teachings of Carmine Caruso. Congratulations Bart! - Bill Watrous

The ultimate book for solving the ever-present problems facing every trombonist; coordination of embouchure, breath, and slide movement. A must for every serious student of the trombone! -Carl Fontana

In all my years of playing and teaching, I have rarely seen such excellent material so clearly conceived and accurately presented. Bravo Bart! -Jiggs Whigham

The author states in the introduction: “Rather than trying something completely new, I hope, that by combining different approaches, to have succeeded in imparting something new. To this end, I have been inspired by material from Erik van Lier, Emory Remington, Bobby Shew, Branimir Slokar, and Charles Vernon. The book contains a selection of exercises that I have developed and collected over the years. In my own study, teaching, and performing, I have noticed that the kind of coordination required for the act of trombone playing varies from day to day. Because playing is a very complex activity during which inefficient habits can easily develop, it is important to have a checklist to enable players to check themselves and teachers to check their students.”

Some of the material included in the book:

•General Remarks About Breathing and Tonguing
•The Coordination Training Program (divided into various segments of length)
•Additional Exercises (Legato jazz phrasing, Open Throat, Posture, Tonguing Exercises)
•Common Problems and Suggested Solutions (discusses eleven different problems/solutions)

This is a good addition to books/methods dealing with the physical/technical aspects of trombone playing.