Review

Ken Ebo
Common Sense for Comeback Chops: A Trombonist’s Guide to Playing After Extended Time Off

Flagstaff, AZ, United States
Publisher: Mountain Peak Music
Date of Publication: 2012
URL: http://www.mountainpeakmusic.com

Primary Genre: Study Material - method

Most professionals have an approach to coming back from a layoff, and we are often asked by our students how to come back after a break. Our attempt to return to playing can often meet with mixed results. Ken Ebo has written a text that addresses this issue. Drawn from the author’s personal experience of extended periods of time away from the trombone due to military training and deployments, this is a formal guide to coming back from a break. The author follows a disciplined plan organized around five basic stages and five common sense rules. The five rules are essentially taking your time, allowing for rest, and avoiding pushing too hard at the beginning. The five stages begin with short periods of long tones and gradually progress to longer practice periods and more flexibility and range development. Ebo provides an extensive appendix with summaries of the text and outlines of sample 40, 23, and ten-day comeback plans. The author includes stories and humorous anecdotes that are clear and useful to his approach. I found this text practical and excellent in concept. The basic concepts can also be adapted with personal exercises to create a more individualized approach. It fills a need in pedagogical literature and addresses an issue many trombonists and teachers face on a regular basis. 

-Tim Howe
University of Missouri