Review

Brad Edwards
Trombone Craft: Complete Version Volumes 1-3 combined: A Musical Approach to Building Tone and Technique

, United States
Publisher: Brad Edwards
Date of Publication: 2012
URL: http://www.bonezone.org

Spiral bound method book. 170 pages.

Primary Genre: Study Material - method
Secondary Genre: Study Material - etude

Trombone Craft sets out, in the words of the author, to “create musically satisfying material specifically designed to build trombone technique.” Edwards meets these goals in a variety of ways. Organized in three parts, nearly every aspect of trombone playing is addressed, including scales, range building, learning to use a tuner, multiple tonguing, and pattern building. Edwards addresses these topics with etudes, admonitions, and encouragement. In fact, his approach recalls the artistic pedagogical ingenuity he demonstrated in his “Lip Slurs,” a compendium that goes beyond Arban, Schlossberg, and Remington to bring trombone lip slurs into the 21st century. 

In addition to providing flow exercises (sing, buzz, play), and cross-referencing other books, Edwards utilizes a wide variety of key signatures and original etudes that link technical ideas to musical passages. However, the highlight of the book is the section devoted to tuning. Edwards devises exercises that utilize a drone, which is available on many tuners, to facilitate better intonation based on hearing pitches before playing them. He instructs the player to first look away from the tuner, as “your ear is the real tuner. Use the little device to calibrate your ear.” He also includes duets designed to enhance intonation skills.  

Edwards teaches trombone at the University of South Carolina and maintains a website, BoneZone.org that provides a variety of free resources. Trombone Craft is an invigorating outline that addresses technical problems in a comprehensive way, one that as Joseph Alessi writes in the foreword, “will result in your overall improvement.” 

-Joel Elias
California State University, Fresno; CSU Sacramento