Review

Robert Müller
Schule für Zugposaune: New Method for Slide Trombone Volumes 1, 2, & 3

Arranged by Gordon Cherry

Trombone

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Publisher: Cherry Classics Music
Date of Publication: 2019 / 2019
URL: http://www.cherryclassics.com
Language: German, English and Cyrillic

Facsimile reprint of volumes 1, 2, & 3 of the New Method for Slide Trombone

Primary Genre: Study Material - method

Robert Mueller.
Schule für Zugposaune: Volumes 1, 2, & 3 of the New Method for Slide Trombone. N.p.: Cherry Classics Music, 1902/2019. Method book, facsimile reprint. 208 pages.

German trombonist and teacher, Albert Robert Mueller (Müller) was born in 1849. He was a member of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra as well as a teacher at the Royal Conservatory of Music. This is a compilation of three volumes of his Method and should not be confused with his Technical Etudes.

Kudos to Cherry Classics for making this set available in this format at a fairly reasonable price. To be clear, this is a facsimile of the original. It has not been re-engraved. Given that the pdf is over 200 pages long, inclusion of a modern table of contents with hyperlinks to the major sections would have been a great addition. The book includes many exercises, often scale and arpeggio studies, with a generous helping of duets and explanatory text presented in three languages: German, English and Cyrillic. It is clear that Mueller’s intent was to create a comprehensive method that covered a wide variety of subjects ranging from the basics of musical notation to many aspects of trombone technique.

The facsimile is at times faded but still mostly readable. It should be noted that accidentals, once presented, apply to all octaves. Mueller makes some interesting comments about trombone technique. With respect to posture, he states, “When standing, rest the weight of the body on the left foot with the right not too much advanced, at right angles thereto.” With respect to articulation, he writes, “The tip of the tongue then fills the gap caused by the unclosed teeth, being pushed forward between the upper and lower lips; nevertheless, the tongue tip must not project beyond the lips, but only be in touch with them.” For tongued legato, he suggests a pairing of “doo-loo” (doo-luh in German). This is curiously similar to doodle tonguing or “tonguing in the gulley” (a term coined by Phil Smith as far as I know). Mueller uses the term “double-tonguing” but his meaning may not the same as Arban’s. In a staccato exercise he refers to double tonguing but gives no indication of a kah or, for that matter, anything different than a ‘normal’ articulation.

Muller seems to advocate a low mouthpiece placement as well, “The cup of the mouthpiece must cover less of the upper than of the lower lip for it is only by this means that the player can acquire the advantage of being eventually able to execute passages of intervals quickly following each other…” He goes on to suggest that mouthpiece pressure should be greater on the upper lip than the lower lip. This surprised me since it seems to run counter to a lot of modern teaching on the subject.

As Part One proceeds, exercises are sequential, introducing wider and wider intervals. Mueller includes a nice section of two-part chorales to develop intonation and another section reminiscent of the Blazhevich Studies in Clefs in that he starts with etudes only in first position and then adds positions. Throughout this volume, range extension is usually done through overtone series tonguing exercises. By page 77, the range extends up to B-flat1.

In Part Two, Mueller includes exercises and discussion concerning legato technique. Again, he makes curious suggestions. For example, he states, “When ascending in legato the usual tonguing syllable “doo” is used with the first note and “ee” with the following note. His musical example is c1-d1, not a natural slur without using alternate positions. He seems to make no mention of natural slurs. However, in other sections he does refer to the D in alternate fourth position so perhaps he is in fact providing instruction on slurs across partials. What follows is a series of legato tonguing exercises with expanding intervals, seconds up to octaves. Next are chord studies (arpeggios) in all major and relative minor keys. Each major arpeggio is converted into V7 leading to the next key. I like this approach. Next is a collection of 23 folk songs often presented as duets. Sometimes composers are named but usually not. It is only on page 104 that dynamics are presented. This seems odd to me. Mueller includes a lovely sentence about dynamics, “…cannot be too warmly recommended to the student, for when well done it gives light and shade to the piece; without such a music piece (Musikstück) fails to impress the listeners on account of its monotony.” Part Two ends with a nice discussion of ornamentation including comparison of long vs. short appoggiaturas with musical examples. There is also an explanation of the gruppeto, also known as the German beat or Passing Shake, and the turn including the all-important execution of the turn on a dotted rhythm!

Part Three begins with an introduction to clefs including, of all things, soprano clef. He presents an interesting set of duets where the top voice plays whole note scales in the clef while an arpeggiated duet part in bass clef provides harmonic interest. This can make a nice tuning exercise. The beginning of Part 3 is largely identical to earlier sections except that it is in tenor clef. A section on broken chords will significantly challenge many players. A collection of etudes and a few duets in tenor clef will make excellent sight-reading material.

Although some of this collection feels dated, there is a lot of valuable material here. Besides generating historical interest, this collection also provides  plenty of valuable sight-reading material.

-Brad Edwards
Arizona State University