Review

Megumi Kanda
Trombone Unlimited:
Trombone

Maple City, Michigan, United States
Publisher: Encore Music Publishers
Date of Publication: 2020
URL: http://www.encoremupub.com

Spiral bound method book. 167 pages.

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

Megumi Kanda, Principal Trombonist of the Milwaukee Symphony, has provided us with an omnibus covering the most essential elements of trombone technique. It has 22 sections with a mixture of explanatory text, exercises and etudes.

Early sections include discussions of breathing, buzzing, long tones, legato tonguing, and playing angle. The next portion of the book focuses more on lip slurs with the section titles: octaves (4 pages), evenness in all registers (1 page), lip slurs and flexibility (16 pages), and lip trills (4 pages). Following this are sections devoted to high notes (4 pages including glissandi and slurs with pedals for relief), low range (2 pages curiously without glissandi), and exercises for the Sarabande from J.S. Bach’s Cello Suite No.5. The book then moves towards articulation with the sections: breath attacks, multiple tonguing, double, then triple. Embedded within her discussion of multiple tonguing, Kanda wisely includes exercises tied to such orchestral excerpts as Sibelius’ Symphony No.2, Rossini’s La Gazza Ladra Overture (with the triplet pick-up notes), and Scheherazade by Rimsky Korsakov. Following this, one finds short sections devoted to alternate positions and glissandi, extreme dynamics, and varied articulation markings.

Beginning on page 87, we find Scales and Arpeggios in major keys. These studies, besides presenting the expected patterns, also provide more work with varied articulation, rhythmic accuracy and wider leaps. At a rate of one page per major key, Kanda works through the keys following the descending circle of fifths. Her next section has a similar structure devoted to minor keys. Each scale/arpeggio page finishes with short etudes based on that key including, interestingly, slower, lyrical, legato etudes. Kanda’s scale pages finish with two pages devoted to the chromatic scale.

Beginning on page 116, Kanda presents both an explanation of clefs and etudes devoted to tenor clef (6 ½ pages) and alto clef (4 pages). Mixed clef studies follow with 10 etudes across 4 pages. Kanda provides 8 pages devoted to the E-flat alto trombone.

Starting on page 141, we find 13 mostly one-page etudes for tenor trombone which can best be described as more complete concert etudes. These etudes range mostly from F to b-flat with rare appearances of trigger and pedal notes. By and large, they could be performed without the F-attachment. The book finishes with 13 pages of duets including a fair number of transcriptions.

Kanda’s explanatory text is quite good and well within the pedagogical norms of our era. One exception might be the exclusion of any mention of mouthpiece rim buzzing, a practice with some excellent and devoted adherents. Personally, I would have liked to have seen the easier overtone slurs preceding the more challenging octave slurs. The lip slur section stays solidly within the overtone series and avoids the trigger range. In fact, it is curious that this book has comparatively little devoted to developing technique with the F-attachment. Perhaps this reflects Kanda’s professional perspective as a principal trombonist. It is a nice touch that some lip slur exercises incorporate mouthpiece buzzing into the exercise. Overall, the lip slurs do progress rather quickly in terms of difficulty and may stymie some students.

In terms of harmonic language, these etudes remain mostly rooted in the 19th century tonal language. The inclusion of material stretching farther away from this model might have been helpful. Similarly, students looking for metric complexity or even much in the way of challenging rhythmic subdivisions will need to look elsewhere. Not that I expected it but there is no discussion of extended techniques unless you include her mention of flutter tonguing as a buzzing technique. Also not surprising, there is nothing devoted to jazz or commercial playing styles. Even with a title like Trombone Unlimited perhaps it is neither possible nor even wise to try to throw in every possible thing a modern performer might need.

Megumi Kanda has provided trombonists with a solid book, which should be seen as a worthy alternative to the legendary Arban Method. As with other publications from Encore, the print quality is excellent and the spiral binding is always appreciated. How will this book be used in lessons? That is a trickier question since it is set up by topic as opposed to a week-to-week method. It might be wise for an experienced teacher to set up a plan of study for students in order to guide them through this book. That said, this is a worthwhile contribution to our pedagogical literature and contains advice reflecting the experience of an outstanding trombonist that can be trusted by teachers everywhere.