Flex-Ability: More Pops: Trombone/Baritone/Bassoon/Tuba Book

These arrangements let trombone, baritone, bassoon, and tuba players feel like soloists rather than accompanists. López has crafted four distinct lines that all carry musical interest, so your lower brass section stays engaged whether they're playing melody or bass line, and you can deploy them in any combination without losing the song's character.

Contemporary and fun without the technical demands of advanced transcriptions. These are songs students recognize and want to play, arranged so your less experienced players can contribute to something that sounds cohesive and energetic.

Ensembles with mixed ability levels who want accessible but legitimate-sounding pop arrangements for their lower brass section. Teachers seeking flexible instrumentation music that works equally well in a four-person trombone quartet, a full mixed ensemble, or anything in between.

• Lock the rhythmic feel with your bass line (Line 4). The syncopation sits on top of a steady foundation, so anchor the groove there first and let the other voices lock in above.
• Balance melody and harmony by ear during rehearsal. Line 1 carries the tune, but Lines 2 and 3 support it with harmonic color; resist the urge to let them dominate in the thick lower register.
• Lean into the rock and jazz inflections, especially on syncopated figures. These pop arrangements thrive on a relaxed, bouncy feel rather than precision-based execution.
• If using the accompaniment track, rehearse with it enough that your ensemble responds to the rhythm section's pocket rather than fighting against it.

Slot these into casual concert settings, pops programs, or end-of-year ensemble showcases where you're mixing styles and keeping energy high. The variety of titles (film themes, Broadway, hits, world music) gives you tools to program concerts that span different musical worlds while staying in the lower brass wheelhouse.

• Reading rock and jazz syncopation patterns across four-part harmony
• Balancing melodic and harmonic responsibility in an ensemble setting
• Adapting articulation and tone color to pop and contemporary idioms
• Responding to rhythm section accompaniment and maintaining ensemble groove
• Sight-reading sixteenth-note combinations and dotted-rhythm figures in context