I Recommend: Trombone (B.C.) Book

This book distills decades of classroom experience and professional conducting into a focused, practical sequence that directors can use daily without overthinking. The variety of study types (lip slurs, scales, arpeggios, rhythms, articulation) keeps warm-ups from feeling repetitive while building the technical foundation students need, and the inclusion of tuning suggestions and individual instrument guidance from specialists shows real attention to how trombones actually work.

Methodical and purposeful. Each unit builds logically on what came before, moving from foundational embouchure work into more complex rhythmic and harmonic territory. The progression feels like deliberate skill-building rather than abstract exercises.

Trombone students from middle school through high school who need focused technical work alongside ensemble playing. This book works equally well for newcomers building foundational embouchure control and for experienced players refining articulation and intonation.

• Start with the lip slurs before moving to scales and arpeggios; this order preps the embouchure for the technical work that follows.
• Return to the articulation and dynamic studies regularly throughout the season, not just once. Consistency in clean tonguing and controlled dynamics shows in every piece your band performs.
• Apply the rhythm studies directly to repertoire your band is learning; if your piece uses syncopation or unusual rhythmic patterns, bridge that gap by working similar figures in this book first.
• Work through the tuning suggestions specific to each passage. Ployhar's guidance here addresses common intonation problems on trombone rather than treating all pitches as equally stable.

Assign sections of this book as part of your band's regular warm-up rotation; a 32-page book designed for daily use can sustain your section's technical work across a full season without exhausting the material. Use specific units to target problem areas in your current repertoire, such as pulling out the articulation studies when a piece demands precision tonguing or the interval studies when intonation is spotty.

• Embouchure control and lip flexibility through organized lip slur sequences
• Major and minor scale construction and facility across the full range
• Chromatic scale technique and even finger movement
• Arpeggiation in multiple keys and harmonic contexts
• Clean articulation including varied tonguing styles and dynamic control
• Rhythmic accuracy in uncommon meters and syncopated figures
• Pitch matching and tuning adjustment specific to trombone acoustics