Progressive Jazz Studies for Trombone, Book 1: Trombone Book

Rae builds jazz vocabulary methodically without sacrificing musicality. The three-part structure lets students absorb rhythmic foundations before tackling melodic content, then immediately apply what they've learned to improvisation, which keeps engagement high and progress visible.

The early studies have a conversational ease, introducing swing and syncopation without overwhelming the player. As you move through the book, the writing becomes more idiomatic and harmonically engaging, inviting you to hear jazz vocabulary as a natural language rather than a technical hurdle.

Beginning jazz trombonists who need systematic exposure to jazz rhythms and phrasing from day one. Students preparing for jazz ensemble or looking to develop improvisation skills benefit from the graded progression and improvisation framework built into the book.

• Establish the swing feel early in part one by isolating swing eighth notes separate from the melody. Loop them until the ratio feels natural, then layer melody on top.
• Record yourself playing the written studies in part two, then improvise over those recordings to bridge the gap between reading and creating.
• Start improvisation with simple motivic development rather than running changes end to end. Take a phrase from the written study and vary it rhythmically or transpose it.
• Practice the displaced accents in context with a metronome on beats 2 and 4 to prevent rushing or dragging the syncopation.

Assign part one studies as supplementary material during the first weeks of jazz ensemble to level-set rhythmic understanding across the section. Use the melodic studies in part two as sight-reading warm-ups before ensemble rehearsals, then dedicate specific rehearsals to group improvisation work based on part three concepts.

• Swing eighth-note rhythm and feel
• Syncopation and displaced accents
• Jazz phrasing and articulation
• Reading jazz notation and lead sheet symbols
• Improvisation over chord changes
• Melodic development and motivic variation