A tip for helping you master the alto trombone

[@bonemack]

Awesome! I've tried practicing "Bb" blues improv and am getting similar effect. It sounds Eb but I'm playing licks and melodies as if I'm on the tenor. Your tip works!

[@peterfink180]

How do you play that G at 4:25 without a valve and with such a great sound? That's the equivalent of playing a low D on the tenor with no F valve.

[@mymusicsavvy]

Let's call it a false tone. You can play low D on a tenor with no trigger. It just won't sound as good. My low G certainly didn't have great tone, but down there all I care about is pitch. That's one thing I can control. Make sense?

[@peterfink180]

Thank you. I figured that's what you had done, but I must say your G sounded pretty good to me!

[@mr.newyorker5405]

That horn sounds magical.

[@mymusicsavvy]

It's an alto trombone. Of course it sounds magical!! Glad to hear. Have fun with it.

[@ssglinus]

OMFG! I have owned, and played on an alto for about as long as this video has been on KZbin. I have been "fighting" with it all the way, in terms of getting comfortable with the horn, and reading alto clef. While your video didn't help with alto clef, it was a "Hand of God" moment, in terms of becoming more comfortable with my horn. ... It's "simple/stupid" (incredibly obvious). I am not sure why I didn't figure this out years ago!

[@mymusicsavvy]

Glad that helped you, Kevin. If you are looking for more inspiration and gaining proficiency on the alto consider my book Alto Trombone Savvy. Tons of interesting exercises for building alto skills and lots of audio tracks to make ithe process fun. musicsavvy.com/books

[@mr.newyorker5405]

I just got my alto trombone, I love the sound.

[@riffraffradicalmarchingban4829]

I’m learning Eb tuba, (can’t play trombone atm due to carpal tunnel) so went back to baritone horn, liking the air workout on tuba, but you got me on the positions, re alto bone to me is the same as Eb tuba, and then if it’s lighter to hold means I could go back to bone, thanks good vid

[@harleyzeth]

The 2 instruments I play most are alto trombone and Eflat tuba. Definitely my favorite horns

[@GamerPro433]

This really helped, thanks!

[@LowBrassLuke]

Sounds great. Are you using the Lexicon 224 reverb here?

[@altoboneone]

Yes Luke. Great ears to pick that out. It is my go-to reverb.

[@LowBrassLuke]

Michael Lake fantastic. I’ve been using Valhalla Room in Logic but I really like the sound of this one. I just got an Apollo interface so I’ll be purchasing this reverb for sure.

[@Dr.J-e9t]

Here's what I do for reading alto bone. I use alto sax parts and read them as if I'm playing a B flat slide trumpet. I also play trumpet, so I can mentally substitute the positions for the chromatic valve sequence (open = open, 2nd pos. = 2nd valve, 3rd pos. = 1st valve, 4th pos. = 1st & 2nd valves, etc.) It works really well and I can use alto sax music from the Real Book etc. without any hassell. What are your thoughts, Michael?

[@mymusicsavvy]

I think that if your mind works that way, go for it! When I started out on alto, I knew that I'd be playing bass clef non-transposed music. So I had to develop the ability to hit the pitches as I saw them on the trombone music, which was written for tenor. I lead a big band next to a guy in the trombone section (2nd chair) who is principly a trumpet player. He makes those instant transpositions from the valves to slide. I take my hat off to his ability to do that as he improvises. If your group is ever missing an alto sax or trumpet, you can easily sit in for them!!

[@johnpiettro4644]

Could you please clarify that? If you read the Eb Alto sax parts which is logical since Altobone is basically the same pitch range and it's in Eb - why not to treat the Altobone simply as a transposing instrument? Or is that what you actually mean? I ask because you mentioned a Bb slide trumpet but I would expect you thinking a Eb slide trumpet. Or am I totally off?

[@НикЛог-у2ж]

really good video! please tell, what microphone are you use?

[@mymusicsavvy]

I use a Neumann M149. I've had it for probably 25 years and it really allows me to capture the essence of my alto trombone sound.

[@НикЛог-у2ж]

Thank You! now I'm in search of microphone for brass instruments, I think to take one of this.

[@samorioussealey8267]

that solo at the beginning tho what key was sounds smooth man lol

[@zadigolindecifrabileironia5932]

Hi, I'm a trumpet player I got a Moz and I'm starting to play, i have many difficulties in finding information about the alto... Can you please tell me where are the seven positions for the alto trombone? I mean centimeters .. thank you!

[@mymusicsavvy]

I don't recommend finding the positions through measurement since every horn is slightly different and because each note has its own space. For example, C3 (middle C) will be in a slightly different place if it is the fifth of an F major triad than if it is the major third of an Ab major triad (slightly lower). In the world of trombone, we make those adjustments with the slide length. I have a book called Alto Trombone Savvy that you can find at musicsavvy.com/alto-trombone-savvy/. It is in alto and bass clef although I always recommend bass clef. I also created a PDF for you of the position chart in the book. It does not have measurements but it does have the position numbers 1-7. Because I suggest using your ear to confirm the correct placement of the slide, the book contains many audio files to play with as you develop your ear for the positions. You can download the position chart here: www.dropbox.com/s/ixv6ctyic3zbdz3/Alto-Trombone-Savvy-Pages-18-19.pdf?dl=1

[@zadigolindecifrabileironia5932]

@@mymusicsavvy Thank you, but I'm not interested in buying a method book, I already have my own. Finding an app and study with a virtual piano is easy but the information I'm looking for is not included and a set of numbers is the only catalyst I need at this stage.

[@mdbenge]

Who do you adjust your nose floor? When your just talking I hear a ton of white noise but when you are playing the white noise goes away.

[@mymusicsavvy]

Because when I talked, I was going through through the mic in the camera 6 feel away. When I played, I was playing into the Neumann mic which was connected to my Apollo converter. I never wanted to record the trombone from the room and camera mic because I want to give you a clear sound - no noise and a good quality fidelity. Since this video, I've upgraded to a high-end Rode brand lavalier (lapel) mic which greatly reduces the noise from my talking and makes my voice much clearer - much less room ambiance. I cringe when I hear the audio from these early videos of mine but, hey, life is about constant and never ending improvement, right??!! Thanks for the good question.

[@mdbenge]

@@mymusicsavvy Thank you for getting back to me. I figured you were using two different mics. For your bone mic, do you get any room noise at at? I watched your your video on how you eq your trombone and you mic set up. It appears you don't do anything other than run a high pass filter sweep to about 100k. I know mics have a ton to do with everything. I am trying to record from home and build a little home studio with this quarantine. Right now I only have a sure KSM32 which is my live mic. I get a great sound but there is floor noise. The room I choose to pretty dry so I am wondering if it the mic of something I am doing.

[@mymusicsavvy]

@@mdbenge I am using a very high end mic - a Neumann M149. It has been my recording sound for close to 30 years. But you should test to see where your noise is coming from. With your mic disconnected from the system, put headphones on and listen for the noise. That Sure mic shouldn't be generating that much noise. If you still hear it, then it could be your A/D converter or mic preamp if they are separate. If you disconnect your converter or mic pre (whichever is next in the signal chain), do you still hear noise? You just need to work backwards through your signal chain to find the culprit. As I wrote above, the culprit of the noise in my video was the built-in camera mic, which I would expect.

[@mdbenge]

@@mymusicsavvy I think it might be my interface...I am using a Native instruments Komplete but I am going to be upgrading to an Apollo Twin which will also give me access to those reverb and compression plug in's you are using. All my cables are mogami. Eventually I am hoping to get either a Coles 4308 or and AEA R84. but one thing at a time.

[@mymusicsavvy]

@@mdbenge Good for you. I'm a big fan of Apollo.

[@jordanclarke1680]

Maybe this is a dumb question, but are the positions the same as tenor? and is the music in the same clef and do you have to transpose it?

[@jonathans1612]

Alto Trombones in an orchestral setting will almost always be in Alto clef, and Noah is right, it is a fourth up.