2019-2020 TMEA All-State Trombone Etude #2

Former TMEA All-State Musician and Pursuit of Music's own Ben Nobles performs the 2019-2020 All-State Trombone selection #2. Please visit pursuitofmusic.com in the coming weeks for a full lesson-plan accompanied by practice videos to help you make all-state this year! A huge thank you to Brook Mays Music for their support in the creation of these videos. Please visit them at brookmays.com to shop for all of your instrumental needs. Please consider subscribing to our Youtube channel if this video has helped you out. Selection 2 Page(s): 66 Key: Etude Title: No. 86 Tempo: Eighth Note = 88-96 Play from Beginning to end. Errata: Measure 28: change the B on the 4th eighth note beat (the first note of the second rhythmic figure) to a low E on the first ledger line below the staff. Performance Guide: C-sharp minor is a friendly key for the trombone. The slide movement through scale patterns and arpeggios is smooth and physically efficient. The key also fits uniquely within the trombones practical range which allows for maximum melodic content. Blazhevich beautifully utilizes these qualities in Etude #86 by showcasing the full range and expressive potential of the trombone. This etude contains a wealth of musical expression, and players will need to navigate a complex relationship between melody, rhythm, and phrasing. The melody lies within a rhythmic framework of syncopation that often places the melodic weight on either the 3rd or 6th eighth-note of the measure, offset from the stronger pulses on the 1st and 4th eighth-notes. This ‘hidden pulse creates an illusion of melodic freedom when performed accurately. A fast tempo is not a hallmark of this music. Keep the performance tempo near the indicated 96 bpm, and work for beauty, sustain, and phrasing. The con anima in m.1 is suggestive of an “animated” musical style in which the melody is intentionally hurried or slowed, but I do not recommend taking too much liberty with timing--at least not until the rhythm is absolutely securely performed in strict time. Players should try to achieve the con anima feel through a liberal use of expressive phrasing and a broad dynamic range. Players should use a metronome with subdivided eighth-notes from the very first reading. Once rhythmic accuracy is confident and exact, players will then need to incorporate the use of appropriate, yet expressive rubato. For example, add an organic tapering of the tempo in the cadential figures at m.4 and m.18. Also, adding a very subtle accelerando in the arpeggios at the beginnings of phrases can help to provide the con anima feel. In mm.26-27, take your time through the arpeggios using expressive rubato and tonal sustain in order to outline the implied chordal harmonic motion. The arpeggios throughout the etude serve to give direction and ‘animation’ to the music. Even more critically, the arpeggios function as harmony to drive the melodic line. Each note should be intoned smoothly with controlled pitch and your absolute best and most consistent tone quality. Practice the arpeggios slowly. Work for beauty, sustain, control, and pitch. Measures 28-29 are likely the most technically demanding of the etude—difficult, but not impossible, It is critical to make intervallic leaps such as these part of your everyday warm-up and fundamental training. However, in the context of the etude the best approach for achieving accuracy is to prioritize the ‘horizontal’ melodic line over the ‘vertical’ challenges created by the leaps. Focus on the flow of sound through each pitch. This infers harmonic tension/release. One could imagine how a great cellist could perform this music with perfect beauty and free of any technical issues. Work for that! Russian music is highly expressive, so performing this type of music in strict time without flow or dynamics shaping will give the music a sterile and flat sound. Conversely, overdoing the rubato and being haphazard with time will give the music a contrived and insincere feel. Players who perform the music with beauty of tone as the priority, with proper timing and phrasing, and with a full expressive range of dynamics will be in strong contention for advancement throughout the TMEA audition process. Note: measure 28, the B on the 4th eighth note beat (the first note of the second rhythmic figure) should be a low E on the first ledger line below the staff.