During one of his master classes, an American classical trombonist Joe Alessi said that the reason some trombone players are successful while others are not is that those players are committed to singing on their instruments. In this article, we will break down what the singing sound really means and how to achieve it on your trombone.
What Singing Tone Really Means
The singing tone on the trombone is a sound that resembles a human voice. It sounds alive and expressive, with nothing feeling squeezed or forced. The singing tone is always centered and resonant with phrases that breathe. They change in dynamics and color the way vowels do in human speech. Instead of sounding just correct and flat, a singing tone creates intention and emotion, helping musicians capture listeners’ attention with a story through music.
Why You Should Care About Singing Tone
You may wonder why you need to care about singing if you just want to play the trombone. However, many jazz greats loved to listen to others singing and sing during their own lessons. And they did it for a specific reason.
A trombone itself makes a great sound, but if there is not a great singer behind, it limits what the musician can produce with the instrument. The truth is that audiences typically don’t care what model of the instrument you hold in your hands. They care about the story you tell with your music. And your human voice is a perfect instrument to do that.
6 Tips to Develop a Singing Sound on the Trombone
Now let’s move to practice.
Tip #1: Sing
Sing the parts of pieces, on which you’re currently working. Your goal is not to refine your voice to a perfect one — it’s all about the storytelling element of your singing. It’s also useful to record your singing. If you have such an opportunity, join your local choir to learn more about singing.
Tip#2: Connect Voice to Your Instrument
Once you pick up your trombone your mind should keep on singing loudly. Some music bloggers recommend checking out David Vining’s books, where he dwells deeper in that concept of singing notes while pulling the slide.
Tip#3: Study Great Singers
It’s impossible to become a jazz musician if you actually don’t listen to jazz recordings of other musicians. Joe Alessi recommends listening to singers to see what they do in terms of phrasing and get inspired by it. By exploring singers, you can dig deeper in what they do with their voice in order to tell a story. Pay attention to Luciano Pavarotti, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, and Maria Callas. Especially how masterfully they use leaps to increase the intensity of the phrases and create tension and release.
What distinguishes ordinary musicians from great ones is that the former play flat while the others kind of pull an elastic band using the leap at the last possible second. So, your goal of exploring singers’ styles is straightforward: get it into your ear and then copy it on your trombone.
Tip#4: Develop Vibrato
Many trombonists feel insecure about vibrato as they don’t know how exactly it is done except by using the slide. Actually, there are three types of this technique: slide vibrato, lip vibrato, and diaphragm vibrato.
Most trombonists use the combination of lip and slide vibrato, and that is a good starting point for beginners. Only a small number of players use diaphragm vibrato.
Start working on their vibrato by singing a single tone alongside a metronome. You should utilize vibrato in eighth notes and triplet eighths notes first, then move to sixteenth notes. The rule is that the lower you go, the slower and the wider your vibrato becomes.
Tip#5: Transpose Melodies by Ear
Transposing melodies through keys trains you to have a singing voice in your mind, tuned on. Take a few bars of the melody, go through several keys (at least five) chromatically or through the circle of fifths, or your preferred key. By the time you reach the fifth key, you can feel like you are already singing the melody from within, otherwise it doesn’t work. This technique really boosts your singing sound.
Tip#6: Care for Health
While working on your singing tone, don’t forget about healthy basics: a correct open posture, relaxed open breathing, and an embouchure that excludes excessive mouthpiece pressure. If you fail with these three basics, you end up with a very tense sound.
Additional Tips on Avoiding Common Mistakes
As a beginner, you may fall into a trap of mistakes, which may keep you from progress:
1. Hand Pressure. Pressure is known among players as the real enemy of music, preventing them from playing fluidly. Trombone players usually have pressure in areas where they hold their instrument. To make your grip more comfortable and prevent the instrument from slipping during performance or practice, you can use trombone neck and slide guards. These are specially designed wraps covering your instrument in areas where your hands come in contact with it.
2. Mouthpiece Pressure. Another area where trombone players have pressure is where they put it to their lips. However, once you have an awareness of the possibility of playing with pressure, you break this circle of mistakes. To work on your embouchure and break the habit of pressing the mouthpiece too tightly to your lips, use trombone pressure optimizers. Working with these tools, you can improve your embouchure technique and keep it harmless to your lips no matter how long you play.
3. Poor Posture. Your spine should be tall, not stiff. Whether sitting or standing, your weight stays balanced. Keep your shoulders relaxed, move the trombone to you — not the other way around.
4. Poor Breathing. Stay aware of your breath and how your ribcages move. Air should expand the lower ribs and back. Ensure you don’t lift the shoulders. Full, silent inhales give you time, control, and a stable sound, while shallow chest breathing limits volume and weakens your tone.
5. Incorrect Buzzing on the Mouthpiece. Your trombone is an amplifier of what goes on in your lips. Players tend to compensate for poor sound with pressure or squeezing, which makes notes crack and not hit properly at all. Spend some time with a piano to buzz pitches on the mouthpiece.
6. Bad Slide Technique. If your grip is heavy and you tend to do uneven movements, your intonation will definitely suffer, especially when you’re playing legato. If you feel like your slide doesn’t move smoothly, use slide lubricants.
7. Not Listening to Enough Music. If you focus just on theory and mechanics instead of sound, your body won’t know what to do to produce sound. Moreover, if you don’t listen to other musicians, you can’t figure out what sound you want.
Final Word
A singing tone on the trombone sounds like the instrument is breathing and speaking, not just producing notes. It’s your unique way of telling a story through music. You can learn it by singing phrases, exploring the technique used by the world’s greatest singers, developing vibrato, transposing melodies, and controlling your correct breathing, posture and buzzing. Proper tools and gear can also contribute to your progress. Explore our full collection of trombone accessories to refine your skills and improve comfort.
Having a good singing tone is impossible if you don’t keep your instrument in the proper condition. Here you can learn How to Clean and Lubricate Your Trombone Slide.
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