Review

Toby Oft
The Music Method: Unleash Your Artistry

Arranged by Shawn W. Davern


Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Publisher: Cherry Classics Music
Date of Publication: 2023
URL: http://www.cherryclassics.com
Language: English

290 pages

Primary Genre: Study Material - method
Secondary Genre: Study Material - etude

How many trombone teachers, after exhorting a student to “sing more beautifully” while playing a Bordogni Vocalise, are met by a blank stare. Who sings today, anyway? Community choruses, singing around a campfire, church choirs, and even congregational singing in faith communities are foreign to many people today. The “singing approach” that was championed by Emory Remington (professor of trombone at Eastman School of Music from 1921 to 1971) existed in a world that was well-acquainted with participatory singing, not the passive, on-demand consumption of electronic media performances that dominate our cultural life today.
With The Music Method, Toby Oft, principal trombonist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra since 2008, aims to elevate musical expression among trombonists by promoting superb singing by notable artists. To this end, Oft has assembled a helpful collection of advice and music designed to help trombonists improve various skills. Principal among them is musical expression, something that many players only add to their playing after the overlays of technical competence, articulation, and dynamics. While Oft’s book discusses and provides exercises to improve those overlays, it is the process of “shifting our focus to inspiring artistry and adaptable musicianship” that is at the core of this book.
Most of the 290 pages of this PDF-only book (there is no print edition) consist of transcriptions for trombone of well-known songs for voice. Each song—originally written for baritone, tenor, alto, or soprano—is printed in its original key with text in the original language and in English. The soprano songs are transposed down an octave to fit in the normal range of the trombone. For each song, QR codes are provided so individuals can access a recorded performance—on Apple Music (which requires a paid subscription) and Spotify (no payment necessary)—by a notable vocalist in Oft’s own curated playlists. After several opening pages of advice on his “Three Ts”—Time, Tune, and Tone—and an unpacking of the inspiring artistry and adaptable musicianship concepts, Oft encourages players to listen to, buzz along, then play along with the over 200 pages of songs. The playlists are superb, and they feature some of the most notable vocalists of our time including Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Thomas Quasthoff, Ian Bostridge, Renée Fleming, Barbara Bonney, and Kathleen Battle. The book is worth purchasing if only for access to these superb playlists, but if trombonists actually take the time to listen, study, and play along with these performances, they will be rewarded with what are essentially master classes on musical expression by truly exceptional vocal artists. In short, we trombonists will have greater understanding on how to make our trombone sing more beautifully. Joannès Rochut would be proud.
In addition to the songs, The Music Method includes about 30 pages of exercises of long tones, flexibility and natural slurs, major (but no minor) and chromatic scale etudes, and advice on executing lip trills. While the focus of the book is on lyrical artistry, this section contains important glosses from Toby Oft that left me wanting more. We can hope that he will follow up with another book that will further unpack his “Three Ts” and provide trombonists with an even more in-depth look at additional aspects of trombone pedagogy.
Toby Oft is an exponent of the alto trombone so it is not surprising to find a section of songs notated in alto clef along with some specific advice on approaching the alto trombone. Bass trombonists as a particular category of player, however, are left out of the book, although all trombonists would benefit from playing these songs in both the printed range and down an octave. A brief section that includes two ensemble pieces arranged for trombones (“Mephistopheles’ Song” from Hector Berlioz’s The Damnation of Faust, and J. S. Bach’s “Frohe Hirten, eilt, ach eilet” from his Christmas Oratorio—the Bach is artfully arranged from the original version for flute, tenor, and basso continuo, and it would fit nicely on a trombone recital) concludes the book.
This is a massive tome that is a welcome addition to any trombonist’s library (and tablet). The musical content is rendered in a readable size, and the few quibbles about the layout (some songs do not have their first line indented; some QR codes are very small, but all of the codes work) are inconsequential and do not detract from the book’s usefulness. There are two instrumental pieces among the songs—the playlists include outstanding performances of a Handel violin sonata performed by Riccardo Minasi and Mendelssohn’s beautiful Song Without Word, op. 109 with Yo-Yo Ma on cello—but in a book about musical expression and style, a brief discussion of so-called “period interpretation” might help readers who are confused by Minasi’s lack of vibrato. But this is picking nits. Trombonists are the richer for Toby Oft’s The Music Method. Imagine what would happen to trombone artistry if all of us thought of ourselves first as artists rather than trombone technicians. The Music Method helps us get there. Highly recommended.