First Habits:: More Than a WarmupBass trombone
No place, , United States
Publisher: Hornbone Press
Date of Publication: 2021
URL: http://www.hornbonepress.com
Method book. 240 pages.
Primary Genre: Study Material - method
Secondary Genre: Study Material - etude
Dr. Edwards is currently Professor of Trombone at Arizona State University. He has an extensive and versatile professional background. His pedagogical methods have become mainstays of our teaching studios.This is the bass trombone “twin” of the tenor trombone version. While the two books are organized under the same outline, there seems to be subtle additions in the newer bass trombone text that are added to the tenor trombone edition. Dr. Edwards has edited the tenor exercises to better fit the range and in some cases better keys for the bass trombonist.
As you would expect from Dr. Edwards’ books, everything is first class: printing, sound files, organization, explanations, presentation of new ideas, and of course the content! His description of First Habits reads as follows:
I have wanted to write a warm/up fundamentals book for a long time. I’ve sketched exercises for as long as I’ve been teaching. Frankly, I’ve been afraid to write such a book because: (1) I keep revising my own warm-up and (2) I may think of other fundamentals exercises that should have been included. That’s why you see a version date under the title. That’s the latest version of this book. The first version dates from May, 2021.
Those who purchase this book will be, upon request, eligible for free downloads of the revised versions should they occur.
This book is long enough that a printed version is impractical. If you wish to have a paper copy, I suggest you print and bind the needed pages. Most print shops offer inexpensive binding. As always, please don’t distribute copies of this. It represents years of work.
For portions of this book, I have created play-along tracks which I share on my website: TromboneZone.org. You are welcome to download them. Small portions of this book are adapted from some of my other books such as Trombone Craft or The Intermediate Trombonist.
This extensive 240 page book is divided into four large sections. The opening statement by the author gives us the overarching aim/theme: What’s the key first habit? Playing with a resonant sound and musical direction. Everything we do should support that!
The four large sections include the following: First Habits Warmup; Warm-Up Variations; Focus Areas; Love Songs and Pirate Songs. It proceeds through the following playing categories: Air/Buzz; Easy Resonance; Five Notes Down; First Slurs; Range Stretch; Note Placement and Musical Patterns. For more insights on this project I suggest consulting Karl Hinterbichler’s detailed summary of First Habits for tenor trombone, published in the January 2022 ITA Journal, Volume 50, Number 1, as they are constructed alike.
I have been a student of the trombone since c.1961... Most of us have had a private teacher or mentor who dictated our weekly/daily routine for us. The best thinkers in the trombone world like Kleinhammer, Yeo, Marstellar, Slokar, Bousfield, van Lier, van Dijk, etc. established the idea of what a daily routine should contain. Brad Edwards stands on the shoulders of these greats and adds an enormously useful, one volume text that covers an amazing amount of exercises for bass trombone. His gift to the serious teacher and player are his concepts and suggestions that will assist us in finding our own personal routine. The devil, as we all know it, is in the planning and organization of our sacred practice time. His logical approach to organizing our time is worth the price of the book!