TromboneChat

Playing this beautiful piece for 4th concert. Any comments on where to breathe in the string of pedal a flats and jumping in and out of pedal range. I find I need to breathe every 2 to 4 beats. Anyone have a recording of the bass part?

I'll give you the same suggestion I gave to a tuba player playing the Tchaikovsky "Romeo and Juliet" (with a 30 second note). Find places where you are covered and breathe there. Strategy overcomes lung capacity.

Yeah, this is a challenge -- especially to play the required dynamics down there and not fall over from oxygen deprivation. It would be a lot easier on a tuba. It's going in and out of the range at the right dynamics and articulation that's tough. It needs to be really soft. Just practice a lot.

Also, being old doesn't help. I used to do a lot better down there 20 years ago.

Eyedoc wrote: ↑Mon Jul 02, 2018 10:00 am Playing this beautiful piece for 4th concert. Any comments on where to breathe in the string of pedal a flats and jumping in and out of pedal range. I find I need to breathe every 2 to 4 beats. Anyone have a recording of the bass part?

You must be playing a different arrangement to the one our Brass Band plays. We played this piece on the weekend, and there are no pedals in my part.

Are we talking about the Paul Lavender concert band arrangement? It's been a while, but my recollection is that the 3rd/bass trombone part doubles the tuba part quite a bit, and I let the tuba/string bass sound predominate.

Yes, the Paul Lavender transcription for concert band. In the middle of the piece, it builds to forte with a string of pedal A flats and other beautiful notes from mid staff to pedal G. With the positive comments from the 1st trumpet in front of me, I will do my best to inhale deeply and play an easy forte knowing the tuba will help carry over my frequent breaths.

I'm thinking a forte will be too loud there. I don't have access to the part at the moment, but it does double the tuba a lot and you don't want to have the bass trombone cut through all of that and sound harsh. But I suppose this depends partly on how the conductor wants to present the piece. Unfortunately, I don't think the tuba can successfully obscure the distinctive timbre of a bass trombone, and especially those pedals. Better to breathe as you need to and not worry about it. If you have to separate the notes a bit, go with it. There really isn't much of an alternative.