I work hard at trying to play musically. I actually spend a lot of time figuring out how best to play slow, lyrical things like a ballad. Playing a ballad or other lyrical piece well is probably the hardest thing I ever do. And when I succeed at these things I feel pretty accomplished, and I hope other people notice these victories.
But most of the feedback I get is for playing high notes and ripping off fast passages. One high note gets a far bigger response than a beautiful ballad. I transcribed the slow and soulful Patrick Williams tune, "Times," and brought it into a group to be played. The ensemble sounds good on some pretty ambitious stuff, but on "Times" they stumbled, and I told them, "This is the hardest tune you will ever play in this group," and I meant it. That kind of thing is really difficult to pull off well.
People seem to love high notes and fast notes, though. That's kind of weird, right? Why do you think that is? Why do we love "high and fast" more than just about anything else? And do you think that's just a "trombone thing," or does that phenomenon run across other instruments and instrument families, too?
