women trombonist's challenges

[Tbonegal]

Hi,
I'm new to this forum
I played trombone in school from 4-11th grades and then put it down until age 54 when my last child went to college . I've now been playing 14 years with lessons for most of that time. I play in a year round Big Band, academic year Wind Ensemble and summer Community Band. I practice at least 5 days/week. Playing provides great joy in my life

There are challenges though.
My career is in health care and many of the other musicians are music professionals or have been playing all their lives. Almost all of the trombonists are men. They don't have the breath challenges I have(I am smaller than all of them) and they seem have more confidence( I work on that all the time). So that makes site reading hard for me. I can play almost anything if I can bring it home and woodshed.

I would like to chat with other women who play, either professional or casual musicians.

Thank you

[Joe]

There are many excellent women trombonists, see https://orchestramag.com/5-best-female- ... ould-know/
Here in UK this first trombone in the top rated Brighouse and Rastrick is a slim young woman. I saw her playing in in a concert in Truro this summer.
Keep up the good work! Precise breath control and sharp tonguing will compensate for size and strength!

[Joe]

Another famous lady trombone who played in Ivy Benson’s all women band: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheila_Tracy

[Kingfan]

Jennifer Wharton is a professional bass trombone player doing Broadway, teaches at the university level, composes and also has her own trombone group, Bongasm.https://jenniferwharton.com/. Check her out on social media too.

[Posaunus]

Here in UK this first trombone in the top rated Brighouse and Rastrick is a slim young woman.

Had to look this up. "Brighouse and Rastrick" is a top=rated British brass band based in West Yorkshire.

[marccromme]

Hi Tbonegal, I know the feeling, being 169 cm high an a lightweight of 62 kg, playing bass trombone and Eb tuba as my main instruments.

Yes, the other low brass players are larger than me, even my female trombone and tuba fellows, thus having larger lung volumen.

But. .. practising efficient tone production, and playing with a lot of brilliant overtones makes my sound larger and more voluminous with the air I have.

I am sure you will learn to max your sound while preserving air too. .. in very taxing passages, I will breathe a bit more often than the others, but that is the only difference.

Try to practice sound efficiency while economizing unnecessary air loss, and you will be fine, but don't be afraid to zip in an extra breath we hen you need it. ..

[StephenK]

Bones Apart are a very well known all female trombone quartet in the UK. I heard them again last week at the British Trombone Society Festival in Birmingham Uk, they have been going for 25 years with some personnel changes. They are are a great bunch, maybe contact them?
www.bonesapart.com also on FB.

[PhilTrombone]

I would hardly attribute "sight reading" difficulties to one's gender!
And regarding physical size and gender: There are tons of small folk playing bass trombone and tuba, as well as many top flight female trombone players.

Perhaps these reading tips might help a bit; They are so simple to do.

First time for any piece of music, I go through the following checklist before playing:

• What's the name of the piece of music? (ie make sure you are playing the same thing as the rest of the group )

• Understand the roadmap (Repeats, Da Capo's and DS's, any cuts).

• Clef: Bass: Tenor? Alto? Any changes?

• Meter: Check time signature and tempo, and scan for changes in the piece.

• Key: What key is it in? Where do key changes happen throughout?

• Pauses: are there any fermatas, railroad tracks?

• Above and below the staff: Check for volume markings, and articulation indications ( staccato, marcato, legato phrases, etc).

It's a good practice to do this with everything, no matter how many times one plays something. You will have confidence in the piece, and not really be seeing it for the first time. When I fail to do the above, I will surely make some mistakes.

Another reading tip:
Learn to "read ahead" during performance. As you play any given bar, be looking ahead to the next measure.

[Matt K]

There are a surprising number of ways to breathe that are counterproductive. We had labels for them when I was learning how to teach choir, which never made much sense to me; my recollection is that women tend to do "shoulder" breathing (and, on the flip side, men tend to do "stomach" breathing)—neither of which is correct. Physiologically, there's not much difference between male and female lungs. So if you feel like you aren't as able to keep up, it' very likely you are breathing wrong. Even if you DIDN'T feel that way, it's likely; I've seen figures as high as 80% of people do not have proper breathing technique.

Fortunately, it's not that hard to learn. And if you want help, you don't need someone who is a trombone expert to teach you... just someone who is familiar with proper breathing. The choral world seems to talk about this a lot more than other disciplines, which kind of makes sense.

[AndrewMeronek]

They don't have the breath challenges I have(I am smaller than all of them) and they seem have more confidence( I work on that all the time). So that makes site reading hard for me. I can play almost anything if I can bring it home and woodshed.

I have the good fortune to be friends with trumpeter Mike Williams and he's one of the best sight-readers I've ever seen.

However, even he has had to think about making some adjustments as he has gotten older. The biggest thing is that he has become something of an avid collector of music stand lights. He finds that getting a really consistent, even spread of light helps a lot.

[Savio]

Hi,
I'm new to this forum
I played trombone in school from 4-11th grades and then put it down until age 54 when my last child went to college . I've now been playing 14 years with lessons for most of that time. I play in a year round Big Band, academic year Wind Ensemble and summer Community Band. I practice at least 5 days/week. Playing provides great joy in my life

There are challenges though.
My career is in health care and many of the other musicians are music professionals or have been playing all their lives. Almost all of the trombonists are men. They don't have the breath challenges I have(I am smaller than all of them) and they seem have more confidence( I work on that all the time). So that makes site reading hard for me. I can play almost anything if I can bring it home and woodshed.

I would like to chat with other women who play, either professional or casual musicians.

Thank you

I'm a man (62) but still feel familiar with your post. I think we all have this challenges more or less? Breathing, confidence and more. Both men and women. About confidence I believe it's easier for men to pretend a high level of confidence. Maybe we are not that honest about our self as women often are? My wife tell me so.

My thoughts about breathing has been a confusing journey. So many theories about this subject. When I was studying music long time ago there was so many wild theories. I remember one; "breath in first from the back, then the stomach and then up front." My god, I didn't understand a thing about it. Ok I noticed as I get older I don't have the volume as before. But I think even though we older ones doesn't have the same physics anymore, we should simplify the breathing questions.

And I think breathing is very connected to embouchure. Efficient embouchure will make the air much more efficient. My experience is everything is more effectively when the embouchure works at its best. Air, intonation, rhythm, musical energy. Breathing however is something we all do naturally all the time. I teach a lot of kids and body attitude, standing right, sitting right is important.

Anyway Tbonegal, I feel a little familiar with you, and as you say; Playing provides great joy in my life

Leif

[JohnL]

They don't have the breath challenges I have(I am smaller than all of them)

I haven't watched the entire thing, but this ITF video by Katy Jones looks promising.

[Posaunus]

I have the good fortune to be friends with trumpeter Mike Williams and he's one of the best sight-readers I've ever seen.
However, even he has had to think about making some adjustments as he has gotten older. The biggest thing is that he has become something of an avid collector of music stand lights. He finds that getting a really consistent, even spread of light helps a lot.

This stand light produces a very even diffuse light across 2 (or even 3) pages.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09YRWWW7L/?c ... dp_it&th=1

Color choice (amber / white) and brightness variable over a wide range. My wife recently acquired one, and is quite pleased. There are other brands that are similar.

[AndrewMeronek]

This stand light produces a very even diffuse light across 2 (or even 3) pages.

That's not actually the one he considers his best, but I'm pretty sure he has it.

[tbdana]

Hi,
I'm new to this forum
I played trombone in school from 4-11th grades and then put it down until age 54 when my last child went to college . I've now been playing 14 years with lessons for most of that time. I play in a year round Big Band, academic year Wind Ensemble and summer Community Band. I practice at least 5 days/week. Playing provides great joy in my life

There are challenges though.
My career is in health care and many of the other musicians are music professionals or have been playing all their lives. Almost all of the trombonists are men. They don't have the breath challenges I have(I am smaller than all of them) and they seem have more confidence( I work on that all the time). So that makes site reading hard for me. I can play almost anything if I can bring it home and woodshed.

I would like to chat with other women who play, either professional or casual musicians.

Thank you

Hi! There are a few women here on this forum, though I suppose I'm the most prolific poster here. I'd love to commiserate with you, and I'm going to send you email. FYI I, too, am 68, and I took 30 years off of playing, and just came back to it about a year and a half ago.

I get your gender and age related breath issues, confidence, and sight reading. Despite Phil's attempt to mansplain to you about sight reading (and he gave some really good tips!), what you describe are real challenges. Especially breathing. Confidence is another real thing that guys don't always understand, or at least not in the same way.

Stick around here! Post and comment! You'll find that this place can be incredibly supportive of you, at least as a trombonist if not always as a woman. And most of the men here are real allies. It's a good place. Talk to us!

Dana

[tbdana]

I have the good fortune to be friends with trumpeter Mike Williams and he's one of the best sight-readers I've ever seen.
However, even he has had to think about making some adjustments as he has gotten older. The biggest thing is that he has become something of an avid collector of music stand lights. He finds that getting a really consistent, even spread of light helps a lot.

This stand light produces a very even diffuse light across 2 (or even 3) pages.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09YRWWW7L/?c ... dp_it&th=1

Color choice (amber / white) and brightness variable over a wide range. My wife recently acquired one, and is quite pleased. There are other brands that are similar.

I have that stand light and it's okay, but it's not the greatest. While I still have that one, I have swapped it out for the Aria Forte. It is expensive but it can't be beat, and if you have reading or vision issues, you don't want to compromise with a cheap light. This one is the best I've ever seen for practical usage.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09MMG8NDD?re ... title&th=1



But to respond to Andrew, in the end, sight reading is its own skill, and while you have to be able to see the music (duh!), just seeing the music well isn't going to help sight reading. Only the right kind of practice will do that.

[StarBone]

Love to see other women who play trombone on the forum. Great thread.

[Matt K]

Depending on your demands, it might be feasible to scan everything and use a tablet, or perhaps even engrave everything. I had a few recurring gigs over the years and found it 100% worth it to write out the parts in, at the time Sibelius, so that I didn't have to read faded photocopy ink, multiple peoples' erase marks, etc. I think that gig took about an hour to put everything down but it made things 10x easier. Made life easier for everyone else too. There's a lot of really bad engraving out there, which further compounds the reading problems you'll get with a copy of a copy of a copy of a copy of a copy that some gigs tend to have.

Even on my smaller iPad screen, a well engraved work is substantially easier to read than paper in most lighting situations I've encountered.