The Art of Bass Trombone

You probably thought this was going to be a gold mine of knowledge about bass trombone. You probably expected me to explain the intricacies of playing. Maybe you thought I'd be talking about articulation and embouchure. Or perhaps slide speed.

Nah who am I kidding? You weren't expecting that.

And you shouldn't.

Those of you who have participated in an orchestral brass section understand that it can be extremely dull at times. The strings tend to have more music and are therefore rehearsed more. this gives the trombonists a lot of time to goof off.

I decided to channel my boredom into something that wasn't disruptive after getting in trouble for writing a blog during rehearsal.

The rules were that the second trombone player Michal (yeah that's his name. foreign or something) would come up with a theme for the rehearsal and I would take that theme and draw it. Occasionally he would add in a few doodles interpretations of his own. Here are the results in order of rehearsal.

This was the first drawing so the theme was created halfway through. I started by drawing Johnparker who is our 1st trumpet. The theme later turned into "circles". Michal drew the circle of 5ths and bomb. we used this page all semester instead of writing in the letters.

The pig theme. Note the trough of pigs. 

Snails. There were many puns. Michal drew the snail in the middle. 

I missed an orchestra rehearsal. Michal drew a corn in my absence. JohnParker named it Akbar. In memory of Akbar the corn.

The ninja theme.

Unda Da C. Drawn on the back of a euphonium players recital program. That's a pretty cool swordfish.

Pirates. There's a pirate in a bottle. 

Magic. Michal is good with themes. 

That's it for Spring 2012. Perhaps I will add some more drawings after a few gigs this summer. If not, you'll just have to wait til Fall.