Complete Method for Trombone and Euphonium: A Review

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John Seidel

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Arban Complete Method for Trombone and
John Seidel
Euphonium, Commentary by Joseph Alessi and
Other Review Dr. Brian Bowman. 396 pages, spiral bound.
© 2000 Encore Music Publishers
Articles
Search the I was introduced to Arban's Famous
Library Method (Complete!) in junior high school
by the late Raymond Shenk, Principal
Download a
PDF of this Trombone and President of the Ringgold
article Band in Reading, Pennsylvania and
Second Trombone in the Reading
Symphony Orchestra. As is, or was, the
case with thousands of other young
players, Arban was the core of my study. I
remain grateful to Mr. Shenk for many
things, but primarily for helping me build
a base of technical skills at a young age
that I can rely on to this day.
In my own teaching, I stress the importance of establishing that fundamental
core of technique through daily routine practice in Arban's, combined with other
technical etudes and studies. I have, of course, heard many fine teachers and
players say "Oh, I never use Arban's--it's so unmusical." These statements,
coming as they do from respected members of the profession, have certainly
given me pause, but it seems to me that any of this stuff is as musical as you
make it. Arban can be played musically, and by the same token Kopprasch,
Tyrell, Slama, et al can be played quite un-musically. Obviously, Arban was not
Schubert or Brahms (do compare, however, No.13 in Arban's Studies on the
Slur with the opening of Brahms' Serenade No.2!), but many of the studies do
have a readily identifiable phrase structure that lends itself to elementary study
of form and how it relates to musical performance. Further, Arban contains
those virtuoso theme and variations solos in the back of the book from which
the highly regarded solos of Arthur Pryor, Gardell Simons and others are
directly descended.
Obviously, I believe Arban's to be a valuable treasure, if not the crown jewel, in

http://www.trombone.org/articles/library/arbanmethod-rev.asp (1 of 2) [5/9/2001 3:04:35 PM]

Complete Method for Trombone and Euphonium: A Review

the literature of trombone pedagogy. Imagine, then, my delight in learning of a

new, expanded edition of Arban with commentary by Brian Bowman and
Joseph Alessi, two of the brightest stars in today's low brass world. As much as
I liked the old Arban's, it was definitely in need of some work. The commentary
by Simone Mantia and Charles Randall, while often amusing and actually not
always that far off the mark, is obviously quite out of date. Carl Fischer, the
publisher, did try to update the book somewhat by the addition of commentary
by Alan Raph, however Raph's thoughts were merely added and did not
supplant those of Mantia and Randall.
In this new edition, published by Encore Music, the comments of Messrs. Alessi
and Bowman are presented unencumbered by pre-existing editorial material.
Both of these gentlemen bring impeccable credentials to the task, and their
comments provide wonderful insights into each of their individual approaches to
musical and technical matters. While the book is worth the money for these
alone, Encore has made a few other improvements as well. First of all, the
format is very clean and readable. All of the well-known misprints and
typographical errors of the Carl Fischer edition seem to have been corrected,
and while there may be some new ones, I am not aware of them. Suggestions for
alternate positions/fingerings have been left out completely which in my view,
is an improvement. In the Fischer edition, alternate positions were suggested
quite indiscriminately. It seems to me that the newer format allows for judicious
recommendations for position/fingering choices by the instructor/coach while
eliminating questionable recommendations or non-recommendations in places
where an alternate position would be a logical choice.
Encore has included some materials which previously were available only in the
trumpet book. These include the Duets (fun!), The Art of Phrasing (short tunes
for musical study), and additional theme and variation pieces at the back of the
book. Best of all, the book itself is spiral-bound so as to lay flat on the music
stand, a most welcome innovation!
Kudos to Encore Music Publishers, and to all those involved with this project.
While the concepts and exercises remain essentially unchanged, this new edition
is long overdue. Special recognition is due to Mr. Wesley Jacobs, Principal
Tuba of the Detroit Symphony and, according to Brian Bowman, publisher of
this volume. While the price is a little steep compared to the Carl Fischer edition
(which will still do the job, of course), there are, in my view, some substantial
improvements to format and readability, not to mention the commentary of
Bowman and Alessi that combine to make it definitely worth the extra twelve or
thirteen bucks.

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