# of Students Taught: 8
Ages: 2 frosh, 1 soph, 3 juniors, 2 seniors
Instrument: 6 tenor, 2 bass trombones
Materials: scales, tunes, & ear training; solo contest music, audition music,
Fundamentals covered: playing with piano accompaniment, intonation, articulation
Memorable moment: I had one lesson where the pianist for my student’s contest solo joined us, and I listened to them play through. It wasn’t perfect, but I thought for a first run it went decently! It was after that I found out she had never played anything with piano before, and I really wouldn’t have guessed that. She kept good time, stuck to her musical guns, and they finished the piece together. We spent the next half hour working out the kinks and getting the piece performance ready, and by the end of the lesson it was really sounding good.
Takeaways: Chamber music is such an essential skill for musicians. Being able to coordinate with other players develops so many good musical habits. And being the featured or solo voice means you have to learn how to take charge of the direction, and be confident in your performance.
