Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1908-07-30
PLAYING A TROMBONE
AsRather Soft Snap Lester Peterman
Seems to Think. The Pupil
Thought Otherwise.

the band stopped to recuperate he beck
oned to Lester, who works the loose
horn, and ordered two mere bottles of
Lewis spring water.
"My name is Bings," said the man
with the cherry colored hair. zone of
my lungs is trying to quit work, and
the doctor advises me to break up it's
shiftless habit by blowing brass. The
careless way you yank that pump horn
looks good, and | want you to put me
next"
"What do you want to know.n' ask
ed Peter
Gust ,hint about how you handle
that wind machine so tiuently."
"The trombone is very simple re-
piled the musiker, wiping his mouth
which was covered with foam from
| Clear Lake water. ''rhe slide is divid-
ed intosseven shifts, or positions, about
three inches apart. Starting with the
lowest note lin the first position-the
slidesclosed-you get B flat. Push out
the slide and you hit successfully A,
A flat, G, f sharp, f and E."
"Thats only seven notes" objected
Bings.
"1es. : Getting the rest depends on
how you quicker your lips. In the first
position yousfcan make, figuring up
ward, b flat, f, b flat, ID, F, b flat and
Q. Insthe second you obtain A, e. A,
G sharp, Is, G and A. The third gives
yousA flat, + flat, A flat, G, Z. flat and
A flat Itsworks out the same all the
way down. There are highernotes that
didn'tI mention, but you won't want
to monkey with them. But good
playershasa compass of more than three
!octaves.n
! Bings looked troubled
SLet me see," he said. "You start in
the.first position with b flato"
eyes" repliedsPeter. ''That is, pro-
videdsyouEare playing in the bass clef.
In the.treble clef the first position is C.7
"What' exclaimed Bimgs. cts one
note one time,and another anotheroa'
SIN the treble cleft" explained the
musician, "the trombone is a b flat
horn.sg In the bass clef it is G horn.n
Bings mopped his brow.
"Say THAT again, will youon he APP
pealed.
"Don'tEy outsee?" came the answer,
'when the first position is c it's a b
tlat.horn. When the same shift is b
flat it IS G. horn
Bings unhuttoned his coat
"lou may call this thing simple, y he
said, 'but if it is, I'll give myself up to
the nearest asylum. You are talking
direct opposites."
Peter grinned.
"We'll take one thing at time,' he
said. "Insgetting at what b flat horn
is let's consider cornet
Let's, if it simpler.' said Bings
hopefully and signaled for Charles Mil
liman to come over, to whom he ex-
planned the tangle
flat horn" explained Charles, except
when it's in A.
Bings gave sickly smile.
'The lowest note on cornet when
open when no keys are pressed down
lis really B flat" says Charles. ''But
it is called c."
Chat don't make it c." said Bings-
"For all practical purposes it does"
l,a e.
doing this, but it's complicated and at
present Pm keeping to simple facts
eyes, indeed, murmured Bings
'In an orchestra, for instance, when
the violins are playing in c natural the
cornetst score is two semitones high
er and is thus written in ID, or two.
sharps. When the violins are playing
in ID, the cornet player is footing in E,
or four sharps. But if things kept on
in this way the cornetist would soon be
lost in sharps and double sharps, so he
slips AN a crook on his instrument.
That raises the signature three semi
tones. When the iiddles play in A, or
three sharps, the cornetist is blowing
along the easy path of G natural.
"I4ook here said Bing. off my wife.
is playing Under the Pink Lilac Bush
ON the piano, couldn't | play with her
from the song score??'
"Not unless you can mentally trans
pose as you go along said Charles.
"The system looks queer at first, but
it's logical. It's purpose is to bring the
same music within the natural compass
of all the instruments of an orchestra. -
"But you won't have to bother your
head about any of this" interrupted
Lester, ''as trombone music is nova
days always written in the bass clef.''
''Ihen what have you been talking
about it for and mixing me up?'' shout
ed Bings, jumping up.
"What are you getting mad about?"
asked the trombonist