This is the first comprehensive study of the trombone in English. It covers the instrument, its repertoire, the way it has been played, and the social, cultural, and aesthetic contexts within which it has developed. The book explores the origins of the instrument, its invention in the fifteenth century, and its story up to modern times, also revealing hidden aspects of the trombone in different eras and countries. The book looks not only at the trombone within classical music but also at its place in jazz, popular music, popular religion, and light music. Trevor Herbert examines each century of the trombone's development and details the fundamental impact of jazz on the modern trombone. By the late twentieth century, he shows, jazz techniques had filtered into the performance idioms of almost all styles of music and transformed ideas about virtuosity and lyricism in trombone playing.

". . . a major contribution to cornett research and belongs in the library of every cornettist." —Historic Brass Society ". . . scrupulously detailed. . . The first successful attempt to provide a comprehensive reference book on the cornett and its music. Recommended for both upper-division undergraduate libraries and collections serving music scholars and performers." —Choice " . . . it will likely stand as the definitive bibliography of cornett music for many years." —Notes ". . . this is a groundbreaking study of the subject . . . likely to remain the only major study of the instrument and the music composed for it." —American Reference Books Annual ". . . every cornett player owes an immense debt of gratitude to [the authors and their assistants] for revealing such a wealth of performing opportunities . . ." —European Journal of Early Music The cornett is made of wood but has a brass cup mouthpiece and uses woodwind finger technique. Here the authors have compiled a bibliography of all extant sources of instrumental and vocal music which specify the cornett.

This new edition of The Keyed Bugle is an expansion rather than a revision of the first edition. The performance practice discussion has been extended to cater to the needs of the reader who wishes to learn the instrument. All chapters contain new information, and the chapters on Performers, Makers and Sellers have been extensively expanded. An additional chapter offers an explanation of the peculiarly distinct acoustics of keyed bugles and provides an analysis of construction styles employed by particular makers. After closely researching instruments that have been documented by the signatures of specific firms and comparing them with unmarked examples, the author enables readers to make confident observations on the nature of regional and manufacturer's styles. The new research in this area provides the groundwork for informed speculation about the origins of undocumented keyed bugles. This work puts the best of current research on the instrument into book form and provides the collector, performer, and serious music student with a clear picture of the instrument's history, repertoire, and technique.

The work of multiple scholars is combined in this single volume, bringing together in conversation the traditions of brass instrumentalism and jazz idiom. Early Twentieth-Century Brass Idioms: Art, Jazz, and Other Popular Traditions, edited by Howard T. Weiner, features articles by some of the most distinguished jazz and brass scholars and performers in the world. The topics covered span continents and decades and bridge gaps that until now remained uncrossed. Two primary themes emerge throughout the book and enter into dialogue with each other: the contribution brass performers made to the evolution of jazz in the early 20th century, and the influence jazz and popular music idioms had on the evolution of brass performance. The 13 articles in this volume cover a range of topics from Italian jazz trumpet style to the origins of jazz improvisation to the role of brass in klezmer music. New Orleans becomes a focal point as the essays examine the work of many important musicians, including Louis Armstrong, Buddy Bolden, Bunk Johnson, King Oliver, James Reese Europe, and Newell 'Spiegle' Willcox. Included as well is an interview with two legends of jazz trumpet, William Fielder and Joe Wilder, and the renowned performer and teacher Jimmy Owens reveals his practice techniques. Many of the essays include bibliographies, discographies, and other reference information. The meeting of the Historic Brass Society and the Institute of Jazz Studies represents the first time scholars have gathered to bring these two fields into such comprehensive discussion with each other. Early Twentieth-Century Brass Idioms: Art, Jazz, and Other Popular Traditions presents this historic conversation.

Titles in Dictionaries for the Modern Musician series offer both the novice and the advanced artist key information designed to convey the field of study and performance for a major instrument or instrument class, as well as the workings of musicians in areas from conducting to composing. Unlike other encyclopedic works, contributions to this series focus primarily on the knowledge required by the contemporary musical student or performer. Each dictionary covers topics from instrument parts to playing technique and major works to key figures. A must-have for any musician’s personal library! Trumpeters today perform a vast repertoire of musical material spanning 500 years, much of it in a variety of styles and even on a number of related instruments. In A Dictionary for the Modern Trumpet Player, scholar and performer, Elisa Koehler has created a key reference work that addresses all of the instruments in the high brass family, providing ready answers to issues that trumpeters, conductors, and musicians commonly—and sometimes not so commonly—encounter. Drawing on a broad range of scholarly sources, A Dictionary for the Modern Trumpet Player includes entries on historic instruments like the cornetto, keyed bugle, and slide trumpet; jazz trumpet techniques; mutes and accessories; and ancient ancestors of the trumpet and related non-Western instruments. In addition to its concise and detailed definitions, this work includes biographies of prominent performers, teachers, instrument makers, and composers of trumpet solo and ensemble literature often omitted from other musical references. Carefully labeled illustrations illuminate the inner workings of various valve mechanisms, allowing readers to visualize the more technical points of high brass instruments. Appendixes include a time line of trumpet history, a survey of valve mechanisms, a list of prominent excerpts from the orchestral and operatic repertoire, and an extensive bibliography. From quick definitions of confusing terms in a musical score to an in-depth overview of trumpet history, A Dictionary for the Modern Trumpet Player is an ideal reference for students, professionals, and music lovers.

A History of the Trombone, the first title in the new series American Wind Band, is a comprehensive account of the development of the trombone from its initial form as a 14th-century Medieval trumpet to its alterations in the 15th century; from its marginalized use in a particular Renaissance ensemble to its acceptance in various kinds of artistic and popular music in the 19th and 20th centuries. David M. Guion accesses new and important primary source materials to present the full sweep of the instrument's history, placing particular emphasis on the people who played the instrument, the music they performed, and the relevant cultural contexts. After a general overview, the material is presented in two main sections: the first traces the development of the trombone itself and examines the literature written about it, and the second investigates the history of performance on the instrument--the ensembles it participated in, the occasions in which it took part, the people who played it, and the social, intellectual, political, economic, and technological forces that impinged on that history. Guion analyzes the trombone's place in countries all over the world and in many styles of music, such as art, opera, popular, and world music. An appendix of transcriptions of selected primary source documents, including translations, and a comprehensive bibliography round out this important reference. Fully illustrated with more than 80 images, A History of the Trombone appeals not just to trombonists but to students, scholars, and fans of all musical instruments.