The Arban Manual is a complete course that takes you through the Arban Method in 69 well organized lessons. You will need The Arban Method to use this course. Each lesson is a balanced day of practice. This version is for the newer, Hooten edition published by Fischer.
Why
Arban?s Complete Conservatory Method for Trumpet andArban?s Famous Method for Trombone have been two of the most widely used brass books for over 100 years. The Arban Manual is simply a guide in how to practice Arban. The Arban Manual will take you step by step through the entire Arban method. The Arban Manual is not a technique book and the practice advice should work well with most brass methodology.

How
A minimum of one week should be spent on each lesson, although many choose to spend longer. If you are having trouble with one part of a lesson, you may wish to spend more time on that part. Most lessons are divided into six parts that should be practiced in the prescribed order. It is recommended that you rest between each part and try to spread your practicing throughout the day as best you can.

Range Considerations
Students who are ready to play from Arban should have a ?usable range? up to A (concert G). Many of the easy studies do go this high. Although there are not many really high notes in Arbanby today?s standards, some of the studies can be quite taxing. An example of this is the interval studies on p. 126-129.
If you are not able to reach the highest keys at first, go as far you can comfortably, be sure to rest properly, and try to go further the next day. Remember, you will likely play from Arban in one way or another for most of your life, so don?t rush your progress.

Warming Up
One of the shortcomings of Arban is the lack of solid warm up material. Part I of each lesson is designed to be a warm up. Some teachers and students may find this inadequate for a warm up. Therefore, feel free to supplement the lesson plan with a warm up of your choosing. After your warm up, continue with Part I of the lesson.

Performance Etudes
I?ve designated some of the more melodic and well balanced etudes as ?performance etudes?. These can be used for auditions or recitals and should be prepared for that purpose. Some teachers or students may have other favorite etudes that they may choose to use for the purpose of performance.

All of the characteristic studies and celebrated fantaisies are considered performance pieces.

Models
Models are different ways of playing an exercise. Many modelsinvolve using different articulations on a given exercise. Arban?suse of models is not extensive so I have chosen to expand on it, giving the student even more practice material. All models must be practiced thoroughly as prescribed in the lessons.

The Hard Stuff
At some point in your study of Arban you may come across something that you just can?t play, or play at tempo. This often involves triple or double tonguing. Don?t let this discourage you. Practice it diligently and slowly. You may want to stay with it for more than one lesson. After practicing the difficult etude for at least a month, make a note of it and return to it later. Brass playing is a lifetime commitment and you should continue to grow throughout your playing career. Many of the world?s top players can?t play everything in the Arban book.

Multiple Tonguing
Selecting the best syllables for multiple tonguing is often a problem for brass players and teachers. Although Arbanrecommends ?tu ku?, many have had success using ?tuh kuh?, ?duh guh?, ?tee kee? and many others. Finding your best syllables may take some experimentation.

Extending Exercises
Beginning with Lesson 44, some of the exercises are reviewed and extended. This is to provide more upper range work, more key work and different models.

Transposition
Beginning with Lesson 47, exercises are suggested to be transposed for trumpets in different keys. These are the most common transpositions and are only to provide the trumpet player with some basic transposition skills. Bass clef instruments need to substitute other material here such as clef practice.
The first transposition is for C trumpet which is useful for reading music in concert pitch. The second transposition is for Ab trumpet which is useful if you play a C trumpet and want to read a Bb part.

Songs and duets
Some teachers love these and others don?t. I suggest you try them and if you?d like to supplement other pieces that you need to work on, please feel free to do so.

For bass clef instruments
Although the page numbering is different, the exercises in the bass clef edition are numbered the same as the trumpet edition, therefore making The Arban Manual viable for bass clef instruments.

The songs and duets have been left out of the early bass clef version of Arban, although there is now a new version that does include them. Feel free to supplement music of your choice. Some of the articulations and models may not be practical for slide trombone.

About SMP Press

Nineteen Skeletal Duets for Trombones is a set of duets of easy to moderately difficult specifically for teachers and students in private lessons. The first 15 duets are arranged from Fifteen Safari Duets for Tubas which was composed in 1989 for playing with my tuba students at Berklee College of Music. They are at different levels of difficulty and in various styles so that we always had duets to play no matter what was the ability of the student. The additional four duets were added in 2020 for trombones for this set. The title of each duet is also a name for a bone in the human body, hence the name Skeletal Duets. There is something in each duet for students to learn: the basics of tone production, rhythms, melodic phrasing, jazz, graphic notation, etc. Most are sight readable and some have been performed in concerts. Nineteen Skeletal Duets for Euphoniums are the same duets but in treble clef. Twenty-two Skeletal Duets for Hornsuses the first 19 of the trombone set with three additional duets added. Some of the trombone and horn duets are in the same key so they can be played together.

1. Cranium
This duet presents the cantabile ?singing? style as studied for playing the trombone. I find that this duet helps the student much like the melodies of Borgodni (Rochet) etudes.

2. Stirrup
This duet provides an opportunity to read basic rhythms and articulations. I find that the more advanced students can read in a faster tempo while the less skilled students work best in the slower tempos ? a common choice for all of the duets.
3. Humerus
This waltz helps the student match phrasing in a cantabile setting. There are a few instances where the teacher (playing the first part) plays a phrase then the student plays a similar phrase.
4. Vertebra
This is in a ?rock? style with syncopated rhythms with cantabile melodies. Articulations are especially important in this duet.
5. Axis
Legato scales and syncopated rhythms are the features of this duet. This is a good exercise for legato playing on trombone, especially when the legato tongue is needed versus when the trombonist does not need to tongue when moving across partials.
6. Tibia
This duet alternates in rock style and swing. Articulations and manipulation of ?swing? rhythms are important.
7. Clavicle
The key of A for this duet provides variation for the students.
8. Fibula nd
This duet uses the easiest of rhythms and range, especially for the 2
9. Scapula
This duet is non-metric and uses graphic notation. This was a favorite duet of my students as many had never experienced this notation before.
10. Atlas ndThis is an Invention in the Bach style. This is probably the best duet to play when the 2 part is played by bass trombone.

(student) part.

11. Radius
This duet is in a ?Medium Swing? jazz style. Each part has a chance to play a little bit of a ?walking? bass line. Articulations and manipulation of ?swing? rhythms are important in this duet.
12. Femur
This duet works on double time and half time tempo changes.
13. Patella
This is another duet that includes graphic notation. In this duet ?Free rapid legato lines? are used.
14. Anvil
This gallop displays different types of articulation.
15. Hammer
This duet is in the style of a fanfare.
16. Rib
This duet is a melody, ?Magallon Blues?, that I originally composed when I taught at a summer music camp in Magallon, Spain. In that camp each of the students would practice playing a jazz solo. This duet also has jazz chord changes so you can add piano or guitar. The use of drums is also an added option.
17. Sacrum
This duet is a short arrangement of Mozart?s ?Eine Kleine Nachtmusic?.
18. Ulna
This duet is a short arrangement of the traditional Irish folk song ?Londonderry Air?, more commonly known as ?Danny Boy?.
19. Ilium
This duet is a short arrangement of the Beethoven?s song ?Ode to Joy? which represents the triumph of universal brotherhood against war and desperation.

Gregory Fritze is a prize-winning composer and Fulbright Scholar, as well as an active performer. He recently retired from Berklee College of Music where he was Tuba Professor and Chair of Composition, serving on the faculty from 1979 to 2016. He has written over one hundred compositions for orchestra, band, chamber ensembles and soloists. He has won over sixty composition awards both nationally and internationally including First Prize in the 1991 TUBA Etude Contest for Twenty Characteristic Etudes for Tuba, an award from The American Prize for his Petite Suite for Brass Quintet and others. His compositions include works published by several publishers in the United States, South America and Europe that have been performed extensively throughout the world. Many of his compositions are available on ITunes, Youtube and Soundcloud.
His compositions are recorded on Albany Records, MSR Classics, Crystal Records, Mark Records and others. He has been a guest lecturer, conductor and performer at many colleges, universities and music festivals in the United States, Canada, Japan, South America and Europe. He was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania in 1954 and has Composition degrees from the Boston Conservatory and Indiana University. He now resides in Daytona Beach Shores, Florida.

Here?s a new collection of thirty-two of America?s best-loved hymn tunes for brass, at a bargain price too! The arrangements are intended either as stand-alone pieces that could be used as interludes in a service, or they could be used to accompany solo, choral or congregational singing.

The publication consists of full scores for each hymn plus separate instrumental parts and an optional simplified keyboard part. All the arrangements are in four parts, reflecting the traditional SATB voicing. The parts include 1st trumpet in B flat; 2nd trumpet in B flat; horn in F; horn in E flat; trombone and optional tuba; bass in B flat and bass in E flat. There are also two optional baritone parts in B flat (T.C.) and C (B.C.) in case you need them. They are the same as the tenor part. In some hymns, you might prefer to assign any baritones to doubling the bass or doubling the melody an octave lower. The baritone part in C is also playable by trombone. The trombone and tuba parts appear on a single staff. Of course, you can use any number of instruments to a particular part. The scores and all the parts are contained in a single 178-page PDF file.


The optional keyboard part has been simplified and whenever possible limited to single notes in the left hand part and no more than two-note chords in the right. Using the keyboard part, you can use the arrangements as solos, duets or trios. Because the music has been set in brass-friendly keys, the arrangements are not compatible with the string collection of the same title.

The collection includes the following titles: A Mighty Fortress Is Our God (Ein? Feste Burg); All Creatures Of our God and King (Lasst uns Erfreuen); All People that on Earth do Dwell (Old Hundredth); Abide with Me (Eventide); All Hail the Power of Jesus? Name (Coronation); Amazing Grace (Trad); At the Cross (Alas and Did My Savior Bleed) (Hudson); Be Thou My Vision (Slane); Blessed Assurance (Assurance); Blest Be the Tie That Binds (Dennis - Nägeli); Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing (Nettleton); Come We That Love the Lord (St. Thomas); Crown Him with Many Crowns (Diademata); Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah (Cwm Rhondda); Holy, Holy, Holy (Nicea); How Firm a Foundation (Foundation); It is Well with my Soul (Ville du Havre); Jesus Christ is Risen Today (Easter Hymn); Jesus, Lover of My Soul (Hollingside); Jesus Paid it All (All to Christ); Joy to the World (Antioch); Just as I Am, Without one Plea (Woodworth); Love Divine, All Loves Excelling (Hyfrydol); Nearer my God to Thee (Bethany); Praise To the Lord, The Almighty (Lob den Herren); Rock of Ages (Top¬la¬dy); Shall we gather at the River? (Hanson Place); The Day thou Gave us, Lord is Ended (St. Clement); To God Be The Glory (To God be the Glory); There is a Fountain (Cleansing Fountain); What a Friend We Have in Jesus (Converse) and When I Survey the Wondrous Cross (Hamburg).

The audio demo contains the following titles (1) Love Divine, all Loves Excelling; (2) Abide with Me; (3) That a Friend we have in Jesus; (4) Nearer my God to Thee; (5) Shall we gather at the River?

Your Favorite Christmas Hymns and Carols for Wind Instruments
Arranged by Colin Kirkpatrick
Book 1

This essential collection may be all you ever need for your wind instruments at Christmas. It's a bargain price too! The arrangements are intended either as stand-alone pieces that could be used as interludes in a service, or they could be used to accompany solo, choral or congregational singing.

The publication consists of a four-staff score in concert pitch together with fourteen separate parts in various transpositions. There is also a fairly easy optional keyboard part. These four-part arrangements use flexible instrumentation so that you can exercise considerable control over the instrumental voicing. You can also create interesting instrumental tone colour by omitting groups of instruments. This can be achieved with the aid of a pencil. If the ensemble is large enough you could omit brass instruments in the quieter sections, or use a solo trumpet against a woodwind background. There are endless possibilities. You can hear the effect of omitting sections in the audio samples. The arrangements could therefore be played by brass quartet, woodwind quartet, saxophone quartet or virtually any combination of wind instruments. Using the piano part (which has been kept as simple as possible) the arrangements could also be used as solos or duets, depending of what instruments are available. Parts 1 and 2 in C have been printed an octave higher than the pitch shown in the score because the parts invariably are too low for flute or oboe. All the scores and parts are contained in a single125-page PDF file.

The publication consists of four-stave scores for each hymn and carol plus:

1. Part 1 in B flat (clarinet, trumpet, cornet, soprano sax);

2. Part 1 in C (8ve higher for piccolo, flute, oboe);

3. Part 1 in E flat (alto saxophone, E flat clarinet);

4. Part 2 in B flat (clarinet, trumpet, cornet, flugelhorn);

5. Part 2 in C (8ve higher for flute, oboe);

6. Part 2 in E flat (alto saxophone);

7. Part 3 in B flat (tenor saxophone, B flat baritone);

8. Part 3 in C (bass clef for trombone, bassoon);

9. Part 3 in E flat (E flat tenor horn, alto saxophone, alto clarinet);

10. Part 3 in F (French horn in F);

11. Part 3a in B flat (8ve below score pitch for 3rd clarinet);

12. Part 4 in B flat (B flat bass clarinet, B flat bass);

13. Part 4 in C (bass clef for trombone, bass trombone, bassoon, tuba);

14. Part 4 in E flat (E flat baritone saxophone, E flat bass)

Book 1 includes the following 19 titles: Angels from the Realms of Glory (Melody: Gloria); Away in a Manger (Melody: Mueller); Unto Us a Child Is Born (Melody: Puer Nobis); Christians Awake! (Melody: Yorkshire); Deck the Halls with Boughs of Holly (Melody: Nos Galan); Go Tell it on the Mountain; Good Christian Men, Rejoice (Melody: In Dulci Jubilo); Good King Wenceslas (Melody: Tempus Adest Floridum); I Saw Three Ships Come Sailing In; It Came Upon the Midnight Clear (Melody: Carol); Little Jesus, Sweetly Sleep (Melody: Rocking); O Christmas Tree (Melody: Tannenbaum); O Come all ye Faithful (Melody: Adeste Fidelis); O Little Town of Bethlehem (Melody: Saint Louis); O Holy Night (Melody: Cantique Noël); Silent Night (Melody: Stille Nacht); The Holly and the Ivy; We Wish You a Merry Christmas and What Child is This? (Melody: Greensleeves)

The audio samples include Angels from the Realms of Glory, Deck the Halls with Boughs of Holly, Go Tell it on the Mountain and Silent Night. Please note that arrangements in the publication are not intended to be compatible with Your Favorite Christmas Hymns and Carols for Brass.