Orchestral Excerpts for High School Trombone Players to Master

Choosing the right orchestral excerpts to practice is a crucial step in developing your trombone skills, especially as a high school student. This guide will help you select excerpts that provide both challenge and opportunity for improvement. Let's dive into some recommendations based on a range of composers and works.

Classic Masterpieces by Renowned Composers

Berlioz - Symphonie Fantastique
This opus provides dynamic and varied parts that are perfect for exploring different playing techniques. Ravel - Bolero
While this is a demanding piece, unless you have a strong high register and a well-developed sense of classical style, you might want to save this for a bit later. Focus on learning other challenging pieces during this time. Mozart - Tuba Mirum
This excerpt is an excellent choice for both its technical complexity and its historical significance in the trombone repertoire. Rossini - William Tell Overture and Barber of Seville
These overtures are challenging for players of all levels and offer plenty of opportunities to refine your playing. Beethoven - Symphony No. 5 and 9
These symphonies provide a variety of parts ranging from lyrical to powerful, suitable for developing your versatility as a trombonist. Strauss - Also Sprach Zarathustra and Til Eulinspiegel's Mirror
These works showcase some of Strauss's most famous themes and offer great solo passages. Wagner - Ride of the Valkyries
This excerpt is powerful and inspiring, providing a great opportunity to work on tone and expression.

Consider Your Teacher's Input

One of the best ways to choose the right excerpts is to consult with your trombone teacher. They can provide personalized advice based on your current skill level and goals. For an above-average high school trombonist, the following excerpts might be suitable:

Dvo?ák's Symphonies in G-major and E-minor (Nos. 8 and 9)
These symphonies offer a range of challenging parts that can help you develop your playing. Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries
This piece is exciting and technically demanding, providing a great challenge. Overtures to Flying Dutchman and Rienzi
These overtures are rich in dramatic content and provide excellent opportunities to work on expressiveness. Berlioz's Carnival Romande and Hungarian March
These works showcase Berlioz's rich compositions and offer great practice for different playing styles.

Remaining Challenges in Playing High Register

Unless you already have a very strong high register, you might want to delay learning pieces like Ravel's Bolero or the Rhenish Symphony for a year or two. Similarly, if you don't have a well-developed sense of classical style in the strictest sense of that word, it's best to listen to other trombonists and gain more experience.

Remember, the key is to choose works that are stylistically transparent but still offer technical challenges. Pieces like Mozart and Schumann's works were originally written for trombonists playing alto trombone, while Ravel wrote for the small-bore French trombones of the 1920s, making them great choices for high school students.