Teaching Low Brass

Reviewed by Bill Haugeberg, Assistant Professor of Low Brass, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley on 11/4/20

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

The text covers all basic topics for a low brass methods course, but still leaves room for the instructor to add their own material as well. It also covers all topics with enough clarity that a music education student could learn many basic techniques without consulting an experienced low brass performer.

Content Accuracy rating: 4

The text accurately presents information on the basic understanding of low brass instruments for music education students. There are some materials (lists of professional trombone brands, for example) that could be updated or expanded, but all content presented is considered accurate by mainstream brass teachers and performers. As with most texts, there might be several semantic or trivial issues the instructor has with the material, but they could easily alter or edit the text for their course needs.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

All information is relevant to the topic - teaching music education students the basics of low brass instruments.

Clarity rating: 5

The subject matter is presented clearly throughout the text; however, the large sections of italicized text can be difficult to read in the current font. This is a small issue that might not even be noticed by most readers.

Consistency rating: 5

Text consistently represents materials and topics of study for low brass methods students, including a suggested daily routine and other playing materials.

Modularity rating: 5

The chapters from this text can be used in isolation without losing context.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The text is well organized and begins by covering the general characteristics for all low brass instruments before giving specific information about each of the individual instruments.

Interface rating: 4

The text is functional and can be used by many devices. Perhaps an ePub with links to the various chapters would be nice in future editions, but not necessary. It might also be prudent to include the linked materials in the actual text. Although this would increase the size of the file, it would also fix broken links.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

The text did not have any noticeable grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

No extra cultural information was included, and it is not necessary for the scope of the course - teaching low brass performance techniques. If the text were to include a section on famous players, styles, etc. - it would then be appropriate to include a broad cultural representation of low brass performers. Perhaps this material could be added to future editions of the text.

Comments

Dr. Maxwell created a great resource for low brass methods with this text. The information presented is concise and accurate, but provides enough information to fill a semester-length course studying these instruments. If a teacher would like to add additional information, it is easy enough to modify the text for their purposes. My only issue pertains to the use of links in the text. While the linked pages are informative and can help future educators, there are several links that do not lead to the source. Perhaps these supplemental materials could be embedded into any future editions of the text. Otherwise, this is a great text to use as a foundation for any low brass methods course.