Papa plays alto

My new toy and current challenge is a Conn alto trombone, on loan from the university. I’m slowly learning to play it, but it is something of a struggle. For one thing, the instrument is pitched in E-flat, meaning that the fundamental tone is E-flat instead of the B-flat of my tenor trombone. For another, it is tiny. All the notes are in different positions, the slide is proportionally shorter so the positions aren't as far apart as my arm expects, and to make matters worse, the music is usually in alto clef. It isn't quite as bad as learning a not-trombone, but it's still tough. I love it.


It's always nice to have something new to play with. I had a lesson today. We played unison etudes and duets. All in all, it’s great fun. It just takes practice, as always, and is progressing fairly well. There is some hope of playing the alto with groups in coming months, and doing spring solos on it.