Trombone with Josh T.

I'm a professional trombonist (doubling on bass trombone, euphonium, and tuba), composer, and teacher based in Chicago. Since graduating from the University of Illinois with a Jazz Performance degree, I've built a busy and varied career, regularly performing with some of Chicago's top cover bands, jazz ensembles, and theater orchestras, all while maintaining lesson studios at three suburban high schools. My playing is also featured on recordings by Blueshift Big Band and Heisenberg Uncertainty Players, two of Chicago’s most creative big bands. I love working with students of all levels, whether beginners who need help working on fundamentals and establishing practice routines, or more advanced students who are trying to unlock their full musical potential. I studied both classical and jazz trombone from 5th grade through the end of my college education, and I want to give my students the same freedom to move between genres and follow their passion that I’ve found. With this goal in mind, lessons can cover a broad range of subjects: * Audiation (musical imagination) and connecting the ear to the instrument * Tone production and articulation * Lip slurs and control over extreme registers * Understanding music notation and practicing sight reading * Music from school ensembles and upcoming auditions * Improvisation and spontaneous composition * Applied theory: finding chords and scales on the instrument so that they can be used during practice and performance, instead of remaining abstractions This plan varies as students grow, and can help them achieve whatever outcome they have want: whether they wish to ace a seating audition at school, audition for a district or all state band, or rise to the level where they can begin performing professionally. I hope I have the chance to help you with your musical journey.