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Shuffle Ideas for a Trombone Solo on the Subway

Performing on the subway is a creative way to gain musical exposure and make some money at the same time. The trombone doesn't get a lot of live exposure outside of the jazz and classical music scenes, which makes it an attractive novelty for passengers on the subway. The "shuffle" is a musical time feel that comes from the blues. Its rhythm is swinging and hard driving, which pushes the music forward. Various musical styles that use the time feel of the shuffle can be played on the trombone for a solo when performing on the subway.
  1. Jazz

    • Jazz standards lend themselves to the trombone with the shuffle rhythm in that hard eighth-note driven rhythmic style. Jazz standards that work well as shuffles include the Charles Mingus tune "Nostalgia in Times Square," "Darn that Dream" by Jimmy Van Heusen and "Billies Bounce" by Charlie Parker.

    Blues

    • Blues tunes such as "The Thrill is Gone" by B.B King and "Black Magic Woman" by Fleetwood Mac also adapt well to the shuffle rhythm and have unusual harmonic changes for soloing over on trombone.

    Latin

    • Latin music uses the trombone on the big band format. The syncopated rhythms of Latin music make for a compelling sound on trombone as a solo instrument, and many Latin tunes thrive with the driving rhythm of the shuffle. "Partido Alto" by Charlie Parker stands out in this style.

    Pop

    • Pop music has various tunes in its repertoire that are appropriate to use with the shuffle rhythm when performing on solo trombone. Tunes such as "New York, New York" or "I Did it My Way" by Frank Sinatra make excellent tunes for adaptation. More current music such as Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream" add an unexpected twist for listeners. Many instrumentalists perform interpretations using jazz- or blues-derived rhythms when performing pop tunes.

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