Andrew McGuire

MUSE 250
Dr. Palmer
12/7/15
Hail to the Chief
Emory Remington is accredited with being one of the
frontrunners in advanced trombone technique. While he was a
performer, he was also was a very highly sought after instructor. His
students even now are still highly sought after because of the
technique they bring. All of Remingtons technique stems from singing.
He started his musical journey out as a member of a boys choir. With
his father being a brass instructor, it is no wonder at all that he
became a trombonist. From an early age, he was a performing artist,
with an ensemble and as a soloist.
During the First World War he joined the Navy as a trombonist for
their orchestra. From 1917 to 1922, he served as member of the Navy
Orchestra. Upon his return he was made a member of the Eastman
Theater is Rochester. He also gained a position amongst the faculty of
the Eastman School of Music. This position, as an educator, he kept for
his entire life. Overall he taught at the school for forty-nine years.
While at Eastman he became known to his students as The Chief.
As an educator, Remington was an innovator in trombone
technique. He initiated a very song like approach to his technique. In
his lessons, he is remembered as singing the entire time during his
students lessons. He was big on only using as much air that was

needed to produce a tone. Some describe it as a conversational type of

breathing. In doing so, this avoids a lot of tension that can be created
when holding more air than what is necessary to build a full phrase.
This happens when we feel a sense of building or blocking air in the
lungs. The air then becomes stales, and we limit the actual amount of
air we can take in.
As well as being an innovator of technique, The Chief was also a
big proponent of Ensemble music being written for trombone. While at
Eastman, he is credited with being the founder of the Eastman
Trombone Choir. In this role, he actively sought out music that could be
rewritten for trombone choir. He was also a big advocate for students
seeking out music and rewriting music themselves. He is remembered
as being a avid fan of J.S. Bach. Bach wrote a large portion of music
that the Chief ending up using as ensemble music for his trombone
choir. This music comes the form of some of Bachs Chorales as well as
other written works.
Having such an influence on the world of trombone, he was
sought after by C.G. Conn to help develop a trombone. The trombone
they came up with was the 88H. Even to this day, this trombone is
extremely popular amongst players because of the tone it produces
and the range of dynamics one can achieve while playing the
instrument. He also helped in developing what is known as the
Remington mouthpiece. Remington advocated for his students to use

this mouthpiece as the students began their studies with him in their
first years at Eastman. This mouthpiece gave his students a nice sound
with minimal effort on their part. This allowed for an ease in playing. It
also created a oneness is sound amongst the Trombone Choir as well
as different orchestras the studio mates may be in together.
The Chief has left a legacy not quite like any other. He was an
advocate for beautiful playing, and song like tone production. This
gives trombonists the largest access to their technique they can
achieve. Through the concept of the trombone choir and his
arrangement of different pieces he will likely be remembered as a
reputable performer as well. His legacy is so great that even after his
students students are gone people will still remember him. Eight years
after his death the Eastman School of Music renamed one of their
rehearsal spaces after his legacy. Room 902 is now known as the
Emory B. Remington Rehearsal Room.

Bibliography
"Emory Remington." Eastman School of Music. 2015.
http://www.esm.rochester.edu/about/portraits/remington/.
"Emory Remington." Emory Remington. March 14, 2015.
http://www.windsongpress.com/brass
players/trombone/remington.htm.
Everett, Micah. "Rediscovering and Reapplying the." The Reforming
Trombonist.
June 19, 2015. Accessed December 9, 2015.
https://thereformingtrombonist.wordpress.com/2015/06/19/redisc
overing-and-reapplying-the-conversational-breath/.
Laanen, Renee. "EMORY B. REMINGTON." Trombone Page of the World.
2015.
http://www.trombone-usa.com/remington_emory_bio.htm.
Zacharella, Alexandra. Slip Sliding Away: Decoding the Mystery of
Trombone Legato.
Mid West Clinic Chicago. December 14, 2011. Conference
Handout.