Layla London Trombone Sound Layla Inspired by the

Layla London Trombone Sound

Layla • Inspired by the poem by 12 th Century poet Nizami Ganjavi called Layla and Majnun. • Written by Clapton for his crush Pattie Boyd (who was married to his friend George Harrison).

Layla (cont’d) • Originally written as a ballad, it turned into a “rocker” of a piece when the main riff of the piece was introduced. • Split into two different movements. The first is an electric guitar soloing over thick juicy chords. The second movement is commonly referred to as the piano coda because a piano interlude takes us home into a acoustic guitar accompanying a piano.

What Am I Hearing?

Why is that? • This cover of Eric Clapton’s Layla is from a group called the London Trombone Sound • The London Trombone Sound is a group of trombones playing every part in a song (Melody, Harmony, Countermelody, etc. ) • This is called a Trombone Choir.

Trombone Choir? • The idea of a trombone choir starts in the early 1600’s (Massaino, Canzona for 8 Trombones, 1615) • As the styles of music evolved, so did the concept of a trombone choir. • Eventually, jazz and rock come along. The trombone choir follows suit and emulates the sound of this genre.

Texture • Thick, lucious chords that play to the strengths of the trombone. • Plenty of open fifths (commonly known in rock as “power chords”)

So why does Layla work for trombone choirs? • It introduces young players to the ideal (albeit stereotypical) brassy trombone sound. • It also introduces the softer, lyrical side of the trombone during the “piano coda” • It’s upbeat tempo and power chords excite younger players. This, in turn, gets them to practice because they want to sound JUST like that.

Resources • "Eastman Trombone Choir. " Eastman School of Music. N. p. , n. d. Web. 13 Sept. 2013. http: //www. esm. rochester. edu/trombone/Choir. • Derek, and the Dominos. "Layla - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. "Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N. p. , n. d. Web. 13 Sept. 2013. <http: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Layla>.