Michael Keener, Ph.D.

Michael Keener, a native of the Dayton, Ohio, area, is Professor of Trombone and Low Brass at the University of Dayton. He received his Bachelor of Music Education degree from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where he was a trombone student of Betty Glover. While in undergraduate school at C-CM he performed with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra as well as other orchestras and bands in the Cincinnati and Dayton areas.

Upon completion of his Bachelor’s Degree, Mike moved to the Chicago area and received his Master of Music, with a major in trombone performance, from the American Conservatory of Music. While in Chicago he studied trombone with Edward Kleinhammer and Jay Friedman, and was a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago for two seasons.  Summers during graduate school were spent working as second trombonist with the Cincinnati Summer Opera Company.

Dr. Keener then moved back to Cincinnati and again worked with the Cincinnati Symphony and, for four seasons, was second trombonist with the Cincinnati Summer Opera Orchestra.   In addition, he freelanced on trombone and related low brasses in the Cincinnati area. Mike also taught the low brass instruments privately in public and private schools in the Cincinnati area, including the Preparitory Education Department of the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.

For eleven years Dr. Keener was a manufacturers' representative for electronics companies, covering northern Illinois and eastern Wisconsin.  During that time period he graduated with honors from the Fred W. Tremper School of Piano Technology and earned his Amateur Extra Class radio license from the Federal Communications Commission.

In 1996 Mr. Keener relocated back to the Dayton, Ohio, area and, in December, 1997, entered the doctoral program at The Union Institute in Cincinnati, pursuing the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Music, with a concentration in Trombone Pedagogy.  Participating faculty consultants in Mike's Ph.D. program included Jay Friedman (Chicago Symphony Orchestra) and Thomas Everett (Harvard University). The Ph.D. degree was conferred upon Mike in May, 2000.     

For the past twenty-five years Mike has owned and operated an independent piano service company, both in Chicago and Dayton, tuning and servicing pianos for schools, churches, recording studios, concert venues, and individuals. In addition to continuing his studies and practice in trombone, piano technology, and tuning, he has developed and taught comprehensive courses in piano tuning and repair both in his own studio and at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. As an Adjunct Professor at Wright State University, Mike has taught brass methods courses and applied trombone.

This tutorial is an outgrowth of Dr. Keener's doctoral dissertation, A Tutorial on the Principles of Harmonic Intonation for Trombonists.  It is hoped that the information and exercises contained in the tutorial will be of benefit to many musicians and teachers.

The Intonation Tutor