Trombone

The trombone is a musical instrument of the brass family. It has its origins in the sackbut. It is pitched lower than the trumpet, and higher than the tuba. A person who plays the trombone is called a trombonist.

The trombone consists of a cylindrical tube bent into an elongated "S" shape. The section immediately following the mouthpiece, called the "slide", allows the player to extend the length of the instrument, lowering the pitch.

Trombones come in three sizes: alto, tenor, and bass.

The standard tenor trombone, pitched in Bb, allows for seven semitones of pitch lowering, taking the lowest note of the standard instrument to E natural below the bass clef. Trombones often come with an extra piece of tubing attached, allowing the player to lower the pitch by a fourth by pulling a trigger.

The bass trombone is also pitched in Bb. It is basically the same length as the tenor trombone but has a larger bore size, and comes with two valves, allowing the player to bridge the gap between the second harmonic and the fundamental and reach notes far below the bass clef. The notes on the bass trombone are played in the same position on the slide as the tenor trombone (until you start using the valves).

The alto trombone is pitched in E-flat, and is smaller than the tenor trombone. Since it is pitched in E-flat, the slide positions are different than on the tenor and bass trombones.

There are also valve trombones, which have the same tonal range as the tenor trombone but a somewhat different attack, as they are set up like very large trumpets. Valve trombones are relatively rare, because they are difficult to play in tune. More common instruments with similar range and tone quality are the baritone horn and euphonium.

The trombone (unlike most brass instruments) is not normally a transposing instrument and reads off of the bass clef (especially bass trombones), although it is not uncommon for trombone music to be written in tenor clef, or sometimes even alto clef. In brass band music, however, the trombone is treated as a transposing instrument in Bb and reads off the treble clef. By happy coincidence, this puts the notes in exactly he same stave position as they would be if the music were written in a (non-transposing) tenor clef, though obviously the key signature will be different.

As with all brass instruments, progressive tightening of the lips allows the player to jump to a different partial, up the harmonic series. In the lower range, significant movement of the slide is required, but for higher notes the player need only use four or less positions of the slide, since the partials are closer together. However, the higher notes may also be played in alternate positions; for example, F natural (at the bottom of the treble clef) may be played in both first and sixth position.

The trombone is commonly found in symphony orchestras and military and other brass ensembles. It is also common in jazz and ska.