Trombone

A lip-reed aerophone with a predominantly cylindrical bore, the trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. The most frequently encountered trombones are the tenor and bass counterparts of the trumpet. The trombone is usually characterised by a telescopic slide with which the player varies the length of the tube.

Technique

As with all brass instruments, progressive tightening of the lips and increased air pressure allow the player to move to a different partial, up the harmonic series.

Related Topics:
Partial - Harmonic series

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In the lower range, significant movement of the slide is required, but for higher notes the player need only use four or fewer positions of the slide, since the partials are closer together, allowing higher notes to be played in alternate positions; for example, F natural (at the bottom of the treble clef) may be played in both first, fourth and sixth positions. The note E1 (or the lowest E on a standard 88-key piano keyboard) is the lowest attainable note on a 9' B♭ tenor trombone, requiring a full 2.24 metres of tubing, but the repertoire seldom demands anything below G1.

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Notation

The trombone (unlike most brass instruments) is not usually a transposing instrument and normally reads the bass clef. Although trombones are built in a variety of pitches, of which B♭ is the most common, unlike other transposing brass instruments built in different pitches like the trumpet or horn, with the exception of the brass band idiom the trombone is notated at concert pitch. It is common for trombone music to be written also in tenor clef or alto clef. The use of alto clef is usually confined to orchestral first trombone parts intended for the alto trombone, with the second (tenor) trombone part written in tenor clef and the third (bass) part in bass clef. As the alto trombone declined in popularity during the 19th century, this practice was gradually abandoned and first trombone parts came to be annotated in the tenor or bass clefs. Taking their cue from Robert Schumann, the first composer to practise writing for the alto and tenor trombones on one staff annotated in the alto clef, some composers of Russian and Eastern European orchestral music have both first and second trombones annotated in the alto clef, which is all the more confusing given that the instruments scored for are two tenor trombones. Examples of this practice are evident in scores by Igor Stravinsky, Sergei Prokofiev, Dmitri Shostakovitch, for example.

Related Topics:
Transposing instrument - Bass clef - Tenor clef - Alto clef - Robert Schumann - Igor Stravinsky - Sergei Prokofiev - Dmitri Shostakovitch

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Brass bands

In brass band music, however, the trombone is treated like all the other members (except the bass trombone) as a transposing instrument in B♭ and reads the treble clef. By happy coincidence, this puts the notes in exactly the same stave position as they would be if the music were written in a (non-transposing) tenor clef, though the key signature must be adjusted. This is no mere coincidence, for brass bands used to employ a section of alto, tenor and bass trombones in the early to mid-19th century, later replacing the alto with a tenor trombone, all the while annotated in the corresponding clefs. Eventually a decision was taken in the early 20th century to replace the tenor clef with the transposing B♭ treble clef in order to aid new starters to integrate more quickly and effectively into the brass band, though the bass trombone, then in G, remained (and is still) annotated in concert pitch bass clef. An accomplished performer today is expected to be proficient in reading parts annotated in bass clef, tenor clef, alto clef, and (more rarely) treble clef in C, with the British brass band performer expected to handle treble clef in B♭ as well. Parts can often contain both bass and tenor clef or bass and alto clef sections, sometimes changing clef for the sake of a single note and then back again.

Related Topics:
Treble clef - Key signature

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Mutes

A variety of mutes can be used with the trombone to alter its timbre. These are usually made of metal and include the straight mute, cup mute, harmon mute, bucket mute, solotone mute, pixie mute and wah-wah mute. In addition to mutes which are fitted inside the bell by means of cork grips, other effects are used (especially in jazz playing) with objects held in the hand in front of the bell or moved in and out of the bell. These include a wah-wah effect with a metal cup which looks like a bowler hat, and the plunger, which looks like (and often is) the rubber suction cup from a sink plunger. On occasion real hats have been used, as have soap dishes, saucepans and even stranger objects, though the most common are the straight and cup mutes.

Related Topics:
Mute - Timbre - Wah-wah - Hat

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