Trombone, French trombone, German Posaune, brass wind musical instrument sounded by lip vibration against a cup mouthpiece. It has an extendable slide that can increase the length of the instrument’s tubing. The slide thus performs the function of the valves on other brass instruments. From the 19th century, some trombones have been made with valves, but their use was never universal.

The trombone is a 15th-century development of the trumpet and, until approximately 1700, was known as the sackbut. Like a trumpet, it has a cylindrical bore flared to a bell. Its mouthpiece is larger, however, suited to its deeper musical register, and is parabolic in cross section, like a cornet. The slide is composed of two parallel and stationary inner tubes, thickened at their lower ends, and two movable outer tubes. The two sets of tubes are telescoped in and out by a cross stay manipulated by the player’s right hand. The other half of the trombone, the bell joint, passes over the player’s left shoulder, counterbalancing the weight of the slide. Its bend usually incorporates a tuning slide.

The most common form is the tenor trombone in B♭ (that is, the fundamental note is a B♭), sounding an octave lower than the B♭ trumpet. Music for the tenor trombone, however, is usually notated in concert pitch (that is, a C played on the trombone is the same note as the C on a piano). With the slide drawn in (first position), the notes of the harmonic series of the B♭ below the bass staff are available: B♭1–B♭–f–b♭–d′–f′–a♭′ (approximately)–b♭′–c″–d″, etc. Shifting the slide a few inches to the second position allows the harmonic series of A, a semitone lower, to be sounded. Further extensions of the slide progressively lower the key of the instrument to E (seventh position). A chromatic (12-note) scale is thus available from E below the bass staff, the highest note of the range being determined by the player’s ability.

Many orchestral instruments are B♭–F trombones. These have an F attachment consisting of a coil of extra tubing placed in the loop of the bell. A rotary valve actuated by the player’s left thumb connects this attachment to the main tube, thus lowering the pitch of the instrument by a fourth. The scale can then be extended down to C, the additional low notes being known as fundamentals, or “pedals.” Trombones vary in bore. The older bore, no wider than that of a trumpet, was largely superseded by medium and large bores with wider bells, reaching 9.5 inches (24 cm) in diameter. The widest bores are made for playing bass trombone parts. The mid-20th-century vogue of the trombone as a virtuoso instrument in dance music is mainly associated with a B♭ tenor instrument of medium-large bore, but most larger dance and jazz orchestras include a bass trombone in the section.

Trombones of the 16th century differ from 20th-century models in little but narrow bells and details of craftsmanship. They were extensively used in polyphonic (many-voiced) music and were built in alto, tenor, and bass sizes, the treble part being supplied by the cornett—a wooden, lip-vibrated instrument with finger holes. The old arrangement survives in the trombone trio of classical orchestration, the parts being written in the old alto, tenor, and bass vocal clefs. In brass bands the tenor trombone is written in the treble clef to sound an octave lower.

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...itself, a less-cumbersome alternative that appears to have been adopted in the mid-15th century. On so-called double-slide instruments, such as the Renaissance sackbut and its successor, the modern trombone, two parallel inner tubes of the slide mechanism are attached at their upper ends to the body of the instrument by a cross stay. The mouthpiece is fit into the top of one tube, and the bell...

...responsible for stating and occasionally embellishing the thematic material—the tune—in the middle range, the clarinet performed obbligato or descant functions in a high register, the trombone offered contrapuntal asides in the tenor or baritone range, and the four rhythm instruments provided a unified harmonic foundation.

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The trombone’s shape and method of play make it one of the most distinctive wind instruments in a band or orchestra. Unlike the modern trumpet or French horn, which have valves that produce different notes, the trombone has a long U-shaped slide that the player moves to produce a wide range of pitches. The trombone evolved from the trumpet in the early 15th century and has changed little since then. (Until approximately 1700, the trombone was known as the sackbut.) As with other brass instruments, the trombone’s sound is produced by a vibrating column of air through the mouthpiece into the instrument’s coiled tubing. (See also orchestra; trumpet; wind instruments.)

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