Trombone, German POSAUNE brasswind musical instrument sounded by lip vibration against a cup mouthpiece. It has an expandable slide that can increase the length of the instruments tubing. The slide thus performs the function of the valves on brass instruments. From the 19th-century, some trombones have been made with valves, but thier use was never universal.
This is a basic trombone and the picture shows all the components. of it.
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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 thier 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.
[TOP] Modern Bb-F trombone; [BOTTOM] A tenor trombone (sackbut) Made in 1557.
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The most common form is the tenor trombone in Bb, sounding an octave lower than the Bb trumpet. With the slide drawn in first position, the notes of the harmonic siries of the Bb below the bass staff are available: Bb1-Bb-f-Bb-D'-f'-ab' (approximately)-Bb'-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 extentions 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 Bb-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 players 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 a 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 The older bore, no wider than that of a trumpet, was largely superseded by medium and large bores with wider bells, reaching 9 1/2 inches in diameter. The widest bores are made for playing bass trombone parts. The mid-20th-century vouge of the trombone as a virtuoso instrument in dance music is mainly associated with a Bb 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, lipvibrated 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.
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