4/22/2024 0 Comments Kids trombone position chartThese two pitches may be a semitone apart, but they’re a full seven positions away from one another! Scoring slurs between these two pitches in rapid succession might be seen as orchestrational incompetence if done unwittingly, or as a bit of leg-pulling (or slide-pulling) if done on purpose. The crowning inconvenience is to go from B-flat2 to B2. To go from F3 to G3 means sliding from Position I to Position IV from A2 to C3, a simple skip upward of a minor 3rd, requires that the slide move from Position II to Position VI, sliding down a ways in order to go up a short distance in pitch. This is the reason why the trombones section starts to really move their slides energetically as the music gets lower and lower. This means that with a basic tenor trombone with no extra attachments, notes in this region that are next to each other on the staff might be quite far apart in terms of positions. Notice that the bass clef register is completely covered second, third, and fourth partials. The standard chart above, used by trombonists and orchestrators alike, is very revealing. This gives the player a full chromatic span from E2 upwards, plus a few pedal tones (below Position III, the pedal tones become rather poor in quality). The trombonist progresses downward in pitch by extending the slide, covering 6 more positions. With the slide closed, the fundamental (aka pedal tone or first partial) of the player’s harmonic spectrum is a B-flat. Let’s examine the exact range and technique of the trombone now. By the end of the Romantic Era, two tenors had become the norm. On top of this, it was becoming ever harder and harder for the first player to fulfill a leadership role on such a high instrument as the alto, right at the same time that composers were scoring more and more parts for two tenors. This obviated the need for the first trombonist to play such a high instrument. The old F trumpets were thrown out in favour of today’s B-flat and C trumpets, allowing for a dedicated second and sometimes third trumpet player with a more secure lower register. So what happened to this perfectly logical little system? The evolution of musical taste, instrument design, and composer’s demands. Of course, when extracted, all these instruments would receive a part with the appropriate clef for their range, with the tenor trombone usually scored in tenor and sometimes bass clef. Orchestral scores from this era usually show the alto and tenor trombones sharing the alto clef, with the bass trombone sharing a staff with tuba. This system put the sweet part of each range into a different clef, and they were notated accordingly thus: The simple way to think of it is: what note is sounded by the first, second, and fourth partials when the trombone slide is in Position I? The answer is E-flat for alto, B-flat for tenor, and F for bass. The construction of each of these bones was a perfect fourth apart (though the reading has always been in C, rather than transposed). After some early introductions of the instrument into the orchestra by Baroque and Classical composers, the Romantics settled on a group of three trombones, the alto, tenor, and bass trombones. For that, read on!įirst, let’s go back to the modern orchestral trombone’s beginnings. The average orchestrator may just stop right here and move on – but that won’t really give them any justifications for accepting the above advice in an argument, nor the tools for using it in a knowledgeable way. The tenor clef remains a useful resource for trombone, but it must be applied as an indication of register, rather than just to save ledger lines.
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