Types of Trombones
Trombones are members of the brass family of instruments. Brass instruments are wind instruments with cup- or cone-shaped mouthpieces. Wind instruments rely on air traveling through a tube or column. Trombones commonly have a slide, which a player moves back and forth to change the length of the tubing, which creates different musical notes. Rarer trombones have valves to change the effective length of the tubing.
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Alto Trombone
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The alto trombone produces the highest sound of the most common instruments comprising the trombone group that also includes the tenor and the bass trombone. There isn't a lot of music written for the alto trombone.
Tenor Trombone
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The tenor trombone is the most commonly used trombone, and is the one most often seen in orchestras. It's also the one first used by beginners.
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Bass Trombone
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The bass trombone is the lowest in pitch and large symphonies usually include one. Like the tenor trombone, it has a fundamental pitch of B♭. The bass trombone, though, has extra tubing that is activated by pressing one or two valves, lowering the range of the trombone. The bass also has a larger bore; that is, the diameter of the tubing is bigger.
Soprano Trombones
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Soprano trombones are rare. They are also known as sliding trumpets and start an octave above tenor trombones in pitch.
Piccolo Trombones
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The piccolo trombone is the rarest of the trombone types. Since other instruments in an orchestra are better suited to take the highest musical parts, when piccolo or soprano trombones are found, it's almost exclusively in the context of a trombone choir.
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