Standard trombone goes lower than bass trombone?
I'm not a trombone expert or anything, but it seems strange that the standard trombone's lowest note is B1 and the bass trombone's lowest note is C2, which is higher. Is this just how trombones work or is this a bug?
Comments
Great get.
It's a matter of semantics I suspect.
This is a mistake. Trombone should have B2 as the bottom and Bass Trombone should have Bb0 or A0 as the bottom range.
In reply to This is a mistake. Trombone by mike320
I gues 'Trombone' and "Trombone (Treble Clef) are meant to be a generic trombones, covering the entire range from "Bass Trombone" to "Tenor Trombone" (but for some strange reasone excluding "Contrabass Trombone, "Alto Trombone" and "Soprano Trombone") and adds en extra pitch at the bottom?
In reply to I gues 'Trombone' and by Jojo-Schmitz
I believe (but not sure) that "Trombone (Treble Clef)" is intended to be a Bb valve trombone transposed to make it easier for a trumpet or treble clef baritone player to play if the band lacks slide trombones.
In reply to I believe (but not sure) that by mike320
That makes sense.
In reply to This is a mistake. Trombone by mike320
I have been playing the trombone for over 50 years, so let me jump into this discussion and add my two cents worth. To simplify things, I will only refer to modern tenor and bass trombones commonly in use today.
A tenor trombone with no F-attachment is sometimes called a "straight tenor trombone" to distinguish it from a tenor trombone with an F-attachment. The straight tenor trombone can play chromatically down E2. It is possible to also play from Bb1 to E1 on this instrument. That range is referred to as the pedal tones. Pedal tones can be difficult to play on a tenor trombone and are not normally used except for special effects or in a solo.
A modern bass trombone is basically the same pitch (and length of tubing) as a tenor trombone but the instrument has been modified to make it easier to play in the low register. This is done by increasing the bore size and adding one or two valves which can add tubing to the bell section of the instrument to make it possible to play chromatically from E2 down to the lowest note on the instrument. The lowest possible note on a bass can be C1, Bb0, or A0 depending on the valve configuration installed.
In my personal experience, It is not unusual to see music written down to F2 for a straight tenor trombone and I see bass trombone music commonly written down to F1. Of course, skilled performers can extend those ranges down to the theoretical limits of the instrument as described above.
My understanding is that this is all complicated by two facts:
1) many but by no means all "tenor trombones" (the standard trombone) have an attachment that has the effect of extending the bottom range
2) trombone have a lowest note that can be played ordinarily, but also pedal tones that are even lower that could conceivably be considered part of the professional range.
Given that our goal in having these ranges is to give basic advice to people who might not know anything much at all about the subject, I'm inclined to say we should just use the standard-issue low notes shown in most charts / textbooks: E2 for tenor and Bb1 for bass. Since the F attachment can't be counted on and pedal tones can't really be used in :"ordinary" writing, I'd propose pretending they don't exist and marking the amateur and professional ranges the same on the bottom.
In reply to My understanding is that this by Marc Sabatella
Are you going to do a PR for this?
In reply to Are you going to do a PR for by Jojo-Schmitz
Well, I was hoping for some additional discussion. Surprised no one has commented about this before as it seems pretty obviously screwy to me right now. Making me wondering if there is something I'm missing.