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Trombone Facts

Trombone Facts
The trombone is a brass instrument, capable of producing sound that is rich and brilliant, lower than the French horn but not as low as the sound produced by a tuba. The trombone was developed from the trumpet common in the Medieval era and was documented in Ferrara court records in 1439. The Duke of Burgundy had a trombone player at his wedding in 1468. During the Renaissance and Baroque eras the trombone was referred to as a shakbusse or sackbut. It was lacking in some of the features of the modern trombone, but it had a double slide which allowed for lower scale sounds. The sackbut was the first musical instrument to have a moving slide.
Interesting Trombone Facts:
The word 'trombone' is derived from the Italian word 'tromba' which means 'trumpet', and 'one' which means 'big'. Together they formed the word 'trombone' which means 'big trumpet'.
The trombone's body includes a mouthpiece, first brace, second brace, slide, water key, tuning slide, and bell.
Most brass instruments rely on valves to create varying pitches but the trombone relies on the slide. The slide replaces the valves in other brass instruments, which use valves to select tubing length.
When the trombone player moves the slide out the note is lower and when the trombone player pulls the slide toward them the note is higher.
The first composer to create a symphony trombone part was Beethoven who included it in his famous "Fifth Symphony".
The trombone is a popular instrument to portray dark moments in operas such as "Don Giovanni" (by Mozart), or "Till Eulenspiegel" (by Richard Stauss).
Left-handed trombone players must learn to play with their right hand being dominant because of its design. Some of the most famous trombone players were left-handed.
Trombones are versatile instruments and are commonly found in jazz bands, marching bands, and orchestras. They are also found in brass choirs, brass bands, military bands, swing music, salsa music, R&B music, and merengue music.
Eric McGavin invented a one-handed trombone that featured a double slide.
There are different types of trombones including the bass trombone, the tenor trombone, the contrabass trombone, the soprano trombone, the treble cleff trombone, and the alto trombone.
In 2012, 360 trombone players played 76 trombones around Washington's national baseball field, making it the largest trombone ensemble.
Paul Newman, Nelly Furtado, Tommy Dorsey, Slide Hampton, Trombone Shorty, and Jonathan Frakes are a few of the most famous trombone players.
The cartoon characters Homer Simpson (The Simpsons) and Peter Griffin (Family Guy) play the trombone.
Jean Chretien, Canada's former Prime Minister, plays the trombone.
Famous composers who included the trombone in their works include George Gershwin, Leonard Bernstein, Igor Stravinsky, Gustav Holst, Sergei Prokofiev, and Arnold Shoenberg.
When the teacher in the Charlie Brown cartoons speaks, her voice is the sound of a trombone.
Sigmund Freud said that the trombone made him uncomfortable and Mark Twain was not a fan of the instrument either, referring to it as 'unholy trombone', and referring to the music it produces as 'wretched music' with 'discordant sounds'.


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