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+ Difficulty Rating + About the Trombone + Equipment Cost + Accessories + Genres played on the Trombone + Famous players + Famous songs & albums + History + Type of Trombone + Related instruments + Audio Samples Difficulty Rating: 7/10

About the Trombone:

The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, it is a lip-reed aerophone; sound is produced when the player’s buzzing lips (embouchure) cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate. The trombone is usually characterized by a telescopic slide with which the player varies the length of the tube to change pitches, although the less common valve trombone uses three valves similar to those on a trumpet. The word trombone derives from Italian tromba (trumpet) and -one (a suffix meaning large), so a trombone is quite literally a "large trumpet". Trombones and trumpets share the important characteristic of having predominantly cylindrical bores. Therefore, the most frequently encountered trombones — the tenor and bass trombone — are the tenor and bass counterparts of the trumpet.

A person who plays the trombone is referred to as a trombonist.

Equipment costs:

Low end Trombone: £400
High end Trombone: £2.200

Accessories:

Mutes
Mouthpieces

Genres played on the Trombone:

Classical
Funk
Jazz
Blues
March Music
Brass Bands

Famous players:

Ray Anderson
Tommy Dorsey
Carl Fontana
Curtis Fuller
Urbie Green
Al Grey
Ted Heath
Conrad Herwig
J. J. Johnson
Don Lusher
Albert Mangelsdorff
Glenn Miller
Kid Ory Frank Rosolino
Frank Rehak
Steve Swell
Jack Teagarden
Bill Watrous
Ron Westray
Kai Winding
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Famous songs & albums:

Harrisburg Half Life – Ray Anderson
Stardust- Tommy Dorsey
Moonlight Serenade – Glenn Miller

History:

Until the early 18th century, the trombone was called the sackbut in English, a word with various different spellings ranging from sackbut to shagbolt and derived from the Spanish sacabuche or French sacqueboute. This was not a distinct instrument from the trombone, but rather a different name used for an earlier form. Other countries used the same name throughout the instrument's history, viz. Italian trombone and German Posaune. The sackbut was built in slightly smaller dimensions than modern trombones, and had a bell that was more conical and less flared. Today, sackbut is generally used to refer to the earlier form of the instrument, commonly used in early music ensembles. Sackbuts were (and still are) made in every size from soprano to contrabass, though then as now the contrabass is very rare.