The bass trombone is a brass instrument that is played moving the slide and vibrating one’s lips against the mouthpiece. The B-flat/F/E trombone is a modern bass trombone that plays in the key of B-flat but has two attachments that change the key. It can be found in classical orchestras, marching bands, jazz combos, and salsa music, among other places.
Brass, silver, or another metal is used to make all brass instruments. Each is played vibrating the mouthpiece’s lips. The bass trombone is a member of the trombone family in the brass section, and its pitch is usually changed the position of a slide as well as changes in air pressure.
A bass trombone has a lower pitch than the tenor trombone but a higher pitch than the contrabass trombone. It has a slightly larger bore than a standard tenor trombone, but otherwise is very similar. The bass trombone is also known as the tenor-bass trombone or the B-flat/F/E trombone because of the similarities.
The mouthpiece, body, and slide are the three parts that make up the instrument. It’s made up of nine feet (2.74 meters) of brass tubing that’s been wound around itself. When the valve is engaged, the body has two attachments that can extend it to over twelve feet (3.66 m). When the slide is extended, the tubing lengthens as well, lowering the pitch.
The modern bass trombone is a non-transposing instrument, which means that when it plays a written C, the sound produced is the same as the written C. It can reach a low note of B-flat0, just over three octaves below middle C, when the E valve is engaged. Although an expert player could play higher pitches on a high-quality instrument, most bass trombones can reach a high note of C5, an octave above middle C.
A slide was added to the trumpet in the early 1400s, resulting in the first trombone, known as a sackbut at the time. Trombones of all sizes and keys, from the largest contrabass trombones to tiny, high-pitched piccolo trombones, were soon available. Alto, tenor, and bass trombone trios became a regular feature of the orchestra. After the Italian phrase for “large trumpet,” the popular instrument became known as the trombone the 1700s.
In 1839, C. F. Satire, a Leipzig-based instrument maker, released a low trombone in B-flat with a F attachment. Although it lacks the second attachment in E, this instrument is essentially the same as the bass trombone used today. The B-flat instrument with two attachments eventually became the standard.