[Explained] Bass Trombone 

Hi Doug!

I tried my best. Giving a clear definition of a bass trombone is actually harder than people think!

Yes, see Geroge Roberts when he was with Stan Kenton. Monster on a single.

@@kenrup: George Roberts also played with Lawrence Welk!

Bass trombone is a mysterious land to many!

Thanks Adam! Just trying to keep up!

Thanks for checking out my videos!

Awesome! It's a ton of fun!

You are essentially correct. The circles are the valves but other trombones have different looking valves such as the Thayer/axial flow valve which is more like a cone. The modern bass trombone is really the same length as the tenor but generally with an additional, larger tubing and a bigger bell. This all aids the bass trombone in having an easier time in the low range.

I'm not sure what you are asking.

You may ask your teacher!

Yes and no. In many instances a bass trombone player is asked to play what a tenor trombonist must play. Because of this I encourage bass trombone players to play much of the same material as tenor trombonists in addition to more specific (lower) bass trombone music.

Baritone

Piano!

@@LowBrassU how many instruments can you play?

@@bigreddog3241 I focus on all low brass instruments but I play some piano and drum set as well but neither of those at the same level as low brass instruments.

I've heard that once or twice but I wouldn't say that is an industry standard term. Single valve bass trombones are still bass trombones but most modern bass trombones have two valves. Things get a little bit gray with tenor trombones with larger slides or bells.

I've read that that was an early name for a trombone with F attachment. But back then nobody was playing anything as large as a .547 bore tenor in the symphony either.

You could say that but I think it's a bit more nuanced than that.

Check on the contrabass trombone for that one!

I don’t necessarily think of a hard and fast rule. In some ways as a teacher, I would be more concerned with low range tone and general facility. General bass trombone literature in large ensembles does not go lower than the notes you can already get to. There is going to be an adjustment no matter what but it sounds like you are a good candidate to switch if that’s what you want to do. I might add that bass trombone still has to play high and playing bass doesn’t mean you only play low.

@@LowBrassU that’s alright with me, on tenor I can typically play up to a double C#, and my low C is almost perfectly in tune majority of the time. Right now I’m working on not puffing put my cheeks so much on anything lower than an Eb but I’m improving

@@quandabulous_g_official1937 While very few brass teachers encourage their students to put their cheeks while playing, many professionals do puff their cheeks especially in the low range. Personally, I don’t encourage students to puff their cheeks but if they are puffing their cheeks in the low range and I don’t hear a problem, I’ll probably let them continue doing so.

@@LowBrassU yeah my private instructor said it was acceptable to puff out your cheeks in the extreme low range, but I only do it for notes below the staff. If it’s just a low F or E I’ll only do it if I have a higher note before it. Thanks for the advice though, I appreciate all the videos explaining things like this 🙏

Denis Wick Classic 1AL.

You can add a second valve (which probably wont be cheap because it would be custom) but essentially every part of the bass trombone is bigger. You can also get a longer F attachment made but at the end of the day you can't really convert a tenor.

@@LowBrassU aw i was hopeing i could convert it

@@LowBrassU do you have any recomandations for a cheap bass bone?