Trombone positions chart how to#
Trombone positions chart series#

If you sound thin, you will have a hard time blending in with the other instruments. I’ll leave you with a couple of videos I produced of my favorite place to play: outside! If you plan to play alto within the context of a band expecting you to sound close to a tenor, you’ll need to work on your sound. I have never cared to have a trigger on my alto. With a trigger, you can play all those notes directly above pedal Eb. Of course, I am referring to an alto without a trigger. Unlike the natural notes, the false tones are mostly dependent on your ear. The second reason is to strengthen your ear for hearing pitch on the alto. The first reason is so that you can play notes you might be expected to play from a tenor trombone part. I do recommend that you learn to play those false tones between E and Ab for two reasons. Pedal Eb is in first position and low A is the next natural tone on the horn. In the above chart, I have identified the alternate positions after the “/”.īecause of the physics of the alto trombone, the lowest natural note just above the “false” tones is concert A.

Trombone positions chart series#

Especially if you are a tenor trombone player, you’ll want to learn the alto trombone using the same notation that you are used to.īelow is a comparison of the first position overtone series between alto and tenor. Unless you plan on being a symphonic player where those ancient parts for alto were written in alto clef, learn the instrument in bass clef. In fact, I think it is pretty silly to learn alto trombone in alto clef. Reading alto clef is NOT required for alto trombone. The second partial on a tenor is Bb at the bottom of the bass clef staff, and the corresponding partial for the alto is the Eb in the middle of the bass clef staff.īefore showing you the position chart, let me make one point. That tells you that the partials on the alto are a fourth higher than tenor. The fundamental of a tenor trombone is concert Bb and the fundamental for an alto trombone is concert Eb. Most fingering charts do not show how high or low a note is, only the slide position.In case you may not be aware, the slide positions for alto trombone are completely different from tenor trombone. The figures appearing in the bottom row below the notes in the first and second lines represent the positions used for playing Bb Trombone with F valve. To play the A-flat note shown here you must place the slide in 3rd position and then buzz the mouthpiece up to the 3rd Partial. The horizontal slanted lines are called a ' partials', or sometimes an 'overtone'. The most unique thing about this chart is that it shows how high or low to 'buzz' your lips in order to hit each note.

Trombone positions chart how to#

For details on how to find the wavelengths of half-steps and other intervals, click here. The StepWise slide position chart accurately demonstrates the length of each position from the mouthpiece. This is because according to the natural laws of acoustics, half-steps are not linear multiples of the frequencies of neighboring tones. It is also important to notice that the distance between each position is slightly longer than the one before it.

Notice that 3rd position is not really AT the bell, but slightly BEFORE it. On StepWise trombone fingering charts the trombone positions are shown across the bottom, and are shown in relation to the bell.