The bass trombone is the lowest instrument in the trombone family of brass instruments. Modern bass trombones are tuned to the same B♭ as the tenor trombone but have a larger tube, bell, and mouthpiece to help play very low notes. They also usually have two valves to help play the notes that are just above the very low ones.
History
The earliest bass trombones were tuned a minor third, fourth, or fifth below the tenor trombone, which was pitched in A. These early instruments had smaller tubes and less flared bells than modern ones. They also had longer slides with handles to reach positions that were too far for a fully stretched arm. These bass sackbuts were sometimes called terz-posaun, quart-posaun, and quint-posaun in Old German, which means "third," "fourth," or "fifth trombone," referring to the intervals below the tenor. Sometimes, the term quartposaune was used more generally for any bass trombone.
The oldest known surviving bass trombone was made in France in 1593 and was tuned to G (modern A=440 Hz). Other examples from the late 16th and early 17th centuries were made by Nuremberg craftsmen like Anton Schnitzer, Isaac Ehe, and Hans and Sebastian Heinlein. These instruments match descriptions and drawings by Praetorius in his 1614–20 work Syntagma Musicum. At that time, Praetorius only described bass trombones in E or D (modern F or E♭), a fourth or fifth below the tenor, and an octav-posaun, a very large and rare predecessor of the contrabass trombone. Based on Praetorius’ descriptions, Canadian trombonist Maximilien Brisson suggested that a quint-posaun with an extra crook could produce an instrument in C, capable of playing down to the lowest G1 open string of the G Violone. By the late 17th century, the bass sackbut was mainly in D; German composer Daniel Speer only mentioned the quint-posaun in his 1687 treatise Grundrichtiger Unterricht.
Bass sackbuts were used in Europe during the Renaissance and early Baroque periods. By the 18th century, F and E♭ bass trombones were used in Germany, Austria, and Sweden, while the E♭ bass trombone was used in France.
In 1821, German instrument maker Christian Friedrich Sattler created a tenor-bass trombone called the Tenorbaßposaune, which was tuned to B♭ but used the larger bore and mouthpiece of the F bass trombone. This allowed players to perform bass trombone parts in the low register, though it could not play notes below E2. Writers like Georges Kastner criticized F and E♭ bass trombones for having slow and difficult-to-use slides. The invention of valves in the 1830s led to the creation of valve trombones, which replaced slides and became popular in military bands and Italian opera.
In 1839, Sattler invented the Quartventil (a fourth valve) for a B♭ tenor trombone, lowering the pitch a fourth into F. This helped fill the range gap between E2 and B♭1 and was quickly used for bass trombone parts, especially in Germany. Instruments in B♭/F gradually replaced larger F and E♭ bass trombones by the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Late Romantic composers like Arnold Schoenberg specified Tenorbaßposaune in scores, meaning a B♭/F trombone capable of playing below E2.
From the mid-19th century, the G bass trombone became popular in Britain and the British Empire, as well as in parts of France. In British military and brass bands, the G bass trombone became standard, made by companies like Besson, Boosey & Co., and Hawkes & Son (later Boosey & Hawkes). These instruments had no valves and a slide handle for reaching longer positions. The G bass trombone’s long slide and front-line use in marching bands earned it the nickname "kidshifter," as if clearing a path for the band.
French instruments with a Quartventil valve in D were made as early as 1869, extending the low register below D♭2, the lowest note in seventh position. British orchestras began using them in the early 20th century. In 1932, Boosey & Hawkes introduced a "Betty" model, named after bass trombonist William Betty, featuring a D valve and a longer tuning slide for C (to play the low A♭1 above the first pedal G1). British composers avoided writing below D♭2 for G bass trombones between 1850 and 1950, but the D or C valve allowed players to perform European works written for F or E♭ bass trombones.
The G bass trombone was used in orchestras until the 1950s, when London players began importing larger-bore American B♭ instruments, especially from Conn. The G trombone remained in use in Britain and former colonies until the 1980s, especially in brass bands and period instrument ensembles.
British organologist Arnold Myers noted that the G trombone’s small bore (about 12.35 mm or 13.35 mm for "Betty" models) gives it a unique sound, and historically accurate performances of British works should use small-bore tenor trombones and a G bass trombone.
Modern bass trombones evolved in the United States from German large-bore B♭/F tenor-bass trombones used in the late 19th century. In the early 20th century, manufacturers added a second valve to solve the missing low B1 note. In the 1920s, Conn and Holton made B♭/F bass trombones with a Stellventil (static valve) that could lower F tubing to E when manually set. The first true double-valve trombone, where the second valve could be operated while playing, was made by F. E. Olds in 1937, using a second dependent valve to lower F to E.
In the 1950s, American orchestral players had custom double-valve instruments, which were later adopted by manufacturers. In 1961, Vincent Bach released a double-valve "50B2" model with a second dependent E valve (later E♭ and D), based on an instrument modified for the Minneapolis Symphony. In the late 1960s, custom instruments used a second independent valve to lower the pitch to G or E♭ when combined with the first valve. The first commercially available trombone with this design was the Olds "S-24G" model in 1973. Though new to bass trombones, this idea was
Construction
The modern bass trombone uses the same 9-foot (2.7 m) length of tubing as the tenor trombone. It has a wider bore, a larger bell, and a larger mouthpiece, which help play lower notes. Typical measurements include a bore size of 0.562 inches (14.3 mm) in the slide and a bell diameter of 9 to 10 + 1⁄2 inches (23 to 27 cm).
The bass trombone usually has two valves that lower the instrument’s pitch when used. This helps play notes between the B♭1 pedal in first position and the E2 second partial in seventh position. The first valve lowers the key of the instrument by a fourth to F. When the second valve is used with the first, it lowers the pitch to D (or less often, E♭).
The second valve can be set up in two ways: either connected to the first valve or separate from it. In a connected system, also called stacked or off-line, the second valve is attached to the first valve’s tubing and can only be used with the first. In a separate system, also called in-line, the second valve is attached to the main tubing next to the first and can be used alone. When used alone, the second valve typically lowers the pitch to G♭, and with the first valve, it lowers it to D. Sometimes, the second valve is tuned to G (combined with the first to give E♭) or has a tuning slide that adjusts between G and G♭.
Before double-valve models appeared in the mid-20th century, bass trombones in B♭ had one valve in F. On such instruments, the low B1 note above the pedal range could not be played. To fix this, 19th- and early 20th-century trombones sometimes had a valve in E instead of F or used a different tuning slide to lower the pitch to E♭. Today, single-valve bass trombones have a long tuning slide on the valve section that allows the low B1 note by lowering the pitch from F to E.
Range
The modern bass trombone with two valves can play every note from the lowest pedal B♭ 0 (or even A 0 when the valves are fully extended) up to at least B♭ 4. While most orchestral music typically uses notes between B♭ 1 and G 4, there are exceptions. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, French composers wrote parts for the tenor trombone that reached as high as A 4 in works like Bizet’s L'Arlésienne and Franck’s Symphony in D minor. These pieces often avoided notes below E 2, except for occasional low pedal notes, such as pedal B♭ 1, A 1, and G♯ 1 in Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique and Grande Messe des morts. Around the same time, English composers used a bass trombone in G and avoided notes below D♭ 2, even though instruments with a D valve attachment were available by 1900.
In the 20th century, the bass trombone’s range expanded further, as seen in Berg’s Drei Orchesterstücke (1915), which included the low pedal D 1, and Kodály’s Háry János suite (1927), which featured a high B 4. Today, orchestral and solo classical music, as well as modern jazz arrangements, frequently use the full range of the bass trombone’s sound.
Repertoire
Since the Romantic period, the trombone section in an orchestra, wind ensemble, or British-style brass band usually includes two tenor trombones and at least one bass trombone. In a modern jazz big band with four trombones, the lowest part is usually played by the bass trombone. This instrument often serves as the main support for the trombone section or plays the same notes as the double bass and baritone saxophone.
George Roberts, known as "Mr. Bass Trombone," was one of the first musicians to help show how the bass trombone can play solo parts. One of the first major classical solo works for the instrument was the Concerto for Bass Trombone by Thom Ritter George.