There’s so much amazing variety in the orchestra, we could spend years learning the ins and outs of each instrument. Today, it’s a fun instrument that so many of us love: the trombone.

 

 

You know it, probably because of it exciting slide mechanism. Instead of pressing keys that open valves like other brass instruments, the trombone (known colloquially as “the bone”) changes pitch with a single tube that slides. That means two things: Number one, the trombone can easily do perfect glissandos (smooth slides between notes). Number two, to play notes in-tune, the player has to put the slide in just the right position.

Let’s listen to a primo performance of Ferdinand David’s Concertino Opus 4 for Trombone, and you’ll see