The bass trombone: a complete guide

What a bass trombone is

A bass trombone is not a bigger instrument so much as a heavier-duty one: a wider bore (usually .562 inch), a larger bell, a bigger mouthpiece, and one or two valves that extend the instrument's low range and make the long positions reachable. It plays the same length of tubing as a tenor in B flat, but everything about it is built to speak low and project.

Bass vs tenor: the real differences

• Valves. Most tenors have at most one F valve. Basses carry one or two, letting you play a full chromatic range down to pedal notes without heroic slide reaches.
• Sound. The bass speaks with weight and breadth at the bottom of the section. You are the foundation, not the melody, and the job rewards players who like that role.
• Air. The single biggest adjustment. The bass drinks air, and moving from tenor means rebuilding your breathing before anything else.
• The seat. Orchestras, big bands and brass bands each carry one bass trombone. One seat means the player who holds it is hard to replace, which is good news for anyone who does the work.

Range

Working range runs roughly from the pedal B flat below the bass clef staff up to B flat above it, with professionals extending both ways. The valves exist for the low register; the rest is the same partials game every trombonist plays.

Choosing one

• Student single-valve: from around £700 second hand. Fine for a first year on the instrument.
• Independent double-valve: the professional standard, £2,000 to £5,000+. Buy this when the music demands it, not before.
• Try before buying. Bore, bell and valve setups vary far more between bass trombones than between tenors. An hour in a shop with a teacher saves expensive regret.

Who should play it

Tenor players with a secure low register who like living at the bottom of the chord, and band players whose ensembles need one, which in my experience is most of them. It is not a beginner's first instrument; a year or two on tenor first is the standard road.