The issue I’m taking is if your arm only knows where to go on an alto because of rote muscle memory associating dots with slide positions, yet you fluently read bass clef for tenor trombone, I would suggest a change. Now, if you happen to be most fluent in a particular clef because that has been how you developed your music-reading skill, then by all means find written music in that clef. Those black dots should inform the musician of the frequencies of the written music, and her musicianship should inform her fingers or arms where to find that frequency on her instrument. I agree because simply associating black dots to the mechanical manipulation of a musical instrument seems to miss an important aspect of playing a musical instrument and being a musician. He considered that a problem, and as you would probably expect, I tend to agree. In other words, they can’t play the alto trombone in bass clef. Both editions of Alto Trombone SavvyĪ friend of mine who plays trombone in a major symphony remarked after I told him about people wanting the book in alto clef that, in his opinion, too many trombonists are locked into alto clef when playing the alto trombone. Since going to print, I sell about half bass, half alto editions. I thought about that and decided to create a second edition of the book in alto clef. I gave it to the great Christian Lindberg to review and his one comment was that it should be in alto clef. I originally wrote my first book, Alto Trombone Savvy,in bass clef, not having given it much thought. Now for the fun part of this post! About getting into alto clef efficiently. It locks into pitch well and has a great overall sound. I just spent 5 minutes searching the Adam’s site but cannot find the horn to which I was going to link. Haven’t yet been kicked out of a band for that! I either lip fake those notes or play them up an octave. I should warn you that I occasionally run into difficulty playing big band or other music written for tenor that goes into that low range. If you plan to play jazz, maybe not so much. If you will be playing primarily symphonic music with the need for the low register (which is odd since the alto isn’t usually called for in that range), perhaps the trigger is important for you.
![alto trombone position chart alto clef alto trombone position chart alto clef](https://kids.kiddle.co/images/d/d5/Wirth_trombone_slide_position_chart.jpg)
That probably influenced my exclusivity with alto in the first place! Conn 36H alto trombone with Bb trigger I prefer light and as little tubing as possible. In fact, the Silver Adams I now play doesn’t even have a second brace up by the tuning slide. On the other hand, the trigger adds weight and likely detracts a bit from the overall sound, depending on the quality of the trigger.
![alto trombone position chart alto clef alto trombone position chart alto clef](https://kimballtrombone.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/alto-for-slider1.jpg)
The trigger gives you a few things like less arm movement and that low Ab down to E range. To trigger or not to trigger… I think the answer depends on what you plan to play on your alto. See our Mp3 TRACKS, SHEET MUSIC, SCORES for Trombone.I received an email today from a trombonist who packed a lot of good questions into I was looking into getting an alto trombone and I was wondering, is a trigger really necessary? Or Would it be better just to find an alto without one? Also what alto trombone do you use and how did you get into ready alto clef efficiently? Go Here for the slide position chart for a tenor clef trombone with an F attachment trigger.Go Here for the slide position chart for a treble clef standard straight trombone.Go Here for the slide position chart for a treble clef trombone with an F attachment trigger.Go Here for the slide position chart for a bass trombone Bb-F-Gb.Go Here for the slide position chart for a trombone with an F attachment trigger.Slide Position Chart for Straight Trombone.(T = the F attachment trigger plus the slide position number.) For more about the function of an F attachment trigger see: This is the slide position chart for tenor Clef trombone with an F attachment trigger. TROMBONE SLIDE POSITION CHART – TENOR CLEF WITH F ATTACHMENT TRIGGERįrom “ Trombone Tips for Players & Students“