[Explained] Bass Trombone

[@dougharville]

He already explained this to me when we were in highschool together and here I am ten years later because I forgot lol

[@LowBrassU]

Hi Doug!

[@tubadude07]

as a tuba player, LOVE blasting away on a bass trombone. Seeing some crazy deals online for a decent for less than a grand!

[@feelgoodcharlie3822]

Nice call on not saying that all bass trombones have 2 valves! Respect!

[@LowBrassU]

I tried my best. Giving a clear definition of a bass trombone is actually harder than people think!

[@kenrup]

Yes, see Geroge Roberts when he was with Stan Kenton. Monster on a single.

[@bobboscarato1313]

@@kenrup: George Roberts also played with Lawrence Welk!

[@nathanieloxford6288]

It's pretty incredible how much difference 15 onethousands of an inch in bore diameter makes. Without the second valve, those two instruments are the same length and tuning. But when I put my bass mouthpiece on my tenor, it doesn't play like a bass bone; that's for sure.

[@Txdcblues]

I got put on sousaphone this year as a new prerequisite rule for bass trombone, I’ve wanted to play since 6th grade and now I’m going into junior year at Hs. There are a lot of trombone players that don’t know about bass and it’s really surprising

[@LowBrassU]

Bass trombone is a mysterious land to many!

[@adamrainey4633]

Sounds great, dude. Love the tone that you are producing! Keep it up!

[@LowBrassU]

Thanks Adam! Just trying to keep up!

[@pudansimaremare8325]

Big thanks for your exolanation

[@BassTromBen]

I’m jealous of your high F. I’ve never been able to play one on the bass, without hurting myself. Haha! Really nice explanation and demonstration of the bass, Zach. I’m definitely going to be checking out all of your videos.

[@LowBrassU]

Thanks for checking out my videos!

[@SamTheTriangle]

I got curious about this after I found out that I had to play a bass trombone part on a tenor trombone.

[@saidoof9369]

0:50

[@samkjolhaug1993]

i am thinking of taking up bass trombone someday!

[@LowBrassU]

Awesome! It's a ton of fun!

[@TheRandomWolf]

So are the valves the two brass circles? Also is the bass trombone the same octave as a tenor, it’s just able to play low notes better and easier? I’ve been confused but I know the contrabass plays in the tuba octave so I would assume I play Tuba and was thinking about getting a trombone for Christmas so I could play all low brass instruments at my school

[@LowBrassU]

You are essentially correct. The circles are the valves but other trombones have different looking valves such as the Thayer/axial flow valve which is more like a cone. The modern bass trombone is really the same length as the tenor but generally with an additional, larger tubing and a bigger bell. This all aids the bass trombone in having an easier time in the low range.

[@braedansignorino7711]

From the angle I’m pretty new to tronbone but does the slide of the trombone with the f trigger bent

[@LowBrassU]

I'm not sure what you are asking.

[@bobboscarato1313]

You may ask your teacher!

[@keithshockley3443]

What was the first brass instrument you played??

[@LowBrassU]

Baritone

[@labellefleur460]

Can bass trombone use the same method as tenor trombone?

[@LowBrassU]

Yes and no. In many instances a bass trombone player is asked to play what a tenor trombonist must play. Because of this I encourage bass trombone players to play much of the same material as tenor trombonists in addition to more specific (lower) bass trombone music.

[@quandabulous_g_official1937]

Is there some kind of “recommended” low range on a tenor trombone if you want to switch to bass? Right now I can go down chromatically to a pedal A or a G on a good day, except for the low B natural

[@LowBrassU]

I don’t necessarily think of a hard and fast rule. In some ways as a teacher, I would be more concerned with low range tone and general facility. General bass trombone literature in large ensembles does not go lower than the notes you can already get to. There is going to be an adjustment no matter what but it sounds like you are a good candidate to switch if that’s what you want to do. I might add that bass trombone still has to play high and playing bass doesn’t mean you only play low.

[@quandabulous_g_official1937]

@@LowBrassU that’s alright with me, on tenor I can typically play up to a double C#, and my low C is almost perfectly in tune majority of the time. Right now I’m working on not puffing put my cheeks so much on anything lower than an Eb but I’m improving

[@LowBrassU]

@@quandabulous_g_official1937 While very few brass teachers encourage their students to put their cheeks while playing, many professionals do puff their cheeks especially in the low range. Personally, I don’t encourage students to puff their cheeks but if they are puffing their cheeks in the low range and I don’t hear a problem, I’ll probably let them continue doing so.

[@quandabulous_g_official1937]

@@LowBrassU yeah my private instructor said it was acceptable to puff out your cheeks in the extreme low range, but I only do it for notes below the staff. If it’s just a low F or E I’ll only do it if I have a higher note before it. Thanks for the advice though, I appreciate all the videos explaining things like this 🙏

[@keithshockley3443]

Single valve bass bones are called tenorbass trombones, right??

[@LowBrassU]

I've heard that once or twice but I wouldn't say that is an industry standard term. Single valve bass trombones are still bass trombones but most modern bass trombones have two valves. Things get a little bit gray with tenor trombones with larger slides or bells.

[@nathanieloxford6288]

I've read that that was an early name for a trombone with F attachment. But back then nobody was playing anything as large as a .547 bore tenor in the symphony either.

[@bigreddog3241]

What was you're first instrument

[@LowBrassU]

Piano!

[@bigreddog3241]

@@LowBrassU how many instruments can you play?

[@LowBrassU]

@@bigreddog3241 I focus on all low brass instruments but I play some piano and drum set as well but neither of those at the same level as low brass instruments.

[@matoyt5921]

What type of mouthpiece is that?

[@LowBrassU]

Denis Wick Classic 1AL.

[@jdplaystuba]

A slide tuba.

[@LowBrassU]

You could say that but I think it's a bit more nuanced than that.

[@johnturner1870]

Check on the contrabass trombone for that one!

[@Mellow-mq8sf]

Its Phatter

[@tangy1171]

is it posible to convert a tenor trombone into a bass? because i dont have the money for a bass

[@LowBrassU]

You can add a second valve (which probably wont be cheap because it would be custom) but essentially every part of the bass trombone is bigger. You can also get a longer F attachment made but at the end of the day you can't really convert a tenor.

[@tangy1171]

@@LowBrassU aw i was hopeing i could convert it

[@tangy1171]

@@LowBrassU do you have any recomandations for a cheap bass bone?

[@Moreovero]

Wait so Mr.BrassU, how high you can play on tenor is how high you can play on bass

[@LowBrassU]

Both instruments as well as all other brass instruments have no technical high range limit. On tenor, I would almost never play above the Bb above the treble clef and on bass likely never higher than the F below that. That being said, that is a good bit higher than the range that is typically required and has very limited use.