Valve Trombone in Bb

[TrombonePlayer2213]

Whats the benefit in owning a Bb valve trombone?

[marccromme]

You do not need to learn slide positions. ..

[ithinknot]

In the long term, it's cheaper than renting.

And if you're a banda player accustomed to a C valve trombone, then the Bb version allows you to play French Baroque repertoire at A392 without transposing.

[Finetales]

In school settings, it's often used for trumpet or euphonium players who want to play in the jazz band on trombone. I also know a couple of professional trumpet players who use valve trombone or flugabone in recording sessions as a lower voice. Not everybody wants or needs to learn the slide.

For someone who does play slide trombone, there is no actual NEED for a valve trombone, but it's nice to have a different voice. They can sound very close to a slide trombone, but also very different. I've shared this Facebook video of the Royal Concertgebouw trombone section using valve trombones for Verdi so many times, and will continue to do so. It perfectly demonstrates what the valve trombone brings to the table in an orchestral setting. For jazz there are plenty of examples, such as Bob Brookmeyer, Rob McConnell, and Mike Fahn. I like Dick Berk's combo album "One by One" as a great example of the differences between slide and valve trombone, as Andy Martin and Mike Fahn are the 2 horn players.

The flugabone (aka marching trombone) is a Bb valve trombone wrapped like a trumpet, and is much more ergonomically friendly and practically shaped. For that reason I usually recommend a flugabone when someone expresses interest in valve trombone, but of course they won't look uniform in a trombone section if that's important to you. Flugabones are also generally cheaper than good valve trombones, despite the recent "everybody apparently wants a flugabone" tax. A Conn 5G, King 2B/3B, or Olds valve trombone is not cheap. You can also play flugabone one-handed, which has come in handy for me quite a bit funnily enough.

C valve trombone is of course related, and banda music as well as Juan Tizol are great examples of what the C can sound like. But they play and sound more differently than you'd expect...the modern C valve trombones I've played almost played and sounded more like altos than tenors. It's a cool sound, but a bit more distant from slide trombone than the average Bb valve trombone is. And of course you'd have to learn C fingerings.

[JohnL]

Whats the benefit in owning a Bb valve trombone?

As opposed to some other kind of valve trombone?

[OompaLoompia]

Whats the benefit in owning a Bb valve trombone?

As opposed to some other kind of valve trombone?

Yes, such as a C valve trombone that the previous two commenters talk about.

[JohnL]

As opposed to some other kind of valve trombone?

Yes, such as a C valve trombone that the previous two commenters talk about.

But is that what the OP is talking about? If we knew for certain, we could provide better answers.

[AtomicClock]

I've shared this Facebook video of the Royal Concertgebouw trombone section using valve trombones for Verdi so many times, and will continue to do so.

Maybe you should stop sharing it. "Video has no sound"

[Burgerbob]

Has sound for me. And it sure sounds great

[JohnL]

I've shared this Facebook video of the Royal Concertgebouw trombone section using valve trombones for Verdi so many times, and will continue to do so.

Maybe you should stop sharing it. "Video has no sound"

No sound for me, either. Maybe because I'm not signed in to FB?

[AtomicClock]

I had to go to the Trombones Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra page, then scroll down thru 10 years' worth of posts. No fun. But then it worked (but still said no sound). A downloader (fdown.net) also worked.

Stupid facebook. I thought twitter was the one that fired all the developers.