Bass trombone written range?

[jorymil]

What's the generally-accepted range of the bass trombone when composing/arranging? C5 (1 octave above middle C) seems a little high, and C1 (C below pedal Bb) seems a bit low. I definitely can't make it down that low yet.

[Burgerbob]

100% depends on the group you'd write for. But sticking to in and around the staff is always safe and will probably sound best most of the time.

[hyperbolica]

As a practical matter, when I arrange, I don't write above the staff for bass bone, and try not to go down past pedal G. Most players have a bigger range than that, but I think that's where the bass bone sounds best.

[EdwardSolomon]

Most orchestral composers have limited the range of the bass trombone to the C two octaves below middle C to the F above middle C (or thereabouts - exceptions occur, more particularly in the high register, which is pushed sometimes as far as C an octave above middle C). The overwhelming majority of orchestral music is scored in that solid range of low C to high F.

[TromboneTallie]

Depends on so many things too. It's a waste of bass (like Ace of Base) if you're writing up to a high C5, as much as if you're leaving out pedals, etc. Film scores seem to only have the bass on pedals, exclusively. But then again, most of the time that would be played by the Vienna instruments library.

[OneTon]

Wolpe and Nestico write some of the best stuff for big band jazz that I have played. They tend to stick to the two octaves below middle C. Pedal tones are used more sparingly and for effect, as are glissandos, which tend to push compositions into novelty status if over used.

Sometimes the third part in concert band is more melodic or important than the first or second. More experienced composers don’t let that third part get high when they put the melody in the third part. Human tenor singers can get a sweeter timbre as they ascend; Baritone voices not so much.

The bass trombone sounds best at F above middle C, and below. I start sounding Teutonic above middle C on a King Duo-Gravis and there isn’t a lot I can do about it.

[Pezza]

I've found the most usable range is G below the bass stave to G above!

[Basbasun]

A generally accepted range for basstrombone is from E 1 to C 5. But for younger players and waek lips Ab 1 to G 4 is more likely. Of course some pro players can play higher and lower. George Roberts played nice D 5 on stage, many players player play Bb 0 for practise reasons. I have seen A 0 written for basstrombone. BUt the E1 to C5 is an accepted range even if many composer use a more restricted range.

I am happy if the written range when I gonna play is G 4 to Ab 1.
In the practise studio I play as high and low as possible.

[Basbasun]

George Roberts had a beautiful high range on basstrombone.

[robcat2075]

I've found the most usable range is G below the bass stave to G above!

I think this is a good, practical range that you can write for and be confident that most people with bass trombones can play those notes with usefulresults. (Actually, I'd stop at the F above the staff)

I would not exceed that range unless I knew the specific player who would get the part could handle it.

That three octave G to G is already a substantial range for any wind instrument.

[BGuttman]

Only comment I'd add is to try to avoid the B natural below the staff. It's difficult on any single valve bass.

Dennis Wick originally put the range of a bass trombone about the G1 to G4 range.

There are plenty of parts that "violate" this rule. The 3rd Trombone part in Bizet's "L'Arlesienne" suite #2 goes to A above that in the Farandole. Surprisingly, that lick is put on 1st trombone in the score. There is an arrangement of "All of Me" where the bass trombone has a C5 (4 lines and a space above the bass staff).

I believe it was Sam Burtis who said "Any idiot can write a part you can't play".

[MStarke]

100% depends on the group you'd write for. But sticking to in and around the staff is always safe and will probably sound best most of the time.

In addition to the people playing it also depends a lot on the situation/setup.
Chamber music vs. big symphony orchestra vs. big band vs. solo literature etc.?
Loud tutti passage vs. soft choral?
Etc.

[Elow]

There is an arrangement of "All of Me" where the bass trombone has a C5 (4 lines and a space above the bass staff).

Haha, good memories of sight reading that chart on a gig, it did not go well….

[Basbasun]

This youtube clip is good. Still this is for pro players.

[spencercarran]

The possible range on bass trombone is extremely wide; as others have already noted the practical tessitura is usually narrower. I think any good arranger who approaches the line between the two should consider what the other instruments in the group are doing and how the bass part fits in with them. Sure, bass trombonists should be able to get a solid G4 (and up to C5 or D5 for stronger players), but if there's a tenor trombonist sitting right there, they'll sound better on those notes. On the other end, do you really want the sound of a bass trombonist growling out pedal F, or is there a tubist who can provide a more controlled foundation?

[robcat2075]

The most troublesome writing for bass trombone, rangewise, that I encountered was in jazz bands where the "charts" would have a passage where the whole trombone section was in unison and it was somehow presumed that everyone would have a solid high C, or D even.

I didn't! That was back in the 80s in a University of North Texas "Lab Band". Honking super-low low notes had not yet become fashionable and were not encountered.

[brtnats]

Only comment I'd add is to try to avoid the B natural below the staff. It's difficult on any single valve bass.

I’d politely disagree on principle: Bb bass trombones exist primarily to fix that problem, be it with a tuning slide pull or a larger bore to play the “fake” B. I can’t see any reason not to write 8vb in a designated bass trombone part.

[modelerdc]

A bass trombonist will encounter parts written for 3rd or 4th tenor trombone, some kind of bass trombone, or some kind of contra bass trombone. Some parts will be marked bass trombone but not require an F attachment, while some parts will require an F attachment but will simply be marked for trombone. I've played many times the arrangement of "All of me" in which the 4th part has the lead for three notes, High C, G, E. The whole part could easily be played on tenor trombone, and that's what it is, 4th tenor trombone. None of the Big Bands through 1947 are known to have used a bass trombone, and all of the 4th parts are for 4th tenor trombone, no F valve at all. Bass trombone in Big Band or commercial work is a post 1950 phenomenon. Yes, some more modern arrangements of older material will have parts for bass trombone, but these are not the original period arrangements.

It's different in classical music, where the bass trombone has been around for centuries. Yet some parts pose questions as to which trombone they are best performed on. Haydn's Creation has a range from low C to High G, but the F valve was not yet invented, and it's hard to imagine playing the parts going up to high G on a Bass in F. How was this performed in Haydn's day? Fake low notes on a B flat instrument, or really virtuosic playing on a F bass?

The Bizet Farandole with the melody (doubled in the trumpet) with numerous high A might have been intended for the tenor trombone. When you consider that fact that the French in this time period that the piece was composed didn't use what we would call a bass trombone, really just three tenors, the 3rd might have an F valve, then in Bizet's day is would have been played on tenor, even if marked as third part, making the argument for bass trombone mute.
Strauss's "Le bourgeois gentilhomme" includes trigger notes including low C and low B. But the part is simply marked trombone. Did Strauss intend a tenor with F valve (E pull?) or a bass trombone? Looking at the part it would fit a modern bass trombone well, but is this what Strauss intended? How many principal trombone players have borrowed a bass trombone so they could play this part?

Ideally a composer and arranger know what each instrument sounds like in each range and used each for best effect. But some of the examples above, show that it's more likely they think of trombones generically, they write the range they want to hear, it's the players problem to sort it out.

As a practical matter the modern bass trombone is a compromise instrument, An over sized tenor, that can play most 2nd, 3rd or 4th tenor trombone parts, at least in band and orchestras. And with the valve(s) does a good job playing bass trombone parts, down to low C or B, with occasional pedal tones.

The Bass trombone is IMHO less successful as a contrabass instrument, because even though it can play low enough, it doesn't have the larger broader sound intended in a contrabass instrument. Hence the modern resurgence of the Contra Bass Trombone for the relatively few parts that call for it.

In the end no matter what the part was intended for, Bass trombonists have to be prepared to play all of these parts if assigned.

Extremes of Ranges I've had to play in ensemble. High C in several orchestra and Bib band parts. In the orchestra all the high B flats and Cs were in unison with the section. Low notes include quite a few pedal Fs all in modern material (I'm not in an opera orchestra so contra parts or cimbassi don't come up very often) and a few low pedal E flats in a film score. I bet in Hollywood they used a contra on that part. Years ago I played the Maynard Ferguson Arrangement of "Summer of '42" and it had a few pedal Cs. Yet they were not audible on the recorded album with this arrangement. I've also played written Pedal Cs in solos, both jazz and classical, and the double pedal B flat at the end of "I Aint Gonna Ask No More" But these are solos, pedals lower than F or E written in ensemble music are very rare.

But these are the extremes of range, not the best or usual range. Advice to arrangers would be to decide whether you want the Full sounding mid-range, mostly low F to middle C but extending on occasion down to low C or high F, or the unique narrower sound but projection sound of the low range below C in the staff, or the really unique sound of low pedal notes. Good players you can score as needed up to high C as for an average tenor trombone but it's not the best range. so most of the time write from C below to F or G above the staff, the upper pedal tones to finish a line, but in general use pedal tones for effect.

[OneTon]

Only comment I'd add is to try to avoid the B natural below the staff. It's difficult on any single valve bass.

I’d politely disagree on principle: Bb bass trombones exist primarily to fix that problem, be it with a tuning slide pull or a larger bore to play the “fake” B. I can’t see any reason not to write 8vb in a designated bass trombone part.

Some of the most fun that I’ve ever had is reading cruise ship charts. Everything lays exactly where you expect it to. The first time it is read may be a performance. Their book is thick and it might be years before a piece is read again.

I’ve read enough UK charts that I generally know what to expect. Rhythms are not always heard the same in the UK and the States. The least fun are charts where the arrangers fancy themselves as creative or are diabolically sadistic.

Composers and arrangers may write b natural below the bass clef for trombone, at their own peril. Before open wrap f attachments became popular most of the f attachments could be pulled to e. I never got around to getting a longer f attachment tuning slide made for my Bach LT42AG trombone. After I got the Duo-Gravis I did not need it. If I were purchasing another medium or large bore trombone I would prefer a closed wrap for b natural below the bass clef. And most particularly if I had no e or d attachment to fall back on.

Authors, composers, and arrangers need to be sensitive to for whom they write.

[Basbasun]

"What's the generally-accepted range of the bass trombone when composing/arranging? "

Of course when writing for a school band with young people that just started to play the bass you may not use what is a general exepted range. Or a band of amateurs that may not be thest amateurs bands you have to be careful.
And as said, a unexperienced player with a singel bore horn may have a proble with low C and B.

On the other hand, many players can play a few tones both hiogher and lower than "the generally-accepted range"

When writing non pro you do not have to write the highest or lowest tones.

[BGuttman]

Only comment I'd add is to try to avoid the B natural below the staff. It's difficult on any single valve bass.

I’d politely disagree on principle: Bb bass trombones exist primarily to fix that problem, be it with a tuning slide pull or a larger bore to play the “fake” B. I can’t see any reason not to write 8vb in a designated bass trombone part.

Please note: I never said it was impossible to play a low B on a single trigger bass; just inconvenient. Sometimes you don't have time to pull the E attachment, and sometimes you just don't have one (the old flat-wrap basses didn't pull to E, and most open wrap singles don't either).

[robcat2075]

I’d politely disagree on principle: Bb bass trombones exist primarily to fix that problem, be it with a tuning slide pull...

Please note: I never said it was impossible to play a low B on a single trigger bass; just inconvenient. Sometimes you don't have time to pull the E attachment...

I agree with Bruce.

The slide pull is an extended technique you're counting on if you write that low B. They have to have practiced that pull, not just for the low B but for all the trigger notes they will have to play with it until they can un-pull the slide.

And a slide pull may not get you a B anyway. The pull to E gets you a C that isn't off the end of the slide. To get the B truly on the slide you'll need a pull beyond E. The bass trombone I had for most of college didn't have that and I presume there are still many bass trombones out there that don't.