[Trombone-l] alto trombone question

[Adrian Drover]

> From: Jason Smith
> 
> I have recently purchased and am struggling to learn
> the alto trombone.  I bought a copy of L Mozart's
> concerto and am trying to learn.  My question is this
> Why is alto trombone music not written transposed like
> so that the positions correspond to the notes on tenor
> rather than learn a whole new set of notes and
> positions.  To me it would seem to facilitate
> switching back and forth, tuning tendencies would
> correspond to the same position on the harmonic series
> etc.  I entered the music into finale but in bass
> clef,  did a quick transposition and now I can
> actually come close to playing rather than trying to
> learn a who new set of positions?


I guess the reason for not having alto trombone parts transposed for you is
because ALL trombone parts are non-transposed, whatever their pitch (unless
you play tenor trombone in a British style brass band).  You either have to
transpose mentally or learn a different set of slide positions.  I have been
doing the former ever since I started playing Bb trombone.  Seemed like the
easiest route for an ex-cornet player.  The added difficulty with alto
trombone in Eb is that you have to learn an obscure clef as well as
transpose the part up a major 6th, and not only that, but the positions are
closer together too.  The good news is that if you are determined,
familiarity sets in quite quickly whichever route you choose to follow.

A.