Trombone Slide Positions: Getting the Coordination Right
Pitch on a trombone comes from two things happening at once: blowing the right partial, and putting the slide in the right position. Neither alone gets you the note — it’s the coordination you’re training. The chart below shows where every note sits.
Slide position chart
There’s also a fundamental partial one octave below the 1st partial on the chart. That’s where the “pedal” notes live, and they use the same positions.
How slide position relates to partials
Pulling the slide toward you shortens the instrument and raises the pitch; pushing it out lengthens the instrument and lowers the pitch. You combine the slide position with the partial you’re blowing. For example, to play this B:
you blow a note on the 4th partial while putting the slide in 4th position. It looks complicated on paper, but it becomes natural surprisingly quickly with practice. Pairing partials with positions, rather than thinking of them separately, is really the whole game — and it’s also how you slur without tonguing: moving across partials lets the notes change cleanly without the tongue.
The positions aren’t evenly spaced
Slide positions get further apart as the instrument gets longer. To drop the pitch by one semitone, the distance to the next position needs to be about 6% of the instrument’s current length — so 1st to 2nd is a small movement, 2nd to 3rd is a little bigger, and 6th to 7th is a much bigger reach. If you space your positions evenly, the lower ones will be sharp.
How to check your positions by ear
A tuner is the most precise way to check any note, but here’s a quick way to check your positions by ear. Play a note in 1st position, then find the same note in a longer position on a lower partial and make the two sound identical.
6th position: play an F in 1st position, then make it sound the same in 6th.
5th position: play a B♭ in 1st position, then make it sound the same in 5th.
4th position: play a D in 1st position, then make it sound the same in 4th.
If the pairs don’t match, it’s your slide position that needs adjusting, not your ear.
Watch the 5th and 6th partials
Notes on the 6th partial (starting with the high A♭ in 1st position) sit naturally flat, so every position on that partial needs to be shorter than usual — high G, for example, is played in a short 2nd position. That’s also why the high A♭ in 1st position isn’t really usable. Many trombones also run slightly sharp on the 5th partial; if yours does, play every position on that partial a little longer. Above that, there are as many partials as you can buzz — the sky’s the limit.
Bass trombone and the trigger
Bass trombones, and some tenor trombones, have an extra valve (the “trigger” or F attachment). Using it adds tubing, which moves every slide position further out, so your triggered positions won’t match your straight-horn muscle memory. See how the trombone trigger works and slide positions on a double trigger bass trombone for the details.
The real lesson: listen, don’t just measure
A chart is only a starting point. It can’t tell your ear what’s actually in tune on a given day, on a given horn, in a given room. To play in tune you have to listen to every note and make small adjustments as you play. Learn the quirks of your own trombone, and use a tuner to double-check the position of each note until your ear takes over. Charts get you in the neighbourhood; your ears get you in tune.