Editing Trombone (section)

=== Basic slide positions ===
[[File:Wirth trombone slide position chart.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Slide position chart (new system); most trombones are tenor trombones, like the valveless one in the middle.]]

The modern system has seven chromatic [[Position (music)#Trombone position|slide positions]] on a tenor trombone in B{{music|b}}. It was first described by Andre Braun circa 1795.<ref name="Weiner">{{cite journal |last1=Weiner |first1=H. |title=André Braun's Gamme et Méthode pour les Trombonnes: The Earliest Modern Trombone Method Rediscovered |journal=Historic Brass Society Journal |date=1993 |volume=5 |pages=288–308 |url=https://www.historicbrass.org/component/edocman/hbj-public/hbj-05-1993/hbsj-1993-jl01-019-weiner-pdf |access-date=29 August 2022 }}</ref>

In 1811 Joseph Fröhlich wrote on the differences between the modern system and an old system where four diatonic slide positions were used and the trombone was usually keyed to A.{{sfn|Guion|1988|p=93}} To compare between the two styles the chart below may be helpful (take note for example, in the old system contemporary 1st-position was considered "drawn past" then current 1st).{{sfn|Guion|1988|p=93}} In the modern system, each successive position outward (approximately {{convert|3+1/4|in|cm|0|disp=sqbr}}) will produce a note which is one [[semitone]] lower when played in the same [[harmonic series (music)#partial|partial]]. Tightening and loosening the lips will allow the player to "bend" the note up or down by a semitone without changing position, so a slightly out-of-position slide may be compensated for by ear.
{| class="wikitable" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto;"
|-
! scope="row" | New system
| 1 || 2 || 3 || 4 || 5 || 6 || 7
|-
! scope="row" | Old system
| – || 1 || – || 2 || – || 3 || 4
|}