Background on me: I am a classically trained trombonist who struggles with music theory.
I know that a trombone is in the key of Bb, but what does that mean? The key is determined by the piece your playing? Additionally, a trombone with an F trigger is shifted into the key of F when the trigger is depressed (same with the G trigger on bass trombone). What does that mean? For me it just means that first position is now 6th.
In: Other
The length, thickness and maybe shape of the tube influence which notes are easiest to produce. So the size and shape is designed so that the easiest note to play might be Bb, and related notes like the relative fifth note and other harmonic notes are also easy to play just by changing the shape of your mouth or pressure of your breath.You can fine tune it by adjusting the mouth piece to make the tube a tiny bit longer or shorter. The slide makes the whole tube longer or shorter, allowing you to make a different set of notes.
To make it easier to read music, they make the notation for Bb look like C, so it will be easier to read.
Oops, repeating some of what was already posted.
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