Playing around this afternoon, I added a Real Trombone to a song, to play a solo. When I looked at the dots, it was all in treble clef.
I was always of the understanding that trombone charts were written in bass clef.
Is that correct?

No big deal … just wondering...and trying to improve my knowledge.

Hi Keith,


Not always. For instance, brass band trombonists usually read Bb transposed Treble Clef. I certainly play reading bass clef, as do most jazz and classical players. However, it doesn't really matter because it is so easy to print out treble or bass clef parts no matter what was the original clef. I enter most of my BIAB box files using treble clef but print the parts using the Transpose Options of, either "Concert (Base Clef)", or "Melody on Bass Clef - 12".

Hi Graham,
Thank you for your response. It's interesting that there's no "standard" for trom dots - either treble or bass clef are both acceptable.

BTW you live in a nice part of the world - we spend a lot of time on the Gold Coast, and our best friends live in Coomera - just down the road from you.
Maybe we'll get a chance to catch up one day.

Graham is a trombone player and I defer to him because I’m not. All I can say is I always write trombone parts in bass clef, concert pitch. If there are way too many ledger lines in the lead part, I write the high parts down an octave and indicate 8va. So far, no one in brass choirs, big bands or symphony orchestras has requested anything different.

Apparently in the brass band world, particularly the UK, it is so that people can change instruments and concentrate on learning the instrument without the hassle of trying to master a new clef and new fingerings at the same time. There is quite a lot of internet dealing with this topic.


On the subject of where I live, I have to say that the view out to the islands from Redland Band is beautiful and it gives me a thrill each morning when I am walking my dog along the track.

As a former band director I often had to ask trumpet players to consider switching to lower brass temporarily. It helped if they could continue reading treble clef parts for Bb instruments. Baritone horn / euphonium often has parts for trumpet players moving down and tuba players moving up.