The name trombone comes from the Italian Tromba (trumpet) and –one (large), and therefore literally is a ‘large trumpet’. It is though the only brass instrument that doesn’t have valves (although some have one to make small adjustments), instead the notes are changed by changing the length of the tube using a large slide.

The trombone is made of brass, although recently some have been made of plastic as a cheaper and more robust alternative – it also means they can be made in a variety of jazzy colours!

The trombone you will commonly see in symphony orchestras is a tenor trombone, although it’s rarely called that. You might also see a bass trombone sitting between the trombones and the tuba, a larger and lower pitched instrument.

• Unwound, the trombone would be about 9 feet long • The composer usually credited with introducing the trombone into the orchestra is Beethoven, in the last movement of his Fifth Symphony • There are seven different positions for the trombone slide • Richard Strauss once said “Don’t look at the trombones, it only encourages them”