c. 1600—Italy

A musician by the name of Luigi Zenobi includes the following in a letter: “The players of the trombone are judged by their correct intonation, by their soft tone, by their avoiding a mooing sound, and by their imitation of the human voice in the bass range, like the cornett in the high range, by their ability to play semitones and in transposition when necessary…by their grace, by the imitation of a boy’s voice, in the choiceness and variety of diminutions, in the graceful manner of holding the instrument, in not contorting the body while playing, and in many other things” (Blackburn, Composition 61, 103).