There are contrabass trombones , bass trombones , tenor trombones , alto trombones , soprano trombones , and piccolo trombones . These trombone types are arranged in order from the lowest ( contrabass ) to the highest ( piccolo ) sounding trombones . The most frequently encountered trombones today are the tenor and bass , though as with other Renaissance instruments such as the recorder , the trombone has been built in every size from piccolo to contrabass .