So rarely does something buck all traditional approaches to video games like Trombone Champ. It is the perfect rhythm game – It doesn’t punish players for missing notes or adding notes. Instead, it celebrates and encourages players to add their own elements to their music.
We all know that some music, even music from universally considered masterful composers, could use a little extra something to bring out their full potential. What better way to spice up these boring old songs than with a bangin’ trombone solo right smack dab in the middle? Trombone Champ was brave enough to risk everything to modernize these classic songs with their trombones, and these are the best of the best that Trombone Champ has to offer.
10 SkaBIRD – Holy Wow
Grab your checkered shoes, suspenders, and fedora, it’s time for a trombone-filled ska show. This original song likely pulled from the hallowed halls of Skahalla, where only the rudest of ska kids go, absolutely slaps. It’s everything a ska show should be, messy, all over the place, and full of trombones.
Now lift those knees, bend those elbows, and get into the pit. The in-game description for SkaBIRD asks players if they’re happy now after everyone online wanted a ska song, and the simple answer is, yes.
9 Eine Kleine Nachtmuzik (Trap Mix) – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
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Finally, a trombone-centric trap mix of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Eine Kleine Nachtmuzik. For years, decades, nay, generations, the people have clamored over each other for this piece of musical mastery and finally, in Trombone Champ, we have it.
One of Mozart’s most prolific works, this serenade is originally from the second act of his opera, Don Giovanni, about a man who had no inhibitions. And now, it has been improved by a person with a trombone and lungs of steel.
8 Auld Lang Syne - Robert Burns
Scottish poet and lyricist Robert Burns wrote the lyrics to this song traditionally played on New Year’s Eve, though it may be played at the closing of an event or to signify a change in a person's life. This iconic song has become a way to bring in the New Year, signifying remembrance of good old times and of the friendships that have come and gone.
And what better way to remember the good times than with a trombone blasting away in the background? Next New Year's Eve, as the ball drops and the timer counts down, keep the memories of Trombone Champ fresh.
7 William Tell Overture – Gioachino Rossini
Look, we all know how difficult it is to improve on perfection. But the trombone version of William Tell Overture is sublime.
We’re not here to tell Gioachino Rossini how he should have composed it, we’ll leave that to the Trombone Champ, but no other horse-associated music would benefit as much as being entirely played on a trombone.
6 O Canada – Calixa Lavallée
The national anthem of Canada, O Canada has never been so beautifully and dramatically portrayed than with a trombone as the primary instrument.
While O Canada wasn’t officially adopted as the Canadian national anthem until 1980, it still took society another 42 years to bring it to peak trombone-ness in Trombone Champ.
5 Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy – Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
As part of the two-act ballet The Nutcracker, Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy is known worldwide for its playful nature and for capturing the spirit of Christmas in song.
It is so well known, that it has even been featured in the Nintendo Entertainment System version of Tetris. Little did Tchaikovsky know that the Dance could be improved by tossing in a trombone or two. Might as well change the title to Dance of the Trombone Fairy after hearing this version of the song.
4 Also Sprach Zarathustra – Richard Strauss
This tone poem written by Richard Strauss has been featured in several prominent pieces of media, possibly no more so than in Stanley Kubrik’s 2001: A Space Odyssey.
The iconic opening fanfare, titled ‘Sunrise’ in the composer’s notes, holds a gravitas over the public psyche when used to emphasize something’s importance. All of that is lost as soon as the first trombone toot graces the game.
3 The Blue Danube Waltz – Johann Strauss II
One of the most popular waltzes ever written, The Blue Danube Walts by Johann Strauss II is all but a love poem to the Danube, a river that stretches across ten countries in Europe. It is so popular, it even found itself featured on the wildly popular Squid Game show on Netflix.
In the show it was used to lift the spirits of contestants, harkening back to the song’s initial intent to give the Austrian people something to feel joyful about after their defeat by Prussia in the Seven Weeks’ War and the resulting economic downturn that followed. Little did Strauss II know that his waltz would be featured in the greatest trombone-based rhythm game in the world.
2 Take Me Out To The Ball Game – Norworth & Von Tilzer
While Take Me out to the Ball Game may be the unofficial song of American baseball, the trombone interpretation seen in Trombone Champ will be the official version in our hearts.
Imagine going to a baseball game, it’s the seventh round, and out on the mound, the trombone champ themselves blasts out a cacophony of toots and doots to whip the crowd into a frenzy. Best game the world has ever seen all thanks to a trombone improvement.
1 Beethoven's Fifth Symphony – Ludwig van Beethoven
If Beethoven was still alive, more than 200 years after Symphony no. 5 was written, he would be weeping tears of joy to know that his most iconic song has finally, finally, been put into a video game. Every other rendition of Beethoven’s Fifth has been a joke. Music has reached a pinnacle, the Mt. Everest of music, and musicians worldwide should weep over the hypnotic toots from every Trombone Champ player’s attempt at this classic. Truly, you are the titular champ while blasting out Beethoven’s masterpiece.