Note-worthy Experiences Music Studio
F E A T U R E
Explore an Instrument: Trumpet
F E A T U R E
Explore an Instrument: Trumpet
History
Believe it or not, trumpet-like instruments have been around for thousands of years! Different materials were used in ancient times, such as wood, bamboo, bark, clay, human bone, and metal, but the basic idea of buzzing the lips against a mouthpiece to create sound was the same. The natural trumpet started showing up during the Renaissance period, and this is the first time we start seeing something similar to what we use today. In the Baroque period, we had a lot of solo repertoire written for clarino trumpet, featuring works in the upper register. Today we use the piccolo trumpet for many of these pieces. The natural trumpet evolved from a simple tubing mechanism with limited notes, but added tone holes and eventually valves (early 1800’s) were added to make more notes available to us.
Making Sound on a Brass Instrument
The way we produce sound on brass instruments is unique and wonderful! We train our face muscles to form an “embouchure,” and our lips rest lightly on the mouthpiece and vibrate against it. These vibrations resonate through the tubing of the horn and the sound we hear is amplified through the bell! For most brass instruments we center our top and bottom lips in the center of the mouthpiece; french horn is the odd one here, and they usually place it higher up, with about ⅔ of the mouthpiece on the top lip. I usually have beginners on brass instruments first say “Eee,” which correctly positions the tongue and teeth; “Mmm,” which positions the lips; then we “place” the mouthpiece on our lips, keeping the “eee” and “mmm” positions frozen; then of course we have to breathe! You want to breathe through your side corners with the mouthpiece still stuck on your lips. “Eee,” “mmm,” place, breathe! That’s how we do it!
Changing Pitch
There are three different types of brass instruments when it comes to changing pitch: piston valves, rotary valves, and slide instruments. The brass instruments which use “piston valves” are trumpet/cornet, euphonium, and some tubas. Piston valves move up and down inside a closed valve casing. If you’ve ever oiled your valves (which we should do once every week or two), you’ll notice holes like swiss cheese on the lower part of them. These holes line up with the smaller slides on valved instruments when pressed, shortening or lengthening the amount of tubing through which your air travels. For example, if all three valves on a trumpet are pressed, the air travels through the entire length of the trumpet, including all the small tubes. If no valves are pressed, the trumpet is shorter in that the air is only traveling through the lead pipe and out the bell. Piston valves are most common in French Horns, but you also see many tubas and even some trumpets (mostly European) with rotary valves. The rotary valve is a rotation mechanism that appears to be sideways, and is controlled by a series of levers connected by a string. The slide is of course the trombone, but there are a few variations on it including the bass trombone and the slide trumpet.
Types of Trumpets
We have several different varieties of trumpet! The most common different many people are aware of is the trumpet versus cornet. The cornet may look different, but that’s just an illusion created by the way the tubing is twisted. The main differences between cornet and trumpet are the shape of the bell and the mouthpiece. Cornets are generally used in Britain, and especially in traditional British Brass Bands. I play in the New England Brass Band, entirely made of brass players! The bell of the cornet is shaped more like a cone with a gradual sloping out, and the mouthpiece is usually deeper and more V-shaped that trumpet mouthpieces. These give the cornet a darker, more mellow sound. The trumpet bell flares more at the end of the bell, and the mouthpiece cups are...cup-shaped. This allows the trumpet’s sound to project in a more stream-lined way, though we certainly can play with a dark, mellow sound on a trumpet too. Trumpets and cornets are usually in the key of Bb, which means when we play our “C,” a piano (or flute, trombone, tuba, xylophone) will play a Bb to match. However, trumpets and cornets come in other keys as well, such as C, Eb, D, F, G, and A. Piccolo trumpets are small trumpets that are commonly in the key of A and Bb with an interchangeable tuning slide. Another type of trumpet is the “flugelhorn.” Flugelhorns have a much larger bell, and an even darker sound than cornets.
British Brass Bands
A traditional British Brass Band (such as the local New England Brass Band) is made of 26-29 brass musicians and 2-4 percussionists. Cornets, flugelhorn, tenor horns, baritones, euphoniums, trombones, and tubas are the brass instruments represented in these groups. The interesting thing about these groups is there are no trumpets! Cornets are similar to trumpets, but with their more conical bell shape, they blend with the band better than the more projectional trumpet could. No sound compares to the glorious wall of sound that a brass band creates, and the soft waves of quieter moments are so beautiful. The British Brass Band came about in the 1800’s, and most communities or regions had one! It served the purpose of bringing the community together through music, and the competitive nature of these groups fostered a friendly rivalry between neighboring towns and cities. This still happens today, but has become less common a bit since regionalism as a whole has dwindled since the invention of the radio, and people tend to lead busier lives these days.
Check below: Videos of Cassie playing trumpet
Learn more about Cassie on her Teacher Page.
Believe it or not, trumpet-like instruments have been around for thousands of years! Different materials were used in ancient times, such as wood, bamboo, bark, clay, human bone, and metal, but the basic idea of buzzing the lips against a mouthpiece to create sound was the same. The natural trumpet started showing up during the Renaissance period, and this is the first time we start seeing something similar to what we use today. In the Baroque period, we had a lot of solo repertoire written for clarino trumpet, featuring works in the upper register. Today we use the piccolo trumpet for many of these pieces. The natural trumpet evolved from a simple tubing mechanism with limited notes, but added tone holes and eventually valves (early 1800’s) were added to make more notes available to us.
Making Sound on a Brass Instrument
The way we produce sound on brass instruments is unique and wonderful! We train our face muscles to form an “embouchure,” and our lips rest lightly on the mouthpiece and vibrate against it. These vibrations resonate through the tubing of the horn and the sound we hear is amplified through the bell! For most brass instruments we center our top and bottom lips in the center of the mouthpiece; french horn is the odd one here, and they usually place it higher up, with about ⅔ of the mouthpiece on the top lip. I usually have beginners on brass instruments first say “Eee,” which correctly positions the tongue and teeth; “Mmm,” which positions the lips; then we “place” the mouthpiece on our lips, keeping the “eee” and “mmm” positions frozen; then of course we have to breathe! You want to breathe through your side corners with the mouthpiece still stuck on your lips. “Eee,” “mmm,” place, breathe! That’s how we do it!
Changing Pitch
There are three different types of brass instruments when it comes to changing pitch: piston valves, rotary valves, and slide instruments. The brass instruments which use “piston valves” are trumpet/cornet, euphonium, and some tubas. Piston valves move up and down inside a closed valve casing. If you’ve ever oiled your valves (which we should do once every week or two), you’ll notice holes like swiss cheese on the lower part of them. These holes line up with the smaller slides on valved instruments when pressed, shortening or lengthening the amount of tubing through which your air travels. For example, if all three valves on a trumpet are pressed, the air travels through the entire length of the trumpet, including all the small tubes. If no valves are pressed, the trumpet is shorter in that the air is only traveling through the lead pipe and out the bell. Piston valves are most common in French Horns, but you also see many tubas and even some trumpets (mostly European) with rotary valves. The rotary valve is a rotation mechanism that appears to be sideways, and is controlled by a series of levers connected by a string. The slide is of course the trombone, but there are a few variations on it including the bass trombone and the slide trumpet.
Types of Trumpets
We have several different varieties of trumpet! The most common different many people are aware of is the trumpet versus cornet. The cornet may look different, but that’s just an illusion created by the way the tubing is twisted. The main differences between cornet and trumpet are the shape of the bell and the mouthpiece. Cornets are generally used in Britain, and especially in traditional British Brass Bands. I play in the New England Brass Band, entirely made of brass players! The bell of the cornet is shaped more like a cone with a gradual sloping out, and the mouthpiece is usually deeper and more V-shaped that trumpet mouthpieces. These give the cornet a darker, more mellow sound. The trumpet bell flares more at the end of the bell, and the mouthpiece cups are...cup-shaped. This allows the trumpet’s sound to project in a more stream-lined way, though we certainly can play with a dark, mellow sound on a trumpet too. Trumpets and cornets are usually in the key of Bb, which means when we play our “C,” a piano (or flute, trombone, tuba, xylophone) will play a Bb to match. However, trumpets and cornets come in other keys as well, such as C, Eb, D, F, G, and A. Piccolo trumpets are small trumpets that are commonly in the key of A and Bb with an interchangeable tuning slide. Another type of trumpet is the “flugelhorn.” Flugelhorns have a much larger bell, and an even darker sound than cornets.
British Brass Bands
A traditional British Brass Band (such as the local New England Brass Band) is made of 26-29 brass musicians and 2-4 percussionists. Cornets, flugelhorn, tenor horns, baritones, euphoniums, trombones, and tubas are the brass instruments represented in these groups. The interesting thing about these groups is there are no trumpets! Cornets are similar to trumpets, but with their more conical bell shape, they blend with the band better than the more projectional trumpet could. No sound compares to the glorious wall of sound that a brass band creates, and the soft waves of quieter moments are so beautiful. The British Brass Band came about in the 1800’s, and most communities or regions had one! It served the purpose of bringing the community together through music, and the competitive nature of these groups fostered a friendly rivalry between neighboring towns and cities. This still happens today, but has become less common a bit since regionalism as a whole has dwindled since the invention of the radio, and people tend to lead busier lives these days.
Check below: Videos of Cassie playing trumpet
- C Trumpet
- Bb Trumpet
- Bb Cornet
- “Chim Chim Charee” Bb Trumpet
- “Fly Me to the Moon”
- Piccolo
- Bb Trumpet, Bb Cornet, Soprano Cornet, and Piccolo:
Learn more about Cassie on her Teacher Page.