Trumpet

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The trumpet is a cylindrical instrument, made of brass bent into a rough spiral, with valves to assist in changing the pitch. The sound is produced by vibrating the lips, which also vibrates the column of air in the trumpet. The sound is projected outward by the bell. It has the highest register, above the tuba, euphonium, trombone, and french horn.

Types

The most common type is the B-flat trumpet, but low F, C, D, E-flat, E, F, G and A trumpets are also available. The most common use of the C trumpet is in American orchestral playing, where it is used alongside the B-flat trumpet. Its slightly smaller size gives it a brighter, more lively sound. Because music written for early trumpets required the use of a different trumpet for each key — they did not have valves and therefore were not chromatic — and also because a player may choose to play a particular passage on a different trumpet from the one indicated on the written music, orchestra trumpet players are generally adept at transposing music at sight, sometimes playing music written for the B-flat trumpet on the C trumpet, and vice versa.

Written range of the trumpet.