Trumpet

The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in popular and classical music. It belongs to a family of instruments that includes the piccolo trumpet, which has the highest register, and the bass trumpet, which is pitched one octave below the standard B♭ or C trumpet.

Trumpet-like instruments have been used for thousands of years, originally as signaling devices in battle or hunting. They became musical instruments in the late 14th or early 15th century. Today, trumpets are used in many types of music, including art music in orchestras, concert bands, chamber music groups, and jazz ensembles. They are also common in popular music and are generally included in school bands.

The sound of a trumpet is made by vibrating the lips against a mouthpiece, which creates a standing wave in the air column inside the instrument. Most trumpets are made of brass and have a tubing that is bent into a rounded rectangular shape. Modern trumpets usually have three or four valves that let the player change the pitch. A person who plays the trumpet is called a trumpet player or trumpeter.

Etymology

The word trumpet first appeared in English in the late 14th century. It came from the Old French word trompette, which is a smaller form of trompe. The word trump, meaning trumpet, was used in English as early as 1300. This word has roots in Old French trompe, meaning a long, tube-like musical wind instrument. It is related to words in other languages, such as tromba in Provençal and Italian, and likely comes from an ancient Germanic source.

History

Main article: History of the trumpet

The earliest trumpets date back to around 2000 BC and earlier. Examples include the bronze and silver Tutankhamun's trumpets from Egypt, bronze lurs from Scandinavia, and metal trumpets from China. These early trumpets were often made of a single sheet of metal, which was a big achievement at the time.

The Salpinx was a straight trumpet made of bone or bronze. It is mentioned in Homer’s Iliad, and contests with it were part of the original Olympic Games. The Shofar, made from a ram’s horn, and the chazozra, made of metal, are both mentioned in the Bible. They were used in religious ceremonies.

The earliest trumpets were used for signaling in battles or religious events, not for making music as we know it today. Later improvements in making instruments and metal allowed the trumpet to become a musical instrument. During the Baroque era, known as the “Golden Age of the natural trumpet,” many pieces of music were written for skilled trumpet players.

Construction

The trumpet is made of brass tubing bent into a rounded shape. To play, you blow air through slightly separated lips into the mouthpiece, which creates a buzzing sound and starts vibrations inside the trumpet. By changing how tight your lips are, you can choose different notes to play.

The mouthpiece has a circular edge that feels comfortable for your lips. Behind this edge is a cup that helps guide the air into a smaller opening. The size and shape of the mouthpiece can change how the trumpet sounds and how easy it is to play.

Modern trumpets usually have three valves. When you press a valve, it adds more tubing, which lowers the note. The first valve lowers the note by two small steps, the second by one small step, and the third by three small steps. These valves let the trumpet play many different notes. Some smaller trumpets, like the piccolo trumpet, may have a fourth valve that lowers the note by five small steps.

You can also change the note slightly by moving the tuning slide. Pulling the slide out makes the note lower, and pushing it in makes the note higher. Some special trumpets have a sliding bell to help make the notes sound better.

Trumpets can also be made from materials other than brass, like plastic.

Types

The most common type of trumpet is the B♭ trumpet, but others like A, C, D, E♭, E, low F, and G are also available. The C trumpet is very common in American orchestras, where players often switch between it and the B♭ trumpet.

Smaller trumpets are called piccolo trumpets. The most common models play in both B♭ and A, with separate parts for each key. The tubing in a B♭ piccolo trumpet is half as long as a regular B♭ trumpet, so it sounds an octave higher. Some famous trumpet players are known for their skill with the piccolo trumpet.

Trumpets in low G are also called sopranos or soprano bugles. They were used in military groups and can have different types of valves. The bass trumpet is tuned like a trombone and is usually played by trombone players. There are also special trumpets like the slide trumpet, pocket trumpet, and herald trumpet, each with unique features.

Orchestral trumpet players can easily switch between different types of trumpets. The piccolo trumpet usually has four valves instead of three.

Rotary valve trumpets are common in German and Austrian orchestras. The trumpet is sometimes mixed up with the cornet, which has a slightly different shape and a softer sound, but they can play the same music. The flugelhorn is another relative with an even softer tone.

David Monette created the flumpet in 1989, a mix of a trumpet and a flugelhorn.

David Monette designed the flumpet in 1989 for jazz musician Art Farmer. It is a hybrid of a trumpet and a flugelhorn, pitched in B♭ and using three piston valves.

Rotary valve, or German, trumpets are commonly used in professional German and Austrian orchestras. Other variations include alto and Baroque trumpets, and the Vienna valve trumpet (primarily used in Viennese brass ensembles and orchestras such as the Vienna Philharmonic and Mnozil Brass).

The trumpet is often confused with its close relative, the cornet, which has a more conical tubing shape compared to the trumpet's more cylindrical tube. This, along with additional bends in the cornet's tubing, gives the cornet a slightly mellower tone, but the instruments are otherwise nearly identical. They have the same length of tubing and, therefore, the same pitch, so music written for one of them is playable on the other. Another relative, the flugelhorn, has tubing that is even more conical than that of the cornet, and an even mellower tone. It is sometimes supplied with a fourth valve to improve the intonation of some lower notes.

Playing

See also: Embouchure

On a modern trumpet, pressing the valves changes the notes you can play. When no valves are pressed, it’s called “open.” Pressing the first valve alone, or combining valves, changes the pitch. The fourth valve, if your trumpet has one, lowers the pitch even more.

Each note series on the trumpet starts with the first overtone. Some notes can be played in different ways using different valve combinations, which helps musicians play more smoothly and in tune.

Mutes

Main article: Mute (music) § Brass

Mutes are special tools that fit into or over the end of a trumpet. They make the sound quieter and change how the trumpet sounds. Trumpets can use many kinds of mutes, such as the straight mute, cup mute, harmon mute, plunger, bucket mute, and practice mute. Jazz and popular music often uses many different mutes.

Mutes can be made from materials like fiberglass, plastic, cardboard, or metal. Musicians sometimes keep the mute in place by blowing warm, moist air on a part called cork. Different mutes create different sounds, making trumpet playing more interesting and fun to listen to.

Range

The trumpet can play very low notes, starting from the written F♯ below middle C. There is no real top limit, but most charts show notes up to the high C two octaves above middle C. Some famous trumpet players, like Maynard Ferguson, Cat Anderson, Dizzy Gillespie, Doc Severinsen, John Madrid, Wayne Bergeron, Louis Dowdeswell, Thomas Gansch, James Morrison, Jon Faddis, and Arturo Sandoval, are known for playing very high notes. It is also possible to play very low sounds called pedal tones below the low F♯.

Extended technique

Modern music for the trumpet uses many special playing methods. One method is called flutter tonguing, where the player rolls the tip of the tongue like the sound "r" to make a growling sound. Another method is growling, where the player makes a special sound by using the back of the tongue while playing.

Players can also use double tonguing and triple tonguing, which involve quickly changing tongue positions to play notes faster. Other methods include sliding between notes with a glissando, creating a vibrating sound with vibrato, and playing very low notes called pedal tones. Some players can even make the trumpet play microtones, which are very small changes in pitch. There are also ways to make the trumpet create unusual sounds by hissing or clicking, and some players can even play while holding their breath using a method called circular breathing.

Players

Main article: List of trumpeters

In early jazz, Louis Armstrong became famous for his skill and creative playing on the Hot Five and Hot Seven recordings. He switched from playing a cornet to a trumpet, which helped make the trumpet more popular in jazz. Dizzy Gillespie was another talented player known for his high notes and complex music. He inspired many younger musicians. Miles Davis is one of the most important musicians of the 20th century, with a unique style that many copied. Cat Anderson could play very high notes with great volume and performed with Duke Ellington's Big Band. Maynard Ferguson first gained attention in Stan Kenton's orchestra and later led his own band, famous for playing very high notes accurately.

Repertoire

Solos

In the 1790s, a musician named Anton Weidinger made the first successful keyed trumpet, which could play many different notes. Because this was new and exciting, Joseph Haydn wrote a special piece called the Trumpet Concerto for Weidinger in 1796. This piece surprised people at the time because it had unusual melodies played in lower notes of the trumpet.

In art

Some famous paintings and statues feature trumpet players. One painting is called The Last Judgment and was made around 1500–1510. Another painting, Trumpet-Player in front of a Banquet, was painted by Gerrit Dou between 1660 and 1665. There is also an old book illustration from 1887 for a story called The Trumpeter Taken Prisoner from Aesop's Fables. You can see statues of famous trumpet players like Louis Armstrong in Algiers, New Orleans, and Miles Davis in Kielce, Poland.