Trumpet
The sound on all brass instruments is created by the player “buzzing” their lips.
Try it – touch your lips together as if you were going to make a “P” sound, now blow a fast stream of air right through the middle (like you’re blowing up a really hard balloon).
Holding the trumpet in their left hand, the player touches the mouthpiece to their lips while buzzing to produce the sound.
There are two ways to change the note on all brass instruments:
- Make the instrument longer or shorter; the longer it is, the lower notes it can play. Most brass instruments, including the trumpet, use three valves for this and have seven possible combinations (overall length).
- Blow (or buzz) faster or slower; blowing faster gives you a higher pitch. On any given valve combination, there are a whole series of notes you can play simply by blowing faster or slower.
The trumpet is considered a high brass instrument as it plays high notes really well. It also has a very strong and clear tone that is very easy to hear so it is often used to play the strong melodies that we often hear in a lot of music.