The trumpet is a brass musical instrument from the family of mouthpiece (embouchure) instruments, alto-soprano register, the highest in sound among brass instruments.

The natural trumpet has been used as a signaling instrument since ancient times, and from around the 17th century it became part of the orchestra. With the invention of the valve mechanism, the trumpet received a full chromatic scale and from the middle of the 19th century became a full-fledged instrument of classical music.

The instrument has a bright, brilliant timbre, and is used as a solo instrument, in symphony and brass orchestras, as well as in jazz and other genres.

Nowadays, the trumpet is widely used as a solo instrument, in symphony and brass bands, as well as in jazz, funk, ska and other genres.

Among the outstanding solo trumpeters of various genres are Maurice Andre, Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, Timofey Dokshitser, Miles Davis, Wynton Marsalis, Sergei Nakaryakov, Georgy Orvid, Eddie Calvert.

Types of pipe

The most common type of trumpet is the trumpet in B flat (in B), sounding a tone lower than its written notes. American orchestras often also use a trumpet in C (in C), which does not transpose and has a slightly brighter, open sound than a trumpet in B. The actual volume of the trumpet sound used is from e (minor octave E) to c3 (up to the third octave) , in modern music and jazz it is possible to extract higher sounds. Notes are written in treble clef, usually without key marks, one tone higher than the actual sound for a trumpet in B, and in accordance with the actual sound for a trumpet in C. Before the advent of the valve mechanism and for some time after that, there were pipes in literally every possible tunings: in D, in Es, in E, in F, in G and in A, each of which was intended to facilitate the performance of music in a certain key. As the skill of trumpeters improved and the design of the trumpet itself improved, the need for so many instruments disappeared. Nowadays, music in all keys is performed either on the trumpet in B or on the trumpet in C.

Alto trumpet in G or in F, sounding a perfect fourth or fifth lower than the written notes and which is intended for playing sounds in a low register (Rachmaninov - Third Symphony). Nowadays it is used extremely rarely, and in works where its part is included, the flugelhorn is used.

Bass trumpet in B, sounding an octave lower than the normal trumpet and a major note lower than the written notes. It fell out of use by the second half of the 20th century; currently its part is performed on the trombone, an instrument similar to it in register, timbre and structure.

Trumpet piccolo(small pipe). The variety, developed at the end of the 19th century, is currently experiencing a resurgence due to renewed interest in early music. It is used in B-flat tuning (in B) and can be adjusted to A tuning (in A) for sharp keys. Unlike a regular pipe, it has four valves. Many trumpet players use a smaller mouthpiece for the small trumpet, which, however, affects the timbre of the instrument and its technical flexibility. Among the outstanding trumpet players are Wynton Marsalis, Maurice Andre, Hawken Hardenberger.

Baritone:

Tenor:

Cornet:

Pipe arrangement

Pipes are made of brass or copper, less often - of silver and other metals. Already in antiquity, there was a technology for making an instrument from one single sheet of metal.

Essentially, a pipe is a long tube that bends solely for compactness. It narrows slightly at the mouthpiece, widens at the bell, and in other areas has a cylindrical shape. It is this tube shape that gives the trumpet its bright timbre. When making a pipe, it is extremely important exact calculation, both the length of the tube itself and the degree of expansion of the bell - this radically affects the structure of the instrument.

The basic principle of playing the trumpet is to obtain harmonic consonances by changing the position of the lips and changing the length of the air column in the instrument, achieved using a valve mechanism. The trumpet uses three valves that reduce the sound by a tone, a semitone and a tone and a half. Simultaneous pressing of two or three valves makes it possible to reduce general system instrument up to three tones. Thus, the trumpet receives a chromatic scale.

On some types of trumpet (for example, the piccolo trumpet) there is also a fourth valve (quart valve), which lowers the tuning by a perfect fourth (five semitones).

The trumpet is a right-handed instrument: when playing, the valves are pressed with the right hand, left hand supports the tool.

Pipe on Wikimedia Commons

Pipe structure

The staccato technique on the trumpet is brilliant and rapid (except in the most extreme registers). Single, double and triple staccato are achieved with extreme clarity.

Most valve trills work well on modern trumpets.

Application of the mute

The mute on the trumpet is used quite often, if it is necessary to change the strength of the sound (mushroom mute, bouquet, plangers and caps) or more often the timbre (regular pear). Mute for classical trumpet ( pear) - a pear-shaped nickel blank inserted into the socket. forte sounds sharp and grotesque thanks to the ringing overtone created by the trembling of the pipe wall, where the mute almost blocks the air outlet (a similar technique on the horn is stopping), and Piano with such a mute gives the effect of sounding in the distance, while maintaining the typical crackling sound, also in modern music is used cup for pear-shaped mute(whole mute fungus) it gives a soft, slightly whiny sound. Jazz trumpeters use the most various types mutes for creating all kinds of sound effects - growls, croaks, etc. The main ones are straightened pear, which opens the exit (the sound is sharp and hard, but without a ringing tone and crackling), on a straight mute a quiet distant sound is impossible, Harmon- a blower with a rod for air release, used to create sound in the distance (which is better than with a regular blower, since there is no crackling) and for meow-meow effects (using the movements of the rod) - Harmon always sounds only quietly and in the distance . Such mutes as Wawer And Bouquet are made of wood and have nothing in common with a pear (straight and harmonic are modified pears to enhance its properties in loud and quiet sonority). The bouquet is a wooden cone (the sound dissipates and has a slightly clarinet-like tint) giving the timbre a sweetish, somewhat laughing tone, typical of love lyrics (the timbre of the alto trumpet is distorted most strongly by the bouquet, it has a completely hoarse sound). More often, however, it is used to soften the sound. cup pear (fungus), more universal in genre of music. (since it greatly dampens the sound, in jazz, which requires strict tessitura dynamics with the hegemony of “female” voices, a cup pear or mushroom is more often used on trombones; in symphonic music it is used equally on trumpets and trombones) The waver gives a howling sound. Tablets (or Plangers) are external mutes in the form of caps, cups, both closed and with holes, made of copper and wood, there are also plastic, soft-plastic and even rubber caps (the rubber cap is the famous wah sounding in Chatanuga ChuChu Glen Miller). Big Hat (" depth tablet") changes the timbre little, but the mute dampens the sound strength the most (used for a particularly quiet sound). Special attention deserves the famous nickel silver bowls - Ellington's open mute (it would be more correct to say the mute of the Ellington orchestra, which was introduced by his trumpeter Cootie Williams), giving an unimaginable either laughing or groaning sound, especially effective with the parallel use of a double mute (inner mini-pear with a sweeter sound and an internal mini-pear - a double muted pear-tablet used in the famous Caravan). The other, closed nickel bowl, is the tablet of Kubop, which comes from Latin American music (Cuba, Venezuela, Brazil) - its timbre is brilliant, slightly trembling.

Types of pipe

The most common type of trumpet is the trumpet in B flat (in B), sounding a tone lower than its written notes. American orchestras often also use a trumpet in C (in C) tuning, which does not transpose and has a slightly brighter, open sound than a trumpet in B. The actual volume of the trumpet sound used is from e(minor octave E) to c 3 (up to the third octave), in modern music and jazz it is possible to extract higher sounds. Notes are written in treble clef, usually without key marks, one tone higher than the actual sound for a trumpet in B, and in accordance with the actual sound for a trumpet in C. Before the advent of the valve mechanism and for some time after that, there were pipes in literally every possible tunings: in D, in Es, in E, in F, in G and in A, each of which was intended to facilitate the performance of music in a certain key. With the increasing skill of trumpet players and the improvement of the design of the trumpet itself, the need for so many instruments disappeared, and the instrument tube itself became shorter and thicker (its tuning changed by an octave, although the tessitura remained the same). Nowadays, music in all keys is performed either on the trumpet in B, or very rarely on the trumpet in C.

Other types of pipes that are now common include:

• Trumpet piccolo(small pipe). The variety, developed at the end of the 19th century, is currently experiencing a new rise due to the revived interest in early music (Baroque), especially the music of J.S. Bach. It is used in B-flat tuning (in B) and can be adjusted to A tuning (in A) for sharp keys. Unlike a regular trumpet, it has four valves and can be adjusted to F or E flat tuning (depending on the crown being replaced). Many trumpet players use a smaller mouthpiece for the small trumpet, which, however, affects the timbre of the instrument and its technical flexibility. Prominent trumpet players include Wynton Marsalis, Maurice Andre, and Hawken Hardenberger. Typically, the small trumpet is notated not in B flat (transposes upward to a seventh), but in E flat or F (like other small instruments), since the need for ultra-high sounds, in which it is rebuilt into the B flat octavino tuning, arises quite rarely and the trumpeter always plays with the fourth valve pressed. The timbre of the small trumpet is sharper and brighter and generally maintains the lightness of the timbre of the trumpet. The small trumpet is used mainly to extend the range upward, given that most composers like to write higher and higher on the trumpet, feeling the incredible beauty of its higher register (although it is incredibly difficult if you do not play the small trumpet). Sometimes the snare trumpet is used due to the specificity of its timbre in a major key, which is very flirtatious, and sometimes it is used in tragic climaxes, like a passionate cry from the soul. The small trumpet is especially often used in connection with the style in neo-baroque and jazz episodes, with characteristic style trumpeters of the highest register (Wynton Marsalis, Kat Anderson, Arturo Sandoval). The snare trumpet sounds stronger and brighter than the regular trumpet (as is typical for all small instruments).

• Alto trumpet in G or in F, sounding a perfect fourth or fifth lower than the written notes and originally intended for playing sounds in a low register, was created by order of Rimsky-Korsakov, for brass bands where there was not enough alto instrument in the trombone group (nowadays the tenor trombone is played in the highest register of the alto trombone part without difficulty, and the alto trumpet went to the place that nature destined for it - an instrument of characteristic genre and timbre). However, its extremely unusual timbre forced it to be used immediately in Mlada’s own opera. The famous motif of Carmen from Bizet's opera is ALWAYS played on the alto trumpet, since it seems to be specially created for this instrument in timbre, but it is almost NOT possible to perform on a regular trumpet (the trumpet in the A tuning is now out of use). It is clear that this is the most important instrument after the small trumpet and is widespread in France, Spain, and the countries of the New World (in our country, where it is extremely rare, the Carmen motif is played on the trombone - an example of terrible barbarism). Many Russian composers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries drew attention to its unusual timbre (at that time it was especially popular in Russia). Among them are Shostakovich and Rachmaninov - the Third Symphony, where this trumpet is assigned the traditional for romanticism Motif of Longing. In brass bands, in those episodes where her special sonority is distasteful, her part is performed either on a high tenor trombone (in the alto key), or more often, if there are no low notes, a flugelhorn is used. The timbre of the Alto Trumpet is extremely specific, so it is used quite rarely and not in any way to extend the range downwards (this is too expensive, and besides, it is disgusting in music of inappropriate content, since it differs in timbre from a regular trumpet). Extremely sharp, very strong (this is the most powerfully sonorous brass instrument), incredibly passionate, almost scorching, its timbre is partly reminiscent of the timbre of a low female voice (contralto). Oddly enough, it also sounds good in the high register, which is why some trumpeters imitate its timbre on a regular trumpet, using only a special external planger mute (Ellingtonian), and a special lip placement for extended vibrato (which is why it has become a very rare instrument). Her forte is thunderous, and the piano offers nuances of the finest languor. Due to the timbre, its area is limited - tragic love lyrics, pathetic exclamations, images of stormy (sometimes even fatal) passions, the apotheosis of joy obtained with blood. In general, her sphere is dramatic (mainly love) lyrics. In marches and waltzes it would sound funny and wild.

• Bass trumpet in B, sounding an octave lower than the normal trumpet and a major note lower than the written notes. Its widespread use is hampered, firstly, by its structure, which is why it is not played by the trombonist, a trombone player who plays an instrument similar to it in register and structure. However, in timbre it is very different from the tenor trombone and even from the trumpet. Its timbre is even more specific than that of the alto trumpet and it is even more difficult for it to find a worthy application (this is the second reason for the rarity of this instrument). The Bass Trumpet was designed according to Wagner's order, but in different tunings and shapes. It was immediately used as a characteristic timbre in the operas of the Ring of the Nibelung cycle. Improved by order of Richard Strauss and used by him ( modern form, unchanged to this day). Its timbre, harsh and terrible, is suitable for the most tragic images, majestic monologues, ominous fanfare, images of suffering. The sound strength is higher than that of all trombones, but does not reach the strength of the alto trumpet, or even the small trumpet (but the bass trumpet is stronger than a regular soprano trumpet). In brass bands, the bass trumpet is played not by a trombonist, but by a tenorhorn player (since it is easier for him to master the valve technique, and the tessitura of the tenorhorn and trombone are similar).

Repertoire

Despite the fact that chromatic trumpets, capable of playing melodic lines without restrictions, appeared only at the beginning of the 19th century, there is large number solo works written for natural instruments, which are currently performed on the small trumpet.

Solo compositions

Chromatic trumpet

• Joseph Haydn Es major
• Johann Hummel - Concerto for trumpet and orchestra in E major (often performed in Es minor)
• Alexandra Pakhmutova - Concerto for trumpet and orchestra (1955)
• Albert Lortzing - Introduction and Variations for trumpet and orchestra in B major
• George Enescu - “Legend” for trumpet and piano
• Sergey Vasilenko - Concerto for trumpet and orchestra
• Alexander Goedicke - Concerto for trumpet and orchestra; Concert etude for trumpet and piano
• Malcolm Arnold - Fantasia for trumpet and piano
• Alexander Harutyunyan - Concerto for trumpet and orchestra As-dur
• Mieczyslaw Weinberg - Concerto for trumpet and orchestra
• Paul Hindemith - Sonata for trumpet and piano; Concerto for trumpet and bassoon with orchestra
• Henri Tomasi - Concerto for trumpet and orchestra; Triptych
• Boris Blacher - Concerto for small trumpet and orchestra
• Alan Hovaness - “The Prayer of St. Gregory” for trumpet and string orchestra; “Come back and revive abandoned villages” concert for trumpet and wind instruments
• Rodion Shchedrin - Concerto for trumpet and orchestra

Natural pipe

• Johann Sebastian Bach - Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F major
• Michael Haydn - Concerto in D major
• Johann Molter - three concerts
• Leopold Mozart - Concert
• Georg Philipp Telemann - Concerto for trumpet and strings in D major
• Giuseppe Torelli - Sonata for trumpet and strings D major

Solo in orchestra

• Johann Sebastian Bach - Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F major; Mass h-minor; Christmas Oratorio; Magnificat; Suite for orchestra No. 3 in D major
• Bela Bartok - Concerto for orchestra (parts I, II and V)
• Ludwig van Beethoven - Leonora Overtures No. 2 and No. 3
• Johannes Brahms - Academic Festive Overture; Symphony No. 2
• Aaron Copland - ballets "Quiet City" and "Rodeo"
• Claude Debussy - "The Sea"; "Celebrations"
• George Gershwin - "An American in Paris"; Concert in F major (II part)
• Gustav Mahler - Symphonies No. 1 (movement I), No. 2 (movements I, II, III, V), No. 3 (offstage solo), No. 5 (movements I, III, V)
• Modest Mussorgsky (orchestrated by Maurice Ravel) - Pictures at an Exhibition (The Walk, Two Jews)
• Maurice Ravel - Piano Concerto in G major (movements I and III)
• Ottorino Respighi - symphonic suite "Pini of Rome" (parts I, II and IV)
• Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov - suite “Scheherazade” (parts III and IV); Spanish capriccio (part IV)
• Alexander Scriabin - Symphony No. 3 (“Divine Poem”); "Poem of Ecstasy"; "Prometheus"
• Dmitri Shostakovich - Piano Concerto No. 1 in c-moll (with solo trumpet)
• Richard Strauss - “Alpine Symphony”; symphonic poems "Don Juan" and "Life of a Hero"
• Igor Stravinsky ballets “The Firebird”, “Petrushka”, “The Rite of Spring”, opera “The Nightingale”
• Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - symphonies No. 4 (introduction), No. 5 (parts I and IV) No. 6 (III movement); Italian Capriccio (cornet), ballet “Swan Lake” (Neapolitan dance - cornet)
• Giuseppe Verdi - opera "Aida"

See also

Notes

Links

• // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: In 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional ones). - St. Petersburg. , 1890-1907.
• . Archived from the original on September 27, 2007.
• From the Ancient World to the 20th Century. Archived
• Pipe arrangement. Archived from the original on February 6, 2012.

Alto-soprano register, the highest in sound among brass instruments.

The natural trumpet has been used as a signaling instrument since ancient times, and from around the 17th century it became part of the orchestra. With the invention of the valve mechanism, the trumpet received a full chromatic scale and from the middle of the 19th century became a full-fledged instrument of classical music.

The instrument has a bright, brilliant timbre, and is used as a solo instrument, in symphony and brass orchestras, as well as in jazz and other genres.

History, origin

The trumpet is one of the oldest musical instruments. Mentions of the oldest instruments of this type date back to approximately 3600 BC. e. Pipes have existed in many civilizations - in Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, Ancient China etc., and were used as signaling instruments. The trumpet played this role for many centuries until the 17th century.

In the Middle Ages, trumpeters were obligatory members of the army; only they could, using a signal, quickly convey the order of the commander to other parts of the army located at a distance. The art of playing the trumpet was considered “elite”; it was taught only to specially selected people. In peacetime, trumpets were sounded at festive processions, knightly tournaments, in large cities there was a position of “tower” trumpeters, who announced the arrival of a high-ranking person, the change of time of day (thus acting as a kind of clock), the approach of an enemy army to the city and other events .

At the turn of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, thanks to the improvement of pipe manufacturing technology, interest in these instruments increased significantly. During the Baroque era, composers began to include trumpet parts in the orchestra. Virtuoso performers appeared who possessed the art of “clarino” (playing a diatonic scale in the upper register of a trumpet using blowing). The Baroque period can rightfully be called the “golden age of natural trumpet”. With the advent of classicism and romanticism, the fundamental principle of which was melody, natural trumpets, unable to perform melodic lines, fade into the background and are used in orchestras only in tutti to perform the main steps of the scale.

The valve mechanism, invented in the 1830s and which gave the trumpet a chromatic scale, was not widely used at first, since not all chromatic sounds were intonationally pure and identical in timbre. From that time on, the upper voice in the brass group increasingly began to be entrusted to an instrument related to the trumpet with a softer timbre and more advanced technical capabilities. (along with trumpets) were permanent instruments of the orchestra until the beginning of the 20th century, when improvements in the design of instruments and the improvement of the skill of trumpet players practically eliminated the problem of fluency and timbre, and cornets disappeared from the orchestra. Nowadays, orchestral parts of cornets are performed, as a rule, on trumpets, although sometimes an original instrument is used.

Nowadays, the trumpet is widely used as a solo instrument, in symphony and brass bands, as well as in jazz, funk, ska and other genres.

Among the outstanding solo trumpeters of various genres are Maurice Andre, Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, Timofey Dokshitser, Miles Davis, Wynton Marsalis, Sergei Nakaryakov, Georgy Orvid, Eddie Calvert.

Pipe arrangement

Pipes are made of brass or copper, less often - of silver and other metals. Already in antiquity, there was a technology for making an instrument from one single sheet of metal.

Essentially, a pipe is a long tube that bends solely for compactness. It narrows slightly at the mouthpiece, widens at the bell, and in other areas has a cylindrical shape. It is this tube shape that gives the trumpet its bright timbre. When making a pipe, an extremely accurate calculation of both the length of the pipe itself and the degree of expansion of the bell is important - this radically affects the structure of the instrument.

The basic principle of playing the trumpet is to obtain harmonic consonances by changing the position of the lips and changing the length of the air column in the instrument, achieved using a valve mechanism. The trumpet uses three valves that reduce the sound by a tone, a semitone and a tone and a half. Simultaneously pressing two or three valves makes it possible to lower the overall scale of the instrument to three tones. Thus, the trumpet receives a chromatic scale.

On some types of trumpet (for example, the piccolo trumpet) there is also a fourth valve (quart valve), which lowers the tuning by a perfect fourth (five semitones).

The trumpet is a right-handed instrument: when playing, the valves are pressed with the right hand, and the left hand supports the instrument.

Types of pipe

The most common type of trumpet is the trumpet in B flat (in B), sounding a tone lower than its written notes. American orchestras often also use a trumpet in C (in C), which does not transpose and has a slightly brighter, open sound than a trumpet in B. The actual volume of the trumpet sound used is from e (minor octave E) to c3 (up to the third octave) , in modern music and jazz it is possible to extract higher sounds.

Notes are written in treble clef, usually without key marks, one tone higher than the actual sound for a trumpet in B, and in accordance with the actual sound for a trumpet in C. Before the advent of the valve mechanism and for some time after that, there were pipes in literally every possible tunings: in D, in Es, in E, in F, in G and in A, each of which was intended to facilitate the performance of music in a certain key. As the skill of trumpeters improved and the design of the trumpet itself improved, the need for so many instruments disappeared. Nowadays, music in all keys is performed either on the trumpet in B or on the trumpet in C.

Other types of pipe include:

Alto trumpet in G or in F, sounding a perfect fourth or fifth lower than the written notes and intended for playing sounds in a low register (Rachmaninov - Third Symphony). Currently, it is used extremely rarely, and in works where its part is provided, it is used.

Bass trumpet in B, sounding an octave lower than the normal trumpet and a major note lower than the written notes. It fell out of use by the second half of the 20th century; nowadays its part is performed on an instrument similar to it in register, timbre and structure.

Piccolo trumpet (small trumpet). The variety, developed at the end of the 19th century, is currently experiencing a resurgence due to renewed interest in early music. It is used in B-flat tuning (in B) and can be adjusted to A tuning (in A) for sharp keys. Unlike a regular pipe, it has four valves. Many trumpet players use a smaller mouthpiece for the small trumpet, which, however, affects the timbre of the instrument and its technical flexibility. Among the outstanding trumpet players are Wynton Marsalis, Maurice Andre, Hawken Hardenberger.

Trumpet playing technique

Distinguished by its great technical agility, the trumpet brilliantly performs diatonic and chromatic passages, simple and broken arpeggios, etc. The trumpet's breath consumption is relatively small, so it is possible to perform wide, bright timbres and long-length melodic phrases in legato.

The staccato technique on the trumpet is brilliant and rapid (except in the most extreme registers). Single, double and triple staccato are achieved with extreme clarity.

Most valve trills work well on modern trumpets.

Mute on trumpet used quite often, if necessary, change the sound strength or timbre. A mute for a classic trumpet is a pear-shaped blank made of wood, cardboard or plastic, inserted into the bell. Piano with such a mute gives the effect of sounding in the distance, and forte sounds harsh and grotesque. Jazz trumpeters use a wide variety of mutes to create all sorts of sound effects - growls, croaks, etc.

Famous trumpeters

Andre, Maurice
Arban, Jean-Baptiste
Brandt, Vasily Georgievich
Dokshitser, Timofey Alexandrovich
Orvid, Georgy Antonovich
Tabakov, Mikhail Innokentievich
Louis Armstrong
Dizzy Gillespie
Miles Davis
Håkan Hardenberger

Video: Trumpet on video + sound

Thanks to these videos, you can get acquainted with the instrument, watch a real game on it, listen to its sound, and feel the specifics of the technique:

Selling tools: where to buy/order?

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To create different musical tones on a wind instrument, such as the clarinet shown in the picture, the player begins to blow into the mouthpiece and at the same time press the valve levers to open certain holes in the side wall of the instrument. By opening the holes, the musician changes the length of the standing wave, determined by the length of the air column inside the instrument, and thereby increases or decreases the pitch.

When playing wind instruments such as a trumpet or tuba, the musician partially blocks the flow area of ​​the bell and adjusts the position of the valves, thereby changing the length of the air column.

In the trombone, the air column is adjusted by moving a sliding curved knee. The holes in the walls of the simplest wind instruments, such as the flute and piccolo, are blocked with fingers to achieve a similar effect.

One of the oldest creations

The refined design of the clarinet shown in the picture above owes its origin to the crude bamboo pipes and primitive flutes, which are considered the first instruments created by man at the dawn of civilization. The oldest wind instruments were several thousand years ahead of string instruments. The bell at the open end of the clarinet compensates for the dynamic interaction of sound waves with the surrounding air.

The thin reed in the clarinet mouthpiece (picture above) vibrates when air flows transversely around it. The vibrations propagate in the form of compression waves along the instrument tube.

Telescopic tubes

In the trombone, a sliding curved tubular elbow (train) fits tightly to the main tube. Moving the telescopic train in and out changes the length of the air column and, accordingly, the tone of the sound.

Changing the tone with your fingers

When the holes are closed, an oscillating column of air occupies the entire length of the tube, creating the lowest tone.

Opening the two holes shortens the air column and produces a higher pitch.

Opening more holes further shortens the air column and provides further increase tones.

Standing waves in open pipes

In a pipe that is open at both ends, standing waves are formed so that at each end of the pipe there is an antinode (the area with the maximum amplitude of oscillations).

Standing waves in closed pipes

In a pipe with one closed end, standing waves are formed so that at the closed end there is a node (a section with zero oscillation amplitude), and at the open end there is an antinode.

Trumpet (Italian: tromba)- a wind musical instrument from the family of mouthpiece (embouchure) instruments. In this article we will understand what a “musical” trumpet is and what types it has. Modern musical instrument "trumpet" in its own way appearance very reminiscent of a pioneer bugle. The same tube rolled into an oval, which, expanding at the end, forms a bell. But unlike the natural horn and ancient trumpets, the trumpet is now equipped with a special valve-piston mechanism, which makes it possible to extract all the sounds of the chromatic scale. On the forge you can only produce sounds of the natural Aberton scale, that is, the sound is taken without pressing the valves.

Photo of a trumpet - a musical instrument

Three fingers are actively involved in the performing process right hand: index, middle and ring. Fingering on the trumpet and cornet is quite simple compared to other wind instruments. Along with the main one used in practice, there is also an additional one, which is used in special cases, for example, when it is necessary to correct the intonation inaccuracy of a scale or use a more convenient combination of valves.

In practice, two types of valves have been established on the trumpet wind instrument: pump-action (or “pistons”) and rotating. Pump valves use a piston design system. They are pressed with your fingers to the required depth, at which the holes drilled in them are opposite the open entrance to the additional crown (see below). With rotating valves, additional crowns are opened by turning special drums, which are also activated by finger pressure.

On the trumpet and cornet, three valves are mainly used (on the piccolo trumpet there are four valves, which is due to the peculiarity of the instrument. This will be discussed in the section “Modern models. Piccolo Trumpet”), and therefore, three additional crowns - i.e. tubes, which, when the valves are pressed, lower the overall pitch of the instrument by 1/2 - 3 tones. They are pulled out to drain the moisture accumulated during the playing process and to further adjust the instrument.

Where the main tube makes a bend, there is also a main crown, with the help of which the main adjustment is carried out.

An important part of all brass instruments is the mouthpiece. There are many companies that produce various modifications of mouthpieces, so that each performer can choose for himself the very copy that he needs at one time or another during his performing practice.
The size and profile of the mouthpiece largely determines the nature of the instrument's timbre and the ability to produce sounds in different registers. Its good qualities are no less important than the playing capabilities of the instrument itself.
The trumpeter puts the mouthpiece to his lips without pressure and sends out a strong stream of air. But the instrument begins to sound only when vibration of the air column located in its channel appears, which occurs as a result of vibration of the lips.

The pitch of the sound depends not only on the pressure of the valves, but also on the greater or lesser elasticity of the lips and the frequency of their vibration.

Large musical trumpet

Pipe in B, or as non-professionals call it large musical trumpet, is used in pop orchestras and ensembles as a high melodic instrument, on which the performer plays more soft sound than in brass and symphony orchestras. In the group of brass instruments she is the leader. Its timbre is ringing, light and bright. In pop orchestras and ensembles, trumpets with a pump-action mechanism are mainly used.

It should be noted that nowadays, in the practice of both professional and amateur groups, thanks to the improvement of the instrument and the performing skills of musicians, sounds up to D-mi-fa of the third octave are often used.

The trumpet sounds a big second below the recording:

In amateur performances, the middle register is most common, having a bright, expressive timbre, strong sound, and a variety of nuances. In orchestras and ensembles, the trumpet can perform both wide, melodious melodies, as well as fast passages and abrupt rhythmic figurations. She is the solo instrument, leading the first voices in the group, pedal.

Quite often, mutes are used in playing, giving the sound softness and muffledness, changing the timbre coloring, and helping to enrich the orchestral palette.

Musical trumpets - types

The trumpet musical instrument has several types, which beginner performers often get confused about. For example, they mistake it for a trumpet - tuba or trombone. These are completely different wind musical instruments. Let's talk separately about each type of pipe to put everything into perspective.

The main musical instrument is the B-flat / C trumpet (Trumpet Bb/C)

The trumpet in B-flat is the same instrument that we are all used to seeing.
on stage and in the orchestra pit during concerts, performances and other events. This is the most common instrument in our country and all trumpet players start playing it.

Works written for trumpets in other tunings are also played on the B-flat trumpet, which is admittedly not entirely convenient, and sometimes because of this the timbre and dynamic expressiveness is slightly lost. All Russian composers of the 20th century wrote orchestral parts and solo works for it.

To some extent, its “twin” is the C trumpet. Its sound is a little narrower, and it’s a little easier to play in the upper register. This trumpet, in my opinion, has many advantages compared to the B-flat: in addition to those already listed above (lightness in the upper register and lower energy consumption), undeniable dignity Another advantage is that it does not transpose, which makes working on it easier.

The C trumpet is very common in Europe (especially in France, where it is the main instrument). All the leading French composers of the 20th century wrote for it: Tomasi, Jolivet, Bozza, Saint-Saens, Desenclos, Barat and others. Nowadays it is increasingly becoming a practice in our country; they try to perform works and parts written in C tuning on it, and not as in the mid-20th century, when everything (even clarino parts!) was played on the B-flat trumpet.

Wind musical instrument trumpet D/E-flat (Trumpet D/Es)

Small pipe It came into operation at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. It is assumed that the trumpet in the second D was made specifically to perform high clarino parts in the works of Baroque composers.

Its range is higher than that of the B-flat trumpet, and the sound is narrower and louder (but not as narrow as that of the piccolo trumpet), which makes it convenient to use both in solo and orchestral practice. But it didn’t really take root in the orchestra and was used on rare occasions to expand the range of a group of brass instruments upward. But in solo practice it received wide application(most of the old concertos were written in the key of D major, which makes them convenient to perform on this trumpet in C major). On it, to this day, the world's leading trumpeters perform music of the Baroque era.

The trumpet in E-flat tuning was designed by order of Rimsky-Korsakov, who tried to expand the range of the trumpet group (at his request, an F alto trumpet was made) and gladly used it in his operas. There are some other examples of the use of this instrument in an orchestra, mainly in 20th century music.

As a solo instrument, it is used when playing early music and concertos by Hummel and Haydn, which are much easier to perform on it than on the B-flat trumpet.
The D and E-flat pipes are identical in sound characteristics, so companies often make one pipe, which can be converted from one tuning to another using different crowns.

Wind musical instrument Piccolo trumpet A / Bb (Piccolo trumpet A / Bb)

Trumpet piccolo, like the small D trumpet, was invented at about the same time and for the same purpose - for playing ancient music. Its beautiful, sonorous timbre and wide range made it possible to revive many beautiful works by old masters.

In 1884, the famous German trumpeter Julius Kozlek (1835-1905), after many experiments, designed a trumpet in A tuning with two valves, on which he could easily play the most difficult clarino parts. Moreover, using a mouthpiece with a deep cone-shaped cup, he achieved an unusually light and beautiful timbre of sound.
The piccolo trumpet has 4 valves and 4 additional crowns. The fourth valve is a quartet valve, that is, it lowers each natural sound by a quart. It serves to fill the zone from C to F of the first octave, as well as to build individual inaccurately intonated sounds. The instrument has an additional tube for tuning from B-flat to A.

Nowadays it is played with a smaller mouthpiece, which makes it easier to produce sounds in the upper register and clearer intonation.

The piccolo trumpet began to be used in orchestras in the 20th century (for example, Stravinsky in “Petrushka”, where there is a famous piccolo trumpet solo). And in solo practice when performing early music, the instrument is even more popular than the D trumpet.
Such wonderful trumpeters as Adolf Scherbaum, Ludwig Güttler, Maurice Andre, Wynton Marsalis, Hakan Hardenberger and many others have played and continue to play small trumpets and piccolo trumpets.

Now let’s watch a video in which the artist of the Bolshoi Theater of Russia orchestra, Yaroslav Alekseev, will clearly show and talk about our instrument.