High Brass By Cameron Shepherd and Jessica Middleton

Trumpet: History • One of the oldest instruments • First was a long tube with no valves, used for signaling in ancient China, Egypt, and Scandinavia • By Roman times, used for military ceremonies

Trumpet: History • First musical use of the Trumpet was in the late 14th Century • This is when it adopted the folded form • Late 1700’s, Trumpet became part of the Orchestra • Valves were invented in 1815

Trumpet: Construction • Total tube length approx. 1.4m (4 1/2 ft) • Folded twice to a narrow rectangular shape about 14 inches long • Cylindrical bore, with a flared bell

Trumpet: Construction • Most trumpets are made of brass • Either lacquered or plated with silver, nickel, or, more rarely, gold

Trumpet: Construction • Three valves, located in the center of the instrument • Valves vary the length of the instrument, making it possible to access different registers and pitches • Second Valve: Lowers pitch by 1 semitone • First Valve: Lowers pitch by whole tone • Third Valve: Lowers pitch by tone-and-a-half • Analogy: Railway junction

• Mutes can be added to the bell of the trumpet to produce various effects • “Straight” mutes and “Cup” mutes are the most common Trumpet Mutes QuickTime™ and a TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor are needed to see this picture.

• The most common trumpet is the B-flat trumpet • This means that if the trumpet player plays a “C” as it is notated in their music, it would sound a B-flat Trumpet: Key and Transposition • Trumpet music is notated in the treble clef

Other Kinds of Trumpets • Piccolo Trumpet • Half the length of a B-flat trumpet • An Octave Higher •Four Valves - hard to play!

• Pocket Trumpet •Same length of tubing as regular trumpet, folded smaller than piccolo trumpet • Hard to have good intonation and tone clarity

More Kinds of Trumpets • Bass Trumpet • Invented by Richard Wagner • More similar to trombone sound • Rotary-Valve Trumpet • Dark, mellow sound •Played with keys on the side instead of facing upwards

Trumpet: Sound Production • The mouthpiece: a shallow cupped shape, made of metal • Sound produced by buzzing lips into mouthpiece • Resonates the air column, producing sound

Resources for Introducing the Trumpet • • http://www.musicked.com

http://www.instructorweb.com/music.asp

• To consider: • Students must be able to support a trumpet and manipulate three valves to be successful. Also, they must be able to buzz their lips.

A 4 Minute Trumpet Lesson Click Here

French Horn: Construction • Very Curly!

• Approximately 17ft. Worth of tubing in a single horn • Conical bore which flares into a 27 1/2 - 35cm bell

French Horn: History • Developed in 1650 in France as a larger version of smaller, circularly coiled horns • Used primarily as a hunting horn • Entered the orchestra in the early 1700’s, could play 12 tones of the natural harmonic series

French Horn: History • Gained more flexibility around 1750 when the technique of “hand stopping” was invented • By placing the hand in the bell, a player can alter pitch by as much as a whole tone • The invention of valves in the early 19th century revolutionized the horn, and led to the horn we know today

Natural Harmonic Series QuickTime™ and a TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor are needed to see this picture.

French Horn: Construction • French horns are generally made of brass, with a smaller, more conical mouthpiece than the “cupped” mouthpiece of the trumpet

French Horn: Construction • On a single, or “F”, horn, there are 3 valves that allow the player to play chromatically over 3 octaves, starting with the B below bass clef • A double horn, which plays in the keys of both F and B-flat, also has a fourth valve (often referred to as a “trigger”) which allows the player to play on the B-flat tubing

French Horn: Key and Transposition • An typical horn is pitched in F • This means that when the player plays a C, the note that sounds is the F below it • In other words, the horn sounds a perfect 5th lower than what is written • A B-flat horn is pitched in…B-flat!

• This means that when a player plays a C, the note that sounds is the B-flat below it • In other words, the B-flat horn sounds a major second lower than what is written

French Horn: Sound Production • Very Similar to trumpet - buzz lips into mouthpiece, which resonates air column • Buzzing in a French Horn mouthpiece is different from buzzing in a trumpet mouthpiece…lips must be tighter and air must be more direct

Interesting Fact… • Because the range of the horn is so wide with the prominence of the double horn, most professional players eventually find their “niche” on their instrument and specialize in either the upper or lower range

• • Resources for Introducing the French Horn http://www.frhorn.com

http://www.hornplayer.net

• To Consider: Horn players must have above-average musical aptitude, due to the fact that tuning is difficult, and a constant responsibility. Also, the size of a students lips and hand/arm dexterity must be considered.

The Wide Range of the French Horn Click Here

Trumpet Resources • • • • • • http://www.rit.edu/~mam5183/imm/project1/typesoftrump ets.html

http://youtube.com/watch?v=gUij8FCg0z8 http://www.infovisual.info/04/036_en.html

http://www.philharmonia.co.uk/thesoundexchange/the_orc hestra/instruments/trumpets/ http://www.geocities.com/bourbonstreet/square/6766/trum pethistory.html

http://www.oldbeads.com/china514.jpg

French Horn Resources • • • • • http://www.hornplanet.com/hornpage/museum/history/hor n_history2.html

http://www.frhorn.com/ http://library.thinkquest.org/22673/horn.html

http://www.philharmonia.co.uk/thesoundexchange/th e_orchestra/instruments/horns/ http://youtube.com/watch?v=5XRkCfsiKlY