The Brass Family

December 7, 2004

4 th Grade General Music Mandy Kibler

Groups of Instruments

   

Brass Woodwinds Strings Percussion

The Brass Family

  These instruments are usually made out of brass, although they can be made out of wood, horn, and shell Brass instruments are really just long metal tubes that flare at the end; they are bent and folded into compact shapes so they can be played more easily  Trumpet, French Horn, Trombone, Euphonium, Tuba

What Brass Instruments Have in Common

   All brass instruments have a mouthpiece that you blow air, or “buzz,” into They all have flared bells at the end that project the sound The trumpet, french horn, euphonium, and tuba use valves to change pitch, but the trombone uses a slide

Trumpet

   The trumpet can be traced back to Egypt and Greece, but the trumpet as we know it today evolved in the 1800s Its loud, clear sound has been used to send signals and messages The trumpet is the highest-sounding instrument in the brass family

Trumpet

  To change the pitch, you press the valves Until valves were added to the trumpet in the 1800s, trumpet players could only change pitch by varying the shape of the lips on the mouthpiece; valves make it so much easier!

 Important Parts of the Trumpet:

French Horn

    The very first french horns of animals The french horn has a sound that can be heard from a far distance, and they were first used for The horn has the biggest range of all the brass instruments The horn has a slightly lower sound than the than the trombone

French Horn

   The horn is wound in a circle and flares out with a large bell The valves and extra tubing are in the center of the horn The left hand works the valves, and the right hand goes inside the bell  Important Parts of the Horn:

Trombone

   Trombones were invented around 1400, as an improvement on the trumpet; back then, trumpets didn’t have valves, so a slide was a big improvement The trombone forms the middle of the brass family Its sound is between the trumpet and horns on top, and the low tubas below

Trombone

   Instead of having valves like a trumpet or horn, the trombone uses a slide, which is about 2 feet long To change the pitch, you push or pull on the slide You can play one pitch at a time, or you can slowly change pitch by blowing as you move the slide  Important Parts of the Trombone:

Euphonium

   The euphonium was invented in 1843 The euphonium has the same range as the trombone While the rest of the brass instruments are used in the orchestra, there are only around 20 pieces that include the euphonium

Euphonium

          Important Parts of the Euphonium: 1) Mouthpiece 2) Main tube 3) Bell 6) 1 st , 2 nd , 3 rd valves 15) 4 th valve 8) Main tuning slide 10) 1 st 11) 2 nd 9) 3 rd valve slide valve slide valve slide

Tuba

    The tuba is the largest member of the brass family It has the lowest sound The tuba is also the youngest brass instrument; it was first used in military bands The tuba is very important because it keeps the band or orchestra together with its bass line

Tuba

  The tuba has a very wide range and can, in fact, play very fast Like the trumpet, horn, and euphonium, the tuba uses valves to change pitch  Important Parts of the Tuba

It’s Quiz Time!!

 Name this instrument:  Name this instrument:  Name this instrument:  Name this instrument:

References

 www.playmusic.org/brass.html