Brass Family

Bellingham Symphony Orchestra

Brass Instruments in the Orchestra

❖ Trumpet

❖ Horn

❖ Trombone

❖ Tuba

Photographer Leah Nash and the Oregon Symphony

Trumpet

❖ Trumpets seem small but they are made of roughly 6 ½ feet of tubing!

❖ Trumpets have been around since ~1,500 B.C.

❖ Mechanical valves were added to the trumpet in the 1800’s

Photographer Leah Nash and the Oregon Symphony

Horn

❖ An ancient instrument, often used for military and hunting purposes

❖ Horn players use their hand to adjust their sound and the notes they are playing!

❖ French Horns have the widest range of any other brass instrument

Photographer Leah Nash and the Oregon Symphony

Trombone

❖ Trombones use a slide to change notes

❖ Trombones joined the orchestra in the late 18th century

❖ Trombones are also very popular in jazz ensembles

Photographer Leah Nash and the Oregon Symphony

Tuba

❖ Tubas are the lowest brass in the orchestra

❖ Youngest of the brass family, only joining the orchestra in the mid-1800’s

❖ Marching tubas are called sousaphones

Photographer Leah Nash and the Oregon Symphony

How to Make a Sound

We know that sound is a VIBRATION!

❖ Brass players create sound by buzzing their lips into the mouthpieces of their instruments

❖ The player’s buzz vibrates the air

❖ With lips buzzing and air blowing a pitch is made

❖ Players can change the pitch by changing their air speed, adjusting their lips, or by using slides or valves.

Changing Pitch❖ Musicians were originally limited on the

number of pitches they could play by the length of their instrument

❖ When the trombone was invented in 1450, players could alter the pitch by using a slide, allowing them to shorten or lengthen the instrument

❖ In 1815, valves were invented allowing

complicated note changes without a slide

How Do Valves Work?

❖ Trumpets, French Horns, and Tubas use valves to change the length of their instrument

❖ When a valve is pressed, air to flow through a new set of tubing

❖ This extra tubing makes the instrument “longer,” lowering the pitch that is made

What Makes A Brass Instrument?

❖ The instrument does not have to be made of brass to be considered a brass instrument

❖ Brass instruments are categorized by the instrument using a buzz in a mouth piece to make the pitch

❖ That means some instruments you might not think would be

considered brass instruments might actually be one!

Other Brass Instruments

Other Brass Instruments

Serpent

EuphoniumPiccolo

Trumpet

Animal Horn

Other Brass Instruments

Didgeridoo

Natural Horn

Sousaphone

Alphorn

Video Clips

Video Clips

tps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ye0asxzindy&index=3&list=rdmp2_6o

lumma

A fun way to see and hear the brass instruments we learned about with the BBC National

Orchestra.

About 2 minutes long.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYHfiQ4R7Bs

For an in depth look into how brass instruments work, check

out this TED-Ed video.

About 4.5 minutes long.

Questions

QuestionsWhat mechanical part of

trumpets, horns, and tubas does the player use to play different

notes?

❖ Valves

❖ Slide

❖ Buzz

QuestionsWhat does a brass player use to create a pitch?

❖ Buzzing Lips

❖ Mouthpiece

❖ Air

❖ All of the above

Questions If you could choose any brass instrument to play,

which one would you choose?

End

Thank you from the Bellingham Symphony Orchestra! We hope you enjoy your Music in the Schools performance

Additional History of Brass Instruments

http://www.wilktone.com/?p=211

Photo Credits

• https://www.stickpng.com/img/objects/music/trumpet/trumpet-left• https://www.stickpng.com/img/objects/music/brass-instruments/yamaha-frenc

h-horn• https://www.jpmusicalinstruments.com/prod/john-packer-jp132r• https://www.pngarts.com/explore/101506• https://pngio.com/PNG/3173-tuba-png.html• http://www.mimo-international.com/mimo/detailstatic.aspx?RSC_BASE=IFD&

RSC_DOCID=MINIM_UK_41208&TITLE=• https://www.google.com/search?biw=957&bih=909&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=mpN

IXe_yJdrK0PEPjZWSoA4&q=euphonium+image+transparent&oq=euphonium+image+transparent&gs_l=img.3...21506.26833..27859...3.0..0.158.1307.18j2......0....1..gws-wiz-img.......0i67j0j0i8i30j0i24j0i30.j_nj_AdLBow&ved=0ahUKEwjvp4jyyuzjAhVaJTQIHY2KBOQQ4dUDCAY&uact=5#imgrc=qQTF6_U9sMMoEM:

• https://educalingo.com/de/dic-tr/nefesli-calgi• http://matthiashoefs.de/wp/?page_id=255&lang=en• https://www.spiritgallery.com.au/sold-didgeridoos/kristian-benton-didgeridoo-K

B292• https://www.pinterest.com/pin/95912667044522847/• https://www.johnpacker.co.uk/prod/jp-sousaphone-jp2057• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alphorn

Photos from the Oregon Symphony used with permission from:

Photographer Leah Nash and the Oregon Symphony