Beginning Band: Playing the Trumpet

INTRODUCTION

Meet trumpet player Marissa Benedict. She will tell you about her instrument and why she chose to play it.

FUN FACTS

• Trumpets, like other brass instruments, sometimes play with mutes. A mute changes the timbre, or sound, of the instrument. Mutes are especially common in jazz.

• Trumpets look pretty small compared to many other brass instruments, but they have a lot of tubing wrapped up in coils. If you were to stretch out that tubing, it would be about 6.5 feet long!

• Trumpets didn’t always have valves! The invention of valves in the 1800s made it easier for trumpet players to reach more pitches.

LISTEN and WATCH

Here is some more music for the trumpet.