History of the Trumpet
and other interesting facts
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History of the Trumpet
The trumpet is the highest brass instrument of all instruments. But early trumpets dating back before 2000 B.C. were not made of brass. They were made of shells or other hollow objects that could be found in nature. People did not use them to make music but to make loud noises. They were known as signaling instruments and used for military or religious purposes. In medieval times the trumpet player was the heaviest guarded member of the troop because their trumpet playing relayed instructions to other troop members. The first trumpets made of brass and gold were long and hard to use. The trumpet has come a long way since its early design and the modern trumpet is the instrument of choice for many fine musicians.
The Alphorn was 6 feet long and used to signal cow herders in other pastures in Switzerland. At this time it was long and had no valves. Its main use was to signal other herders across the pasture or to call the community to church. The sound of the instrument was terrible. People used a conch shell to blow into to make sounds and others used the horns of rams to make the same sounds. The shells and horns were used like a megaphone and thought to scare off enemies or evil spirits.
In the 1400’s the long straight tube was bent to form an “S” shape and later took on the shape it is today. This was the first type put to musical use. In the 1600’s composers started writing music for the trumpet. The natural trumpet had no valves, slides or pistons and players were limited to what type of sound they could produce. Trumpet players began looking for ways to change the sound. They tried adding tuning slides and added short pieces of tubing. In 1801 a trumpet player named Anton Weidinger but keys on his trumpet which allowed him to play the chromatic scale. In...