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What is the difference in the different keys of trumpet?
- Thread starter jackplans
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TL;DR- there are timbral differences in different keyed trumpets (as you’d expect), but it mainly has to do with the key in which the music is written. Trumpet players do a lot of transposing, so having a trumpet in D is handy for playing Handel and other composers from that era (usually their stuff for trumpets is written in D), one in E-flat is handy for the Haydn and Hummel trumpet concertos (there’s actually a lot of back-and-forth among trumpeters whether the Hummel should be played in E-flat or E). B-flat is usually what is played in wind bands and for jazz. C is usually for symphonic work. Others are out there for those who want to specialize (like trumpets in F specifically for the Bach Brandenburg no. 2). Piccolo trumpets are usually convertible between B-flat and A by using different lengths of leadpipe (the tube you put the mouthpiece into) and they have the most unique sound.
Here’s a pretty good shot of a piccolo trumpet in A (the piece is in D Major, but that’s a pretty straightforward transposition for the trumpeter).
Trumpets used to be straight tubes that could only play in one key like bugles. The player would use the correct instrument for the part. Various attachments and crooks could change keys but only one set of overtones was available. See "clarino" or "natural trumpet."
When valved instruments that could play in all keys became widespread, trumpets in different keys could play transposed parts using the same fingerings for the written notes despite the different resulting pitch.
If your Mozart symphony is in D and the trumpet part is in whole notes sounding only the pitches A or D, you could hire a bugle player from the nearby army post if he had a bugle in D for the gig. You wouldn't want the same guy and bugle for your E-flat symphony.
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