Brass instruments for kids: what they are and how each one sounds

The brass family of the orchestra has four instruments: the trumpet, the French horn, the trombone, and the tuba. Each one is a long metal tube, coiled up, with a mouthpiece at one end and a wide bell at the other. The player makes the sound by buzzing the lips into the mouthpiece. A brass section can be heard over the whole orchestra.

A child can tell them apart by shape and by how high or low each one plays.

How a brass instrument makes sound

The player presses the lips together and blows so they buzz. The buzz goes into a small metal cup called the mouthpiece. The tube turns the buzz into a clear note, and the bell sends it out into the room.

Two things change the note.

The lips. Tighter lips and faster air give a higher note. With the lips alone, a player can get several notes from one length of tube.

The length of the tube. A longer tube gives a lower note. On a trumpet, a horn, and a tuba, the player presses valves. Each valve opens an extra loop of tube. On a trombone, the player moves a slide in and out.

The four brass instruments

Trumpet. The smallest and the highest. It has three valves. If its tube were pulled out straight, it would be about four and a half feet long. Trumpets play fanfares and bright, bold tunes.

French horn. A long tube wound into a circle, with a wide bell that points behind the player. The player works the valves with the left hand and rests the right hand inside the bell. Its tube is more than twelve feet long. The sound can be soft and round or loud and wild. The horn grew out of the horns that hunters blew.

Trombone. The one with the slide. The player pushes the slide out to make the tube longer and the note lower. There are seven slide positions to learn. Its tube is about nine feet long.

Tuba. The biggest and the lowest. A large tuba holds about eighteen feet of tube. It is also the newest of the four. It was invented in the 1830s. An orchestra often has one tuba.

Mutes

A mute is a cone that fits into the bell. It makes the sound thinner, quieter, or more nasal. Composers ask for mutes when they want a far-off or pinched sound.

A piece to hear for each one

Trumpet. The last movement of the Trumpet Concerto by Haydn. It is described in Haydn for kids.

French horn. The wolf in Peter and the Wolf by Prokofiev, played by three horns. See the Peter and the Wolf guide.

Trombone. The trombone and tuba variation in The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra by Britten.

Tuba. “The Ox Cart” from Pictures at an Exhibition, in the version for orchestra by Ravel. See the Pictures at an Exhibition guide.

The whole brass family. Fanfare for the Common Man by Aaron Copland, written in 1942 for brass and percussion alone.

Muted trumpet. The second of the “Two Men” in Pictures at an Exhibition.

Things to do together

Buzz. Press your lips together and blow until they buzz. Try to make the buzz go higher, then lower. Every brass note starts this way.

Hose horn. Push a kitchen funnel into one end of a short length of garden hose. Buzz into the other end. The hose turns the buzz into a horn call. A longer hose gives a lower note.

Fanfare. A fanfare is a short, loud tune that announces something. Make one up with your voice for a family member walking into the room.

Which one is it? Play the wolf from Peter and the Wolf, then the trumpet concerto. Ask which sounds rounder and which sounds brighter.

Slide or valves. Watch a video of a brass section. Find the players who move a slide and the players who press valves.

Starting a brass instrument

Brass instruments often start later than piano or violin, once a child is big enough to hold the instrument and has the breath to fill it. Many school band programs teach trumpet, trombone, and other brass instruments. Music lessons for kids covers how to choose an instrument and a teacher.

Print and play

Print the instrument families listening chart and tick the brass each time you hear them. To hear the horns, trumpets, trombones, and tuba take a solo in order, use The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra.

For the other three families, go back to instruments of the orchestra for kids.