The trumpet has always played a significant role in music history. Renowned composers like Bach, Handel, Strauss, and Prokofiev have utilized its bold and heroic sound in their compositions. Over time, the trumpet has evolved from its valveless origins to become the versatile instrument we know today.
The First Horns
The first recorded trumpet-like horns were actual animal horns. The Shofar, hollowed out and open at each end, was a ram's horn played with a technique much like the modern trumpeter. The Shofar was initially used in Jewish religious ceremonies such as Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Other early trumpet ancestors include the Lur and cow horn. These horns are depicted in ancient Egyptian, Chinese, South American, and Scandinavian drawings dating back to 1500 BC.
The First Trumpets
When people first started crafting trumpets, they were similar to the appearance of their animal horn ancestors. They didn't have the valves or fancy tubing you think of today but consisted of a long cylindrical body in between a small circular mouthpiece as a sloping horn. The mouthpieces were designed so players could manipulate their embouchure to produce a limited scale of notes known as the harmonic series. These instruments were usually made of wood, bamboo, bark, clay, human bone, and metal.
The Natural Trumpet
Valveless trumpets were referred to as natural trumpets, which were instruments from the Renaissance period. The first natural trumpet came about during the 15th century but was used well into the Renaissance period and was often used to represent heavenly majesty and royalty. Due to the lack of valves, musicians had to change the pitch of the notes by adjusting their embouchure and lip positioning, meaning they could only play notes from the harmonic series, resulting in MANY different sizes of natural trumpets so they could play different keys.
The Slide Trumpet
Another predecessor of the modern trumpet was the slide trumpet, which was also used in the 15th century. The slide trumpet allowed musicians to use their embouchure and a slide to extend the tubing and play a more extensive range of pitches. Although it's referred to as a trumpet, the slide trumpet led to the trombone's development.
Heinrich Stölzel’s Development of Valves
In 1815, Heinrich Stölzel invented the first of what we call piston valves that redirected the air into different lengths of tubing. He developed the Stolzel valve, allowing musicians to change the pitch by pushing down and activating the valves. Four years later, Heinrich worked with another instrument maker named Friedrich Blühmel to invent the first Rotary Valve that opens on a 90-degree rotation to allow airflow in and out of the trumpet. Rotary valves are easier to manipulate more quickly and create a mellower tone but offer a smaller range of notes.
Piston Valves & Evolution of Tubing
In the late 1930s, François Périnet invented the piston valve version seen in most modern trumpets today—the evolution of valves brought on the evolution of tubing. Referred to as crooks and shanks, various lengths of tubing bent to different degrees were added to the trumpet's body. The size and shape of the tubes determine the quality and range of sounds produced by the air moving through them. The F and G trumpets are the earliest examples of valve trumpets, allowing trumpeters to play a broader range of notes and songs in various key signatures.
The Modern Trumpet
The Romantic era ended in the early 1900s and made way for the highly diverse 20th-century music that we're still in today. The trumpet's lively tone, versatility in handling complex melodies, and wide range make it perfect for jazz, Latin, big band, and modern music, effortlessly adapting to various rhythms and styles.
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