The piccolo trumpet is the smallest member of the

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

family, pitched one octave higher than the standard B trumpet. Most piccolo trumpets are built to play in either B or A, using a separate

leadpipe In a brass instrument, a leadpipe or mouthpipe is the pipe or tube into which the mouthpiece is placed. For example, on the illustration of a trombone, the leadpipe would be between #3 and #4, the mouthpiece and the slide lock ring. In the ...

for each key. The tubing in the B piccolo trumpet is one-half the length of that in a standard B trumpet. Piccolo trumpets in G, F, and even high C are also manufactured, but are rarer. The piccolo trumpet should not be confused with the

pocket trumpet 250px, Pocket trumpet in B-flat, with a standard size bell and medium-large bore The pocket trumpet is a B♭ trumpet that is constructed with the tubing wound into a much smaller coil than a standard trumpet, generally with a smaller diameter ...

, which plays in the same pitch as the regular B trumpet.

Types and details

The piccolo trumpet in B is a transposing instrument, which sounds a minor seventh higher than written. It is, however, rarely written for specifically; it is often just used at the player's discretion to cover high material as appropriate. The soprano trumpet in D, also known as the ''Bach trumpet'', was invented in about 1890 by the Belgian instrument maker Victor Mahillon to play the high trumpet parts in music by

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...

and

Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concertos. Handel received his training i ...

. The modern piccolo trumpet enables players to play the difficult trumpet parts of Baroque music, such as Bach's second

Brandenburg Concerto The ''Brandenburg Concertos'' by Johann Sebastian Bach (BWV 1046–1051), are a collection of six instrumental works presented by Bach to Christian Ludwig, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt, MacDonogh, Giles. ''Frederick the Great: A Life in Dee ...

and

Mass in B minor The Mass in B minor (), BWV 232, is an extended setting of the Mass ordinary by Johann Sebastian Bach. The composition was completed in 1749, the year before the composer's death, and was to a large extent based on earlier work, such as a Sanctu ...

Adolf Scherbaum Adolf Scherbaum (23 August 1909 – 2 August 2000) was a trumpet player who specialised in the piccolo trumpet.Josef Scherbaum

was the first to specialize in the piccolo trumpet repertoire and to discover new baroque works, doing original transcriptions.

Maurice André Maurice André (21 May 1933 – 25 February 2012) was a French trumpeter, active in the classical music field. He was professor of trumpet at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris where he introduced the teaching of the pic ...

further developed the modern piccolo repertoire, playing the instrument for 50 years. The sound production technique is basically the same as that used on the larger B trumpet. Air pressure and tonguing are different, and players use a shallower

mouthpiece Mouthpiece may refer to: * The part of an object which comes near or in contact with one's mouth or nose during use ** Mouthpiece (smoking pipe) or cigarette holder ** Mouthpiece (telephone handset) ** Mouthpiece (woodwind), a component of a woodw ...

for the piccolo trumpet. Almost all piccolo trumpets have four valves instead of three — the fourth valve usually lowers the pitch by a fourth. This extends the low range and provides alternate fingerings and improved intonation for some notes.

Use in "Penny Lane" and elsewhere

The piccolo trumpet solo in

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

' "

Penny Lane "Penny Lane" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles that was released in February 1967 as a double A-side single with "Strawberry Fields Forever". It was written primarily by Paul McCartney and credited to the Lennon–McCartney songwr ...

", which introduced the instrument to pop music, was played by David Mason.

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

was dissatisfied with the initial attempts at the song's instrumental fill (one of which is released on ''

Anthology 2 ''Anthology 2'' is a compilation album by the Beatles, released on 18 March 1996 by Apple Records as part of ''The Beatles Anthology'' series. It features rarities, outtakes and live performances from the 1965 sessions for ''Help!'' to the sessi ...

''), and was inspired to use the instrument after hearing Mason's performance in a

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

radio broadcast of the second

and asking

George Martin Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the "Fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the B ...

what the "tremendously high" trumpet was. Eventually Mason recorded the solo using a piccolo trumpet in A. The piccolo trumpet was also used to quote Bach's Invention no. 8 in F major (BWV 779) during the fade-out of "

All You Need Is Love "All You Need Is Love" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles that was released as a non-album single in July 1967. It was written by John Lennon and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership. The song was Britain's contribution t ...

". Use of the instrument is now commonplace in many musical genres.

Otto Sauter Otto Sauter (born 1961) is a German trumpet soloist, who specializes in the piccolo trumpet . Biography From 1988 until 1998 Sauter was principal trumpet in the Bremen State Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1991 he founded the annual Bremen Intern ...

Guy Touvron Guy Touvron (born 15 February 1950) is a French classical trumpet player and music teacher. He is an accomplished soloist, having played with some of Europe's leading orchestras, and has premiered several prominent trumpet concertos. Touvron ha ...

Reinhold Friedrich Reinhold Friedrich (born 14 July 1958) is a German trumpeter and university lecturer in Karlsruhe. Career Born in Weingarten, Friedrich was from 1983 to 1999 Solo trumpeter at the Radio-Sinfonie-Orchester Frankfurt. In 1986 he was awarded a pr ...

Adolf Scherbaum Adolf Scherbaum (23 August 1909 – 2 August 2000) was a trumpet player who specialised in the piccolo trumpet.Josef Scherbaum

Ludwig Güttler Ludwig Güttler (born 13 June 1943) is an internationally known German virtuoso on the Baroque trumpet, the piccolo trumpet and the corno da caccia. As a conductor, he founded several ensembles including the chamber orchestra Virtuosi Saxoniae. H ...

Wynton Marsalis Wynton Learson Marsalis (born October 18, 1961) is an American trumpeter, composer, teacher, and artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. He has promoted classical and jazz music, often to young audiences. Marsalis has won nine Grammy Awar ...

, and

Håkan Hardenberger Ulf Håkan Hardenberger (born 27 October 1961 in Malmö) is a Swedish trumpeter. Taking up the trumpet at the age of eight under the guidance of hometown teacher Bo Nilsson, Hardenberger pursued further studies at the Paris Conservatoire, with P ...

are some well-known piccolo trumpet players.

References

External links

Maurice Andre website
See section : Piccolo tpt
Piccolo trumpet manufacturers
{{Authority control B-flat instruments A instruments Trumpets

Types and details

Use in "Penny Lane" and elsewhere

See also

References

External links