What Is a Bb Trumpet?

The Bb trumpet is a brass instrument used in a wide variety of different types of music, from jazz and Latin to classical music. This type of trumpet, also — also written as a B♭ trumpet — is the most common type of trumpet, and is usually simply referred to as a "trumpet," with no modifier. In fact, however, it is only one of several different types of trumpet, and the full name can be used to distinguish it from similar instruments.

A trumpeter produces notes by forcing air through a tube and out through the bell at the end of the instrument. The pitch of a trumpet is determined by the length of its tube. The player modifies the sound by changing the position of his or lips, called the "embouchure," by increasing or decreasing the flow of air, and by altering the length of the tube using valves.

Each type of trumpet is tuned to produce a particular note and is referred to by the name of the note it makes when played without valves. This means that when the player blows air through a Bb trumpet without depressing any of the valves, the resulting note is Bb. Similarly, a C trumpet, being slightly smaller than a Bb trumpet, produces a slightly higher note when played without using the valves.

Instrument makers produce trumpets in a range of standard tunings. Trumpets tuned to A, C, D, Eb, E, F and G exist. Historically, other types of trumpet were very common until the invention of the modern valve trumpet in the 19th century, which coincided with the Bb trumpet becoming the standard.

Another type of trumpet is the piccolo trumpet. Most piccolo trumpets play about an octave higher than a standard trumpet. In addition, the trumpeter can alter the tuning by switching out a removable piece of tubing called a leadpipe. Doing so alters the length of the tube and, consequently, allows the piccolo trumpet to play in either high Bb or high C.

Despite the number of different types of trumpet, the popularity of the Bb trumpet means that other trumpets are very rare by comparison. The C trumpet sometimes appears in orchestral music, and many trumpeters play either as needed, but it is far less commonly used than the Bb version. The same situation occurs with other types of instruments. For example, there are several different types of clarinet and trombone, but not all types are equally common.