Brass instrument facts for kids

Trumpets are popular brass instruments.

A brass instrument is a type of musical instrument that makes sound when you blow air through a special mouthpiece. To play it, you make your lips buzz against the mouthpiece. This buzzing creates the sound, and the instrument helps make it louder.

Most brass instruments have long metal tubes. These tubes often have valves or slides that you can use to change the length of the tube. Changing the tube's length changes the pitch, or how high or low the note sounds. Think of valves like buttons you press to open and close different parts of the pipe. Slides, like on a trombone, let you smoothly change the tube's length.

It might seem strange, but a brass instrument doesn't always have to be made of brass metal! What makes an instrument "brass" is how you make the sound: by buzzing your lips into a mouthpiece. For example, the serpent is an old brass instrument made of wood. On the other hand, a saxophone is made of brass, but it uses a reed to make sound, not lip buzzing. So, a saxophone is not a brass instrument.

What is a Brass Band?

A brass band is a group of musicians who play brass instruments and drums together. These bands are often seen playing for parades and processions. This is because the musicians can march and play their instruments at the same time!

Brass bands were very popular in England, especially in the past. Many factories and coal mines had their own bands. Workers would play in these bands after their shifts. One famous example is the Grimethorpe Colliery Band, which came from a coal mining community.

Types of Brass Instruments

Here are some common brass instruments:

• Bugle
• Trumpet
• Cornet
• Piccolo trumpet
• Flugelhorn
• French horn (also called a Horn in F)
• Mellophone
• Euphonium
• Trombone
• Tuba
  • Sousaphone (This is a type of Tuba often used in marching bands.)
• Cimbasso
• Hunting horn
• Serpent

Images for kids

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  A tenor horn (alto horn), baritone horn, and euphonium.

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  Brass instrument piston valves.

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  A close-up of a piston valve.

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  A rotary valve.

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  A Flugelhorn with three pistons and a trigger.

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  A quartet playing plastic trombones.

See also

In Spanish: Instrumento de viento metal para niños