The brass section of the

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

, concert band, and

jazz ensemble A jazz band (jazz ensemble or jazz combo) is a musical ensemble that plays jazz music. Jazz bands vary in the quantity of its members and the style of jazz that they play but it is common to find a jazz band made up of a rhythm section and a ho ...

consist of

brass instruments A brass instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by sympathetic vibration of air in a tubular resonator in sympathy with the vibration of the player's lips. Brass instruments are also called labrosones or labrophones, from Latin ...

, and is one of the main sections in all three ensembles. The British-style brass band contains only brass and percussion instruments. They contain instruments given Hornbostel-Sachs classification 423 ( brass instruments).

Orchestra

The typical brass section of a modern orchestra is as follows: *4

French horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most ...

s *2–3

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 ...

s *2

Tenor trombone A tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The low extreme for tenors is wide ...

s *1 Bass trombone *1

Tuba The tuba (; ) is the lowest-pitched musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by lip vibrationa buzzinto a mouthpiece. It first appeared in the mid-19th century, making it one of the ne ...

Concert band

The brass section of the concert band is generally larger and more diverse than the brass section of the orchestra. The typical brass section of a concert band is as follows: *4–6

s and/or cornets *4

s *2–3

s *1 Bass trombone *2

Euphonium The euphonium is a medium-sized, 3 or 4-valve, often compensating, conical-bore, tenor-voiced brass instrument that derives its name from the Ancient Greek word ''euphōnos'', meaning "well-sounding" or "sweet-voiced" ( ''eu'' means "well" o ...

s and/or baritone horns *2

s The brass instruments that are sometimes, but very rarely, used in the concert band: * Flugelhorn * Tenor (alto) Horn * Piccolo trumpet *

Bass trumpet The bass trumpet is a type of low trumpet which was first developed during the 1820s in Germany. It is usually pitched in 8' C or 9' B today, but is sometimes built in E and is treated as a transposing instrument sounding either an octave, a sixt ...

Wagner tuba The Wagner tuba is a four-valve brass instrument named after and commissioned by Richard Wagner. It combines technical features of both standard tubas and French horns, though despite its name, the Wagner tuba is more similar to the latter, and ...

Alto trombone The alto trombone (german: Altposaune, Italian, French: ''trombone alto'') is the alto member of the trombone family of brass instruments, smaller than the tenor trombone. It is almost always pitched in E♭ a fourth higher than the tenor, althou ...

Contrabass trombone The contrabass trombone (german: Kontrabassposaune, it, trombone contrabbasso) is the lowest instrument in the trombone family of brass instruments. First appearing built in 18′ B♭ an octave below the tenor trombone, since the late 20th cen ...

Brass band

* 1

soprano cornet The soprano cornet is a transposing brass instrument similar to the standard B cornet but pitched a fourth higher in E. A single soprano cornet is usually seen in brass bands and silver bands and can be found playing lead or descant parts in ...

* 10 cornets * 1 flugelhorn * 3 tenor (alto) horns * 2 baritone horns * 2 tenor trombones * 1 bass trombone * 2 euphoniums * 2 E tubas * 2 B tubas

Jazz ensemble

The brass section of jazz ensembles usually include: *4

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 ...

s *3

s *1 Bass trombone

References

{{Orchestra Sections of the orchestra Sections of the concert band

Orchestra

Concert band

Brass band

Jazz ensemble

See also

References