Pick the Brass Instruments Trivia Quiz

Answer:

While most people are familiar with the standard orchestral instruments: the trumpet, French horn (often times called simply the horn), the trombone, and tuba, there are a variety of brass instruments used through the world and throughout history.

While the tuba is a fairly modern invention by instrument standards, some of its precursors have been making a comeback. The ophicleide was one of the first, appearing in the early 1800s in France. It had keys and was shaped similar to that of a bassoon. A couple decades later, Adolphe Sax developed one of the first instruments to look like today's modern tuba called the saxhorn (Adolphe would create the saxophone about a decade later). Today's tuba became mainstream in the mid 1850s and has seen use in orchestras and brass bands the world over.

The soprano range of the brass section takes many forms including the trumpet, cornet, and flugelhorn. The trumpet has a more cylindrical bore meaning that the size of the tubing remains fairly constant until just before the bell flair, giving it a sharper piercing tone. The cornet and mellophone are more conical in shape which creates a mellower and softer tone.

The sackbut is the ancestor to the trombone used in renaissance and baroque music in Germany and northern Italy. The trombone as we now know it first saw more widespread use in the early 1700s. The trombone comes in a range of pitches from soprano (similar range to a trumpet) on down to the contrabass trombone which can reach pitches toward the low end of the tuba's range.

The euphonium, also called a tenor tuba, developed around the same time as the tuba but saw less widespread use. Found more commonly in US-based wind bands, the instrument has a light and mellow tone which provides a nice contrast to the similarly-pitched trombone. The baritone horn has a similar look to the euphonium but utilizes a more cylindrical shape and is more commonly found in British brass bands.

Some instruments were created to make it easier for instrumentalists to play while marching. Such is the case with the helicon, the sousaphone, and the mellophone. The mellophone fills out the alto voice in marching bands that typically would be the domain of the French horn (which is technically not French). The sousaphone and helicon were developed as alternatives to the tuba and both wrap around the player's body and rest on the shoulder.

A recent interest in antique instruments has led to a resurgence in some of these older brass instruments. Some brass manufacturers have even started selling the ophicleide, helicon, and sackbut again.