Pitch of brass instruments

Whereas it is usually quite easy to determine whether an instrument is pitched in, say, F or Bb or Eb, is not always obvious which octave of F or Bb is being referred to.

The following is a comparison table of the pitch of the common brass instruments in descending order of pitch. As a reference point, the second harmonic of a Bb trumpet or cornet is Bb below middle C.

• Bb or A piccolo trumpet
• Eb trumpet or soprano cornet
• Bb trumpet, cornet, flugelhorn
• Eb tenor horn (alto saxhorn), alto trombone
• Bb tenor trombone, baritone (tenor saxhorn), euphonium, orchestral or french horn
• Eb bass tuba
• Bb contrabass tuba

High brass - from the top left: Baroque trumpet in D, modern trumpets in Bb and D (same pitch D as Baroque),
piccolo trumpet in high Bb, Flugelhorn in Bb; right: cornet in Bb

Notes:

For transposing brass instruments, the second harmonic (of the instrument, unlengthened by valves or slides) is usually written as middle C. (The exception is the french horn - see below - and older trumpet pitches, which are beyond the scope of the present article.)

The 'normal' range of a brass instrument is from three tones below the 2nd harmonic to the 10th harmonic. For transposing instruments this is from written F# below middle C, to E two octaves and a third above middle C.

The euphonium differs from the baritone in that it has a wider bore and appears a much larger instrument: the euphonium is a true tenor tuba whereas the baritone is a saxhorn. Note though that this distinction is not always observed in the US, where true baritones are rare and the term is sometimes used to refer to a small euphonium, or perhaps one with three valves rather than four.

A bass trombone is like a tenor trombone but has an F, sometimes also an E valve extending the lower range down to the fundamental, and a wider bore and mouthpiece to facilitate the production of these notes. A true bass trombone would require the player to have the arm of a gibbon, although old instruments in G were used where this particular requirement was avoided by the use of an extension handle to push the slide out.

Classifying the orchestral horn as pitched in Bb is somewhat controversial. Its fundamental pitch is F near that of the bass tuba, but it is normally played much higher in its register. This is aided by the narrower bore and much smaller mouthpiece. What is written as middle C for a horn is in fact the fourth harmonic, not the second. However, most horns are fitted with a fourth valve which puts the horn into Bb a fourth higher, which alleviates the problem in the higher register of the harmonics being uncomfortably close together. In fact, much of the time the horn is played in Bb, and its range corresponds more with an instrument of that pitch.

The bass tuba is also available in F, and contrabass tubas in C. The Bb tuba is found in brass bands, while the C tuba is more common in orchestras.

Baritones, euphoniums and tubas often have a fourth valve to extend the lower range down to the fundamental.