Pitch Of Brass Instruments
The pitch of a brass instrument is determined by the fundamental frequency and the frequencies of the overtones, which typically follow a harmonic series. The fundamental is not playable in some instruments. The table below provides the pitch of the second overtone (an octave above the fundamental) for some common brass instruments in descending order of pitch. This is notated as middle C in brass band music.
| B♭4 or A4 | piccolo trumpet |
| E♭4 | soprano trumpet or cornet |
| B♭3 | trumpet, cornet, flugelhorn, soprano trombone |
| E♭3 | alto horn, alto trombone, alto trumpet |
| B♭2 | tenor trombone, baritone horn, euphonium, B♭ horn, bass trumpet |
| F2 | F horn |
| E♭2 or F2 | bass tuba |
| B♭1 | contrabass tuba, sousaphone |
Read more about Pitch Of Brass Instruments: Range
Famous quotes containing the words pitch of, pitch, brass and/or instruments:
“I saw the Arab map.
It resembled a mare shuffling on,
dragging its history like saddlebags,
nearing its tomb and the pitch of hell.”
—Adonis [Ali Ahmed Said] (b. 1930)
“He maintained that the case was lost or won by the time the final juror had been sworn in; his summation was set in his mind before the first witness was called. It was all in the orchestration, he claimed: in knowing how and where to pitch each and every particular argument; who to intimidate; who to trust, who to flatter and court; who to challenge; when to underplay and exactly when to let out all the stops.”
—Dorothy Uhnak (b. 1933)
“Uncle Ben’s brass bullet-mould
And powder horn, and Major Bogan’s face
Above the fire, in the half-light, plainly said
There’s naught to kill but the animated dead;”
—Allen Tate (1899–1979)
“Water, earth, air, fire, and the other parts of this structure of mine are no more instruments of your life than instruments of your death. Why do you fear your last day? It contributes no more to your death than each of the others. The last step does not cause the fatigue, but reveals it. All days travel toward death, the last one reaches it.”
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592)