Piccolo Trumpet-Musical Instruments

The piccolo trumpet is the smallest member of the trumpet family, pitched one octave higher than the standard B♭ trumpet. Most piccolo trumpets are built to play in either B♭ or A, using a separate leadpipe for each key. The tubing in the B♭ piccolo trumpet is one-half the length of that in a standard B♭ trumpet. Piccolo trumpets in G, F, and even high C are also manufactured, but are rarer.

The piccolo trumpet should not be confused with the pocket trumpet, which plays in the same pitch as the regular B♭ trumpet.

Types and details

Piccolo trumpet in B♭, with separate lead pipes to tune the instrument to B♭ (shorter) or A (longer).
The piccolo trumpet in B♭ is a transposing instrument, which sounds a minor seventh higher than written. Not often called for specifically, it is often used at the player’s discretion to cover high material as appropriate.

Bach trumpet, with midpipes for either Eb or D
The piccolo trumpet in D, also known as the Bach trumpet, was invented and first used in the late 19th century by the Belgian instrument maker Victor Mahillon to play the high trumpet parts in music by Bach and Handel. Built initially in a long linear form with three piston valves, by the early 20th century it was mostly made with the more compact wrap of modern C and B♭ trumpets. The trumpet in D was called for by several composers, including Stravinsky (The Rite of Spring, Petrushka), Ravel (Boléro), and Britten (Peter Grimes).

Czech instrument maker Červený first made a piccolo cornet in high B♭ in 1862, but it did not catch on. The modern four-valve piccolo trumpet was advanced by Adolf Scherbaum and Maurice André at the Conservatoire de Paris. Scherbaum was first to specialize in the piccolo trumpet repertoire, discover new baroque works, and create original transcriptions, and André continued this work in collaboration with instrument builder Selmer Paris over a long career. The instrument enables players to play the difficult high trumpet parts of Baroque music, such as Bach’s second Brandenburg Concerto and Mass in B minor.

The sound production technique is basically the same as that used on the larger B♭ trumpet. Air pressure and tonguing are different, and players use a shallower mouthpiece for the piccolo trumpet. Almost all piccolo trumpets have four valves instead of three — the fourth valve usually lowers the pitch by a fourth. This extends the low range and provides alternate fingerings and improved intonation for some notes.