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.
Piccolo trumpet in B♭
Piccolo trumpet in B♭, with separate lead pipes to tune the instrument to B♭ (shorter) or A (longer).
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 B♭ or C trumpet.
Trumpet in B♭
Trio of trumpeters in Toledo, Ohio, approximately 1920
Silver and gold plated trumpet and its wooden mute from the tomb of Tutankhamun (1326–1336 BC)
Ceramic trumpet, AD 300, Larco Museum Collection Lima, Peru