Earlier, we talked about playing
music that was written for trumpets keyed in Bb. To clean up
the mess that transposing from Bb to C, inventors created a
shorter trumpet that was keyed in C. So, when trumpet
players saw a C on the music, the note they would play would
actually be a C, instead of a Bb. As trumpeters began to
realize this and hear how much of a brighter sound that a C
has compared to a Bb, they slowly began to switch to playing C
trumpets. By 1920, there was widespread acceptance of the C
trumpet in North America among professionals. Principle
trumpet players like William Vacchiano and Adolph Herseth
helped to contribute to this trend. Most trumpeters in Europe
caught on to the trend but players in Britain had a tendency
to keep their Bb trumpets. Many trumpet players who were
devoted to jazz also were devoted to their Bb's and did not
agree at all with the sound C trumpets produced to be used for
their style of play (There are exceptions-Mile Davis played on
a C for a while). As a rule, young players should be started
on a Bb and then, as they mature, switch to a C so they can
get used to transposition. As was mentioned on the Bb
section, almost everyone plays C trumpets in orchestras and
just transposes parts, because it is easier to transpose parts
on a C than on any other key of trumpet.
TRUMPETER'S FANFARE
Written and published by Chris Glazner, John Timpani, and Christian Reed.
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