So What
Miles DavisA mute makes the trumpet line restrained, intimate and spacious.
TINSTRUMENT · KNOWLEDGE GUIDE
Trumpet
Bright and projecting when open, it can become distant or intimate with a mute.
- Instrument family
- Brass
- Origin
- Ancient signaling traditions; the modern valved trumpet formed in nineteenth-century Europe
- Related genres
- 4
ORIGIN
Where does it come from?
Valves enable a full chromatic range, while lip vibration and airflow control attack, pitch and tone.
ROLE IN ARRANGEMENT
What does it do in an arrangement?
It often leads brass melodies, responses, accents and improvised solos.
MutesLip vibratoUpper-register control
COMMON USES
Where will you hear it?
Used for fanfare accents, horn-section writing, jazz solos, salsa and orchestral parts.
LISTENING EXAMPLES
Recordings and repertoire to recognize
COMMON GENRES
Common in these genres
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