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1500 BCE
The first trumpets - horns!
The ancestor of the trumpet was the horn. Usually made of animal horn but sometimes made of metal. Many ancient civilizations used them in India, Greece, China, Egypt, and others. -
1400
The natural trumpet
The first direct ancestor of the trumpet was the natural trumpet. This was a trumpet without any holes, slides, or valves and was mostly used in Europe. It can only play notes on the harmonic series. -
Valves!
The first trumpet with valves (allowing for chromatic and diatonic notes) is created by Heinrich Stölzel in 1815. -
Rotary valves
Just before piston valves were used in trumpets, rotary valves were invented by Joseph Riedlin in 1832. They are still used today and are only popular in Europe. -
The modern trumpet
Not long after Heinrich Stölzel invented his valved trumpet, François Périnet invented the piston valve (AKA the Périnet valve) in 1838. These are the valves that are still used in trumpets today and are ubiquitous around the world. -
The Baroque Trumpet
Invented in the mid 1900's, this trumpet is a variation on the natural trumpet. It added holes, allowing the trumpeter to fine tune the notes. This can be done on a natural trumpet by "lipping" the note up or down, but modern trumpet players are not accustomed to this and thus more often use a baroque trumpet.
