Cornet

The cornet is a brass instrument that closely resembles the trumpet.

Playing/technique

Like the trumpet and all other modern brasswind instruments, the cornet makes a sound when the player vibrates ("buzzes") his lips in the mouthpiece, creating a vibrating column of air in the tubing of the cornet that generates a musical sound. When the column of air is lengthened, the pitch of the note is lowered.

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From the basic length tube of the cornet the player can produce a series of notes, like those played by the bugle, which has gaps in so that true melodic playing is impossible except in the extreme high register. So, to change the length of the vibrating column and provide the cornet with the ability to play chromatic scales, the cornet is equipped with three (or very rarely, four) valves. The action of each valve is to add a length of tubing (and thus vibrating air column) between mouthpiece and bell. As the player presses the valves, they lower the pitch of the cornet and can thus play complete chromatic scales.

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